Monad Shoal

A submerged seamount about 8 km east of Malapascua that rises from 200 m to a flat coral plateau topping out around 16 m, and the only site in the world where pelagic thresher sharks (Alopias pelagicus) reliably appear at cleaning stations almost every dawn. Divers descend before sunrise to roughly 22–28 m and wait behind a designated rope line at the plateau edge while the threshers — with their elongated upper tail lobes nearly as long as their bodies — circle in to be cleaned by moon wrasses and cleaner shrimp. Devil rays and reef mantas also pass through; pygmy seahorses cling to gorgonians on the slope. Currents can run hard along the drop off into deep water on three sides.