Dik de Boer is a Dutch national who together with his Filipino wife Cora built the first dive resort on Malapascua Island in 1997. They have both travelled together throughout the Philippines. In 1996 they read an article in the Lonely Planet guide describing a little island paradise in the north of Cebu. On their first visit to Malapascua they agreed with everything they had read, the true tropical cliché of palm fringed white sand beaches and clear turquoise waters, what more could they do but fall in love with this tropical paradise. As experienced Philippine travellers it was the ideal place to settle down. The only thing they needed to do was find out how the diving was!
Tourism was still a long way off at the time, with only a few beach cottages to rent and no existing diving facilities. They began asking the locals about the surrounding waters and were enthralled by stories of sharks and Japanese war wrecks. The stories were enticing enough for Dik and Cora to return in 1997 with a little portable compressor. Whilst exploring the surrounding reefs, they soon realised the enormous potential of Malapascua as a dive destination and laid the foundations to build the first dive resort.
It was during this time that Dik along with his friend Mikael Person saw the first Thresher Shark at Monad Shoal, which has now become a major worldwide attraction. Monad Shoal is now believed to be one of the only places in the world where you can observe at close range these beautiful sharks in only 25m of water, on an almost daily basis. Many film crews from around the world have already visited Malapascua Exotic Island Dive Resort to film these unique sharks. Articles have been published in numerous dive guides and travel magazines ensuring the success of Malapascua as a top class dive destination.
There are many other wonderful dive sites around Malapascua. Gato Island is a protected sea snake sanctuary that offers a little of everything for all levels of divers, including the chance to swim through the tunnel that penetrates the island. Dona Marilyn, a sunken passenger ferry, is renowned as one of the best wreck dives in the Visayas and attracts avid divers from around the world. A unique site to Exotic Resort is its famous house reef. An ongoing project that Dik began in 2001; sunken jeepneys, concrete thresher sharks and an array of manmade objects have created a special artificial environment where the fish thrive.
Exotic Dive Resort has grown lots since its original few beach cottages in 1997. It is now a renowned 5 STAR resort with an excellent 5 STAR PADI dive centre. The resort now offers international cuisine, an in house spa, French bakery, coffee corner and Internet to list a few of the facilities. The dive shop has expanded fast over the years and now has 3 dive boats, nitrox facilities, 2 PADI instructors and 5 PADI divemasters.
Exotic, as the locals call it, is the first of its kind on Malapscua and is still the only all-inclusive dive resort established in a wonderful beach garden setting. As pioneers of Malapascua Dik and Cora offer the most experience in diving and are constantly searching for new dive sites and destinations. As the resort and dive shop continue to expand Dik and Cora strive to maintain their high standards and excellent service.
We hope you enjoy your stay here at Malapascua Exotic Island Dive Resort.
