Malapascua Island, Philippines (credit: Sara)

Malapascua is a tiny island, only about 2.5 kilometers long and 1 km wide. Off shore, Monad Shoal is an underwater plateau where thresher sharks and manta rays can be sighted regularly. Although,  I dove the shoal the day after a typhoon and did not see any sharks or rays. The visibility was surprisingly good, and the sharks are said to swim out of the crevices in the shoal.