El Monstruo (Bajo del Monstruo) — Malpelo Island

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Hotels, dive operators, gear, and how to get here are on the Malpelo Island location page.

Overview

A submerged pinnacle off Malpelo Island and the most reliable place on Earth to encounter the deep-dwelling smalltooth sand tiger shark (Odontaspis ferox), nicknamed 'the monster'. The site features a fragile hard-coral patch on its south side around 12 m, walls cloaked in yellow-orange anemones and gorgonians, a 'condominium of morays' grotto, and a deeper reef slope at 60–70 m where the ferox shark congregates during cold-water months. Schools of leather bass, creolefish, jacks and scalloped hammerheads cycle through; strong currents and depth make it a serious dive only run in good conditions.

Briefing note

Inside Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary (UNESCO World Heritage Site); access only via permitted Colombian liveaboard, one vessel at a time. Park requires minimum 50 logged dives; many operators require more. Nitrox strongly recommended. No anchoring allowed; live skiff entries with immediate negative descents are standard due to strong currents (up to ~5 knots). Yellow fever vaccination required. Site can only be dived in good conditions; the deep ferox reef slope at 60–70 m is beyond recreational limits — most divers stay in the 20–40 m range. Nearest hyperbaric chamber is at the naval base in Buenaventura.

What you'll see

7 species curated

Smalltooth sand tiger shark
seasonal
Peak: Jan · Feb · Mar
Scalloped hammerhead shark
seasonal
Peak: Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr
Galapagos shark
year-round
Silky shark
year-round
Leather bass
year-round
Barberfish (cleaner butterflyfish)
year-round
Fine-spotted moray eel
year-round

Sightings evidence

1 record on file

Smalltooth sand tiger shark
medium confidence
Last confirmed
Mar 2026
Recent records
45 within 50 km
Cluster months
Jan, Feb, Mar

Sources & methodology

How we summarise this

We aggregate confirmed occurrence records from GBIF and OBIS within a fixed radius of each dive site. Occurrence records confirm presence and reveal seasonality clustering, but they DO NOT measure per-dive probability — there is no eligible-effort denominator. We deliberately do not publish a numeric '% chance of sighting' from this data.

Sources

Global Biodiversity Information Facility — GBIF Secretariat
Ocean Biodiversity Information System — IOC-UNESCO
iNaturalist — California Academy of Sciences & National Geographic Society
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature
Wildbook (Sharkbook, Whale Shark, Manta Matcher) — Wild Me
OBIS-SEAMAP — Duke University Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab / OBIS
WoRMS — World Register of Marine Species — Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)
FishBase — FishBase Consortium
Atlas of Living Australia — CSIRO / GBIF Australia
REEF Volunteer Fish Survey — Reef Environmental Education Foundation

Conditions

Month	Water	Visibility	Current
Jan	20–25 °C	10–25 m	strong
Feb	20–25 °C	10–25 m	strong
Mar	20–25 °C	10–25 m	strong
Apr	20–26 °C	10–25 m	strong
May	21–26 °C	15–25 m	moderate
Jun	22–28 °C	15–30 m	moderate
Jul	22–28 °C	15–30 m	moderate
Aug	22–28 °C	15–30 m	moderate
Sep	22–28 °C	15–30 m	moderate
Oct	22–28 °C	10–25 m	moderate
Nov	22–28 °C	10–25 m	moderate
Dec	21–26 °C	10–25 m	strong

Season calendar

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Peak season highlighted · current month outlined

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