The Travelling Feet

After seeing the amazing underwater photos of Apo Island from Two2Travel.com, my friends and I planned a trip to the land of the sea turtles before summer ended. But an earlier scheduled road trip to Apo Island prompted me to visit the island ahead of schedule. Since those sea turtles were soooo adorable, I decided to go back to Apo again, this time staying for a night on that remote island east of the Visayas region.

On my 2nd trip to the island, my companions wanted to include a detour at Oslob to visit whale sharks. It was not my first time to see those gentle giants. I’ve gone whale shark watching before so everything was not new to me.

Just before sunrise, we arrived at the small barrio of Tan-awan in Oslob and found our way to the shore where they briefed whale shark watchers on the the things to do and what nots.

sunrise at Oslob

As soon as we finished listening to their short briefing, we paddled our way into the whale shark feeding grounds. When we had all our gears ready, we jumped out of the boat and started swimming towards the whale sharks to observe their daily feeding.

a boatman preparing to go to the feeding ground

The boatmen said there were 17 whale sharks present that day. That was a huge number compared to the whale sharks that frequented the area the previous time I was there. Most of the whale sharks were still too young too and this was evident from their length.

eating breakfast

As soon as we hit the waters, we immediately saw whale sharks approaching different boatmen who were facilitating the feeding. These boatmen throw meatball-sized planktons and soon, you’ll see the whale shark opening their mouth to catch their breakfast.

sharing food

Sometimes, whale sharks swim together and approach the boatman who is in charge of the food distribution.

one of the baby whale sharks

Some of the whale sharks that I saw that morning looked bored and not hungry at all. Instead, they kept swimming beneath us snorkelers as if wanting to intimidate us with their size.

a smiling whale shark

With some of those whale sharks swimming towards us, I couldn’t help think that they wanted to play with me and my friends. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, one of them would flash a small as if teasing us to join them on their early morning swim.

swimming as if wanting to play

Instead of staying away from us, these gentle giants were more comfortable hanging around us while we tried to swim away every time they attempted to get near (touching whale sharks are forbidden, else you will be fined).

After 30 minutes of whale shark watching, we went back to our designated boat. When I saw that the resort where we left our things was just near, I asked permission from the boatman if I could just swim back to the shore. The boatman gave me permission and told me that they’ll paddle behind to secure my safety too. So thoughtful of them!

So while my friends climbed the boat’s ladder, I started snorkeling back to the shore. I think it took me 10 minutes to reach the shoreline after constantly switching between scissor and dolphin kicks. My friends’ boat arrived 5 minutes after. I went back to the shore to greet them and to get the rest of the stuff that I left inside the boat. Then without warning, my friends started telling me that I got chased by the biggest whale shark in the group!

Huh????

That was my initial reaction. For a while, I thought that they were just teasing me but the seriousness in their tone said otherwise. They insisted that I got chased by one of the whale sharks!

Apparently, when I started paddling back to the shore, my fins were producing bubbles and that’s what caught the whale shark’s attention. The boatman forgot to tell me not to produce bubble and only blurted out the reminder when my ears were already submerged in the waters. Obviously, I didn’t hear the warning  nor did I remember the briefing and just flapped harder to get to the shore faster.

I’m guessing that the whale shark got hypnotized by the bubbles coming from my fins because it didn’t stop chasing me even though it was already swimming on shallow waters. My friends said that all of the boatmen were dazed while looking at my direction. I think they froze for a second back there. They said I was just a few inches away from the whale shark that was chasing me. I, on the other hand, was oblivious of what’s happening. I never even had the slightest clue that a giant fish was following me. hehehe.

the whale shark swimming in shallow waters while chasing me
photo credit: Nethaneel Jao

Not minding the shallow waters, the whale shark kept following me. The rest of the boatmen got glued to their boats. It was a good thing that one of the boatmen went after the whale shark and started bribing it with food to call its attention. Once the whale shark got distracted with the food offering, the boatman brought it back to the feeding ground.

When I heard my friend’s stories of what just transpired, I got amused at the thought of the whale shark chasing me. I wasn’t worried for my safety since I know the those gentle giants won’t harm me. I was more worried if that fellow got hurt after his shallow swim but It would have been wonderful if I sensed its presence and turned around to face it and said Hi!

 * * *

The locals in Barangay Tan-awan in Oslob found a way to monetize the whale sharks passing by the area. Selected boatmen are assigned to feed whale sharks with krill and planktons on a daily basis. The whale shark feeding has become sensational. It increased the tourism in the town of Oslob but a lot have expressed their strong disapproval for this unnatural process but the local government unit in the area refused to stop the operations. A lot of factors needs to be considered and the local government, together with researchers from different marine conservation groups have promised to ensure the safety of the whale sharks till they find a workable solution that will not endanger the lives of the whale sharks should they be  left in the wild to wander again. I just hope that do whatever they need to do to make sure that the balance of nature is not altered despite humans interference with the whale shark’s natural way of hunting for food.

I got the perfect gift a day before Christmas. Instead of receiving one gift, I received three unique holiday gifts! Yep! I received the best Christmas present in 2011. Those were unique holiday gifts in the form of amazing travel adventures. I got the chance to swim with the sharks in Oslob, Cebu, explore the beautiful town of Boljoon and climb Osmena Peak for the second time! Those adventures were done in a day trip when I joined a couple of my Pinoy Travel Blogger friends on an epic journey down south of Cebu.

This will be a 3-part series wherein I will let you in on the perfect gift I got last Christmas.

The Perfect Gift # 1

Swimming with Whale Sharks in Oslob, Cebu

Edgar of www.eazytraveler.com planned to climb Osmena Peak last December 23rd and also planned to check out the heritage town of Boljoon before the climb. But I guess after hearing about the phenomenal whale shark watching in the town of Oslob, the town after Boljoon, that had to be included in the itinerary. Swimming with whale sharks is on top of my must-do-list and I knew back then that in order to swim with the sharks of Donsol, Sorsogon, I must prepare money since swimming with the Donsol whale sharks can be quite expensive. But after learning that it will only cost me roughly P700 to be able to go on whale swimming in Cebu, I never hesitated and grabbed the opportunity.

From Cebu City, it takes 3 hours to reach the town of Oslob. At first, I thought that the meet up time of 3am was crazy but since they wanted to be there early in the morning and since I’m game for crazy adventures I decided not to sleep the night before and make sure my watch wasn’t set to Filipino time to avoid being late. However, Edcel, Drew and I arrived at the South Bus Terminal 30 minutes late. The 1st trip where Edgar, Christine and the rest of our companions were riding, already left. Then Edcel and Sheena of thewanderingcouple.com arrived a few minutes after. We had to take the second bus which left after 15 minutes. It wasn’t long before I dozed off as soon as the bus left the terminal. The next thing I knew, I was dragging my feet out of the bus while still groggy from sleep. The early morning cool breeze and the dew from the previous night’s rain didn’t help my state of sleepiness.

After regaining my senses, I found myself standing in front of the Tanawan Barangay Hall in Oslob. We had to walk a couple of meters back and looked for a gate with whale shark drawings.

No, we were not lost nor did we miss the drop off point. I guess that barangay hall was their point of reference when going to the whale shark watching area.

We went to see the resort’s caretaker and soon fitted fins, grabbed the rest of the snorkelling gears we rented and changed our clothes.

The whale sharks (butanding in Tagalog or Tukî in Bisaya) have been around the place for quite some time now. Some say they’ve been passing by the waters of Oslob for 2 years while some say they’ve been there for a year. When I asked my boatman how the whale shark watching started or who discovered it, he told me that a foreigner (I forgot if it was Japanese or Korean) saw sharks where a boatman was feeding them with “uyap” or tiny shrimps. The foreigner took photos of what he saw since he was so fascinated with what he just witnessed. There may be other versions of stories coming out as to when the sightings started but the rest was history…

There are about 14 whale sharks in the area. The biggest whale shark is 27-feet long. Their so-called “feeding ground” was just a few meters off the shoreline. We could even see the fins of the giant creatures from the shoreline. We immediately rented a boat to reach the sighting area. For P200 per head, you can rent your own small fishing boat and get a boatman to bring you to the whale shark watching swimming area. One can easily swim to get near the whale sharks in Oslob but they say you have to pay the same rate once you get inside the sighting ground.

The experience was exhillirating. I don’t know if I need to be scared with the whale sharks. You really don’t need to know how to swim to be able to see them for the whale sharks will surely pass by your side so be ready with your waterproof cameras. As for me, I tried to take underwater shots of the whale sharks passing by our boat. When I knew I had enough videos and photos after I dipped my Canon Ixus 95 IS camera in the sea water, which was inside an underwater camera casing, I started wearing my flippers and jumped into the sea. I had diffifulty adjusting to the mask and snorkel I chose since the water gets inside my eyes and mouth. I couldn’t count the number of times I drank sea water too but I didn’t care. My main goal was to see the gentle giants of the sea and it was a truly amazing experience!

No one is allowed to touch the whale sharks or get too close to them. If they happen to swim in your direction, you need to swim away from them. This is not just to protect you from the whale sharks but also to protect themselves from YOU so you need to be extra cautious and be the resposible swimming tourist that  you ought to be, k?

On Responsible Tourism and the Safety of the Whale Sharks in Oslob

There are quite a couple of whale sharks in the Philippines. Donsol is home to the biggest whale shark attraction in the country wherein you can swim and dive with sharks, the butandings – those gentle creatures of the sea. After word got out that you can also dive and swim with the sharks in Cebu, Oslob could soon become the next tourist destination in the country. Being a resident of Cebu, I am excited about the attention our province will get as the influx of tourist will surely rise. The whale shark watching will add up to the countless activities they can do in Cebu.

However, we should also not forget that proper agencies have to be consulted to ensure that the whale sharks won’t be threatened by tourists like me, who’s only goal is to swim with them. Let’s just hope we won’t attract the other kinds of tourists.

I asked an old buddy about the repercussions of the series of events that’s happened in Oslob and what’s his take on the matter. He told me that tourism-wise, this is a big thing for Cebu and this will help boost the tourism in the province. However, on an environmentalist’s perspective, it’s best to stop the whole swimming with the whale shark experience until proper measures and procedures are put in place. Before anything else, the community needs to be prepared first. They need to understand deeply why there’s a sudden rush of tourists. They need to know that from the moment they continue allowing tourists to see the gentle giants of   Oslob, they are owning up on the responsibility for whatever’s going to happen to those whale sharks. They should be prepared to become the guardians of the sea of Oslob to protect those creatures.

Here’s a list of  agencies to be contacted to ensure the welfare of both mankind and the gentle giants of the sea:
- Cebu Biodiversity Conservation Foundation (CBCF)
- Coastal Conservation and Education Foundation (CCEF)
- Law of Nature Foundation / School of the Seas of Atty. Antonio Oposa

I guess what’s lacking in the place right now is the proper implementation of a system that will not harm men and threaten the whale shark’s existence. Aside from thinking about the community, they also need to think about the whale shark’s welfare. For sure, those sharks also doesn’t understand why all of a sudden there are a lot of people swimming in their playground. They too should be prepared for what might happen. As to how they’ll do that, I have no idea. I just hope that they act on it immediately.

Here’s something you can read to increase your awareness of what might happen if proper measures are not followed – https://www.facebook.com/notes/elson-aca/grooming-a-disaster/296634240375271

Until no such procedures have been implemented, it is wise to practice extra caution when you swim or dive with whale sharks in Oslob, Cebu provided that they haven’t ceased the whale shark watching yet.

Check out the articles written by my travel companions too:

Christine - Best Itinerary in 24 Hours for 2011! – Southern Cebu
Edcel - Cebu Trip: Whale Shark ‘Butanding’ Encounter in Oslob
Edcel and Sheena – Sidetrip: Swimming with the Whale Sharks in  Cebu
Edgar - Swimming with Oslob’s Whalesharks (Tukî)
Lakbay Pilipino - Cebu’s Whale Shark: The Tukî Experience

How To Get There

1. Go to the South Bus Terminal located along N. Bacalso St. Cebu City
2. Take the bus going to Oslob. Fare is P149 for non-aircon and P159 for airconditioned buses
3. Tell the bus condcutor to drop you off at the Tan-awan Barangay Hall. If you can spot the gate on the left side, ask the bus driver to stop the bus.

Whale Shark Watching Expense (per head):

159 – Cebu to Oslob bus (aircon, one-way)
100 – resort entrance fee
200 – small fishing boat fee good for 40 minutes
100 – snorkelling gear rental

About the Resort
There’s only 1 common bathroom as of the moment, which is located in the resort owner’s house. You can wash up at a faucet outside and use one of the resort owner’s rooms to change clothes. There are cottages in the area for rent too. You can just leave your belongings in the resort owner’s house. There are not enough life vests provided though.

If you are looking for the best gift ideas you could give to your family or friends, why don’t you try one of the best Christmas present I received before Christmas – swimming with the whale sharks. But please become reponsible tourits once you are in the whale shark’s playground

Update as of January 10, 2012:

There were 2 whale sharks who have been hurt and are missing. To those who will see or witness these illegal activities done by men to harm the whale shaks in Oslob, please immediately report to the proper authorities. More story here – WOUNDED BEASTS

Update as of April 1, 2012:

These photos were uploaded online and was confirmed that this happened in Boljoon, the town before Oslo, Cebu. Please be reminded that no one is allowed to touch whale sharks or to get near them. This is to let everyone know what to do when you see whale sharks.

Whale sharks are not surfboards or pets!

Update as of April 3, 2012:

Diving with Whale Sharks: Code of Conduct

Please refer to the image below to know the code of conduct when diving with whale sharks. Please let this be a reminder to everyone to practice and promote responsible tourism.