An Encounter with the Gentle Giant

I've always loved the idea of being in the ocean. Blue, cold and crystal clear water, beautiful corals and many different kinds of fishes. What always worries me is the thought that there might be a shark underneath the majestic ocean. You know the movies about sharks such as 'Jaws' , 'The Shallows' and the likes? I have watched plenty of movies about sharks and how they attack humans; how they eat the flesh out of those innocent human. That made me cringe! And since then, I've always been afraid of them. Sure, I could watch them swim behind the thick walls in Ocean parks' big aquariums but to swim with them? Nah, never gonna happen. Or so I thought..

Part of our Cebu tour includes whale shark (locally referred as Butanding) watching. Seems horrifying for someone like me,eh? You would need to pay P500 to be able to interact or swim with these whale sharks for only 30minutes. Life vests and snorkeling gear are already provided.

Before the big event, I already told my boyfriend that I would come with them but I would just watch the whalesharks from the small boat. I'm too afraid to come near them despite their being 'gentle'.

We woke up early in the morning to prepare for the activity. The activity starts at 6am. We didn't even bother to take a bath because the water is salty anyway.

(Here's our photo going to the activity area. It's a 3-5mins drive from our Inn)

Before starting with the activity, all of the guests were asked to sit down and attend the quick orientation to discuss about the do's and don'ts of whale shark interaction.

Do's & Dont's:

•Do keep a distance from the whale sharks
•Do not touch or ride the whale sharks or block its way
•Do not use flash when taking photos
•Do not put on Sunblock lotion when swimming with the whaleshark as the chemicals might be harmful to them.
•No jumping from the boat

(Briefing area)

We rode the boat and we instantly smell something off. It was coming from the food that the tour guides are feeding to the whalesharks. It was shrimps or krill I guess. Upon reaching the spot where the whale sharks are swimming, people from
the boat started to go down in the water. I was hesitant at first but soon enough, I went down in the water with them.

(Here's a picture of us getting on the boat.)

The first time I saw them in water, I was very amazed. It was very surreal, I could only see them before in Geographic channel and I cannot believe that I'm looking at the real thing at that moment. They are indeed huge, they are the size of a shuttle bus! I even saw bigger ones.

A few minutes after, I could see a giant whale shark approaching us. I literally jumped back at the boat as I panicked and then come back in the water after. 😂 I guess I'm still not comfortable being around them. They seemed to be clingy because they really go near us and there was also an instance where they swam under us I was so nervous. 😂

These whale sharks come here only for a season because of food and when they leave, new batch of whale sharks come.

I do not have a photo with these giants because I was very tensed. Lol. So here's a photo of my boyfriend instead.

If you ask me if I would do it again, I definitely will. It was a very nice experience overcoming your fears and these are the kinds of memories that I'll cherish forever. If you would like to experience it yourself, it's at Tan-awan Oslob, Cebu here in the Philippines!

Do you have an experience swimming with the whalesharks before? Write it down on the comment section below. Cheers! 😉