DIY PH Travel#10: Going South - Swimming with the Gentle Giants
It's a great day today at the #Steemit world! I have been busy yesterday as we were out of town for yet another weekend warrior adventure. Yes, I consider myself and my husband as weekend travelers because of our full time weekday jobs, we only get the weekend to spend time in travels.
Today's blog is yet another Going Southern Cebu and so far, this is the most visited tourist attraction in the entire Visayas if not in the entire country.
Made a time lapse clip while waiting for our number to be called at the shoreline.
Brace yourselves as this would be a water dripping, lung extortionate-ing (if there's such a word for that) and heart pumping experience!
Would you believe it when I say I have swim with sharks numerous times and was still able to come home alive, intact in one piece? Yeah, I can sense you are smiling or perhaps laughing right now because you know I am referring to sharks which are super huge yet gentle at the same time. I don' want to waste your time guessing so let me introduce to you, the gentle giants of Oslob Cebu.
Locally referred as "Tuki" in Cebuano dialect while it is hugely called as "Butanding" in the northern of the country, it is the general term we use referring to these creatures.
The Whale Sharks attraction in Oslob, Cebu had undergone different issues and allegations about animal and environmental activists who says swimming with these creatures who are being fed by fishermen creates a dependency attitude while they are mainly migrating type of animals.
However, the attraction is still a hit even after all the allegations and activism by these groups.
"It's irresponsible and unsustainable. It's not even ecotourism. You sacrifice the environment just for a selfie," the group's director AA Yaptinchay told AFP.
That statement was after the Miss Universe candidates swam with the sharks. News information from ABS-CBN News
Tuki waiting for the feeder.
Anyways, I as a locally registered individual in Oslob is enjoying the perks as I only get to pay Php 50 in every single time swimming with these whale sharks so it is not a surprise that I had experienced it multiple of times.
Foreigner visitors at the coastal area.
In fact, my husband and I are still planning to swim with them when the perfect time comes, perfect time means the sea is settle and calm and a clear sky so that we can take nice video footage and shots. For the past attempts, it was always a failure but we still had decent shots with our GoPro unit even so.
Here's one:
Swimming with the whale sharks as I have said boomed the tourism of Oslob. It was year 2012 when I had my first swim, it was a very amazing experience and then when I was registered as a local in Oslob, I didn't stop and will continue to do so in the future.
Here are just some of the tips that I would like to share:
1. Don't go near them.
Huge creature!
During the orientation, the staff will tell you to keep a three meter distance away from the whale sharks. Please observe this because it will help you from getting fined.
But more importantly, taking photos / videos near them is not good. From the past experiences, it is way better to take shots away from them, it has a wider view of the butanding plus it will show more actions of your companion.
2. Ask the boatmen to take a photo or video of you.
If you are solo traveling, you must pull all courage to ask help from the boat men to take photos or videos of you. They are really good with that and they can swim in deeper and can hold their breath longer so you can just swim and they'll take shots for you.
So far, I had done this once but it was an epic failure because the boatmen stopped the camera but I will surely do this again in the future and for sure we'll get better footage.
3. Know when to wear or not to wear your life jacket.
It doesn't have teeth, so they only eat tiny fishes or shrimps.
I noticed most tourists would wear their life jacket while trying to take a selfie of him or her with the sharks. Unfortunately, you can't take a selfie underwater if you have your life jacket on because it will keep you from going underwater!
You got to be wise enough to take off your life jacket when you need the selfie shot.
There should be a time for everything. A time to take footage of the sharks and a time to take selfies and even full body shots with the help of your companions or the boat men.
I highly recommend using your life jacket as you reached the location then after ten minutes or so, you can proceed with taking it off and do the selfie shots.
4. Thirty minutes might not be enough.
You'll only get thirty minutes to realize all your plans beforehand so make sure you have a clear itinerary and don't be distracted by the circumstances. Make every second count while you were there and be extra careful not to miss anything from what you have planned to do.
5. Be aware of your surrounding.
Some divers spotted!
Tourists are all over the feeding area so you'll get a lot of photobombers. Whale sharks follow the feeders, they are the boatmen who are paddling at the center of the area.
Don't exert so much energy looking for the whale sharks, instead wait for that specific boatman and you could just do your thing once he arrives. Also, your own boatman will tell you where the sharks are coming from. Note as well that whale sharks although they are huge, they can swim really fast.
That's it! Don't forget to visit other Oslob attractions as follows:
How To Get There?
Cebu City is always my starting point for all my travel entries because I am from Cebu obviously but also because Cebu City is usually the hub. However, I realized that there are also other means of getting to Oslob. Let's start with Cebu.
From Cebu City:
From Cebu City, find the South Bus Terminal, there are buses going to southern Cebu in minutes or hours interval. Ceres buses and Sunrays are there which will cost you Php 140-150. However, there are also vans for hire at a separate terminal which is a bit complicated to look for so I highly recommend the buses specially if you are new to Cebu.
One can tell the bus driver or helper to drop you at Tan awan Whale Shark attraction briefing area. All bus drivers know this, you just have to specify that it should be at the briefing center or else they might drop you at one of the resorts.
From Dumaguete:
Take the fast craft or roro from Sibulan port going to Liloan, take a earliest schedule which is at five in the morning, there's a schedule in every hour after that. From the Liloan port, Ceres buses can take you to Tan awan in just less than an hour.
From Bohol:
Yes, there are tourists coming from Bohol, most of them are Koreans. There are boats offering whale shark swimming from Panglao Bohol which is just facing Oslob so the travel time takes around two hours. Unfortunately, they offer this option in packages so I don't know the pricing.
Koreans waiting for their turn.
Fees?
Filipino visitors watching from the non motorized boat - Php 300
Filipino visitors swimming with the whale sharks - Php 500
Foreigners swimming with the sharks - Php 1000
Local Oslobanon individuals - Php 50
Filipino visitors diving with the whalesharks - Php 600
Foreigners diving with the whalesharks - Php 1500
This guy was just contented sitting and observing the busy boats in front of him.
These fees already include free usage of the snorkeling goggles and life jacket.
Disclaimer: All media files are mine otherwise stated.
!steemitworldmap 9.465032 lat 123.380284 long d3scr
xo JUNEBRIDE xo
NICE
thanks dear!
Welcome
Congratulations, Your Post Has Been Added To The Steemit Worldmap!
Author link: http://steemitworldmap.com?author=junebride
Post link: http://steemitworldmap.com?post=diy-ph-travel-10-going-south-swimming-with-the-gentle-giants
Want to have your post on the map too?
Add the following inside your post:
!steemitworldmap xxx lat yyy long description d3scr
(replace xxx and yyy with latitude and longitude)
Another great blog worth to be curied!
thank you sa support sir!