ONE WITH THE gentle giants
IAM usually the stay-indoor type but going with my friends on a Cebu trip made me realize how much I was missing out on travelling. Philippines is such a dynamic country and there’s surely a different experience for every destination.
First stop when we got there was in Oslob to swim with the famed whale sharks. And I could not contain my excitement as I am about to dive to the water and swim with the friendly giants.
Oslob Whale Shark watching has been one of the top must-visit spots when you set your foot in the Queen City of the South-Cebu. In order for you to experience this wonderful creature swimming in the magnificent blue water, you have to wake up early. Fishermen say the whales are only visible during their feeding period from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
We got up early but what we failed to anticipate was the flock of tourists. The locals said, most of them are Taiwanese and Korean, it’s really hard to identify which is which because of the similarity of the looks, especially their eyes.
As we got to the area, we are given a priority number for the boat and the team lined up for the distribution of life jackets (safety first!)
The distance from the shore to the feeding area is around 20 meters, and once we got there, we couldn’t hide our excitement as we see the head of the whale bobbing through the water. We couldn’t find the words to express how we are feeling, we just squealed and giggled.
Before we got to the boat, we are given a short briefing on what and what not to do during the encounter and one of them is to at least provide a five-meter distance and once I saw one of them coming, I got really nervous because looking at its mouth, two people would surely fit there (haha), and adding to that, I don’t know how to swim, and it was horror for me. But guides told us to stay calm and to just let them pass; they are harmless creatures as long as you stick to other policies mentioned during the briefing period.
Each boat can accommodate at least 6-7 passengers and are only given a 30-minute encounter with the whales, provided that there’s still the number of tourist and locals waiting for their turn. So it is advisable that once your boat reached the area, don’t hesitate to jump for they are harmless and to just take your time and seize the moment swimming with this magnificent creature.
One good thing in the resort we stayed at is they offer a Go-pro for rent along with a photographer. Since we were fifteen in our group we rented two cameras and following the boat’s limit, we were divided into two groups.
Hence, the whole experience was nonetheless awesome; especially that it’s a fresh experience diving into water with one of the biggest yet the gentlest mammals on earth, the whales.