Our Encounter With The Gentle Giants

12 July 2015, Day 2

We started our day early to catch the whale sharks at the shores of Oslob. When we arrived at the whale shark watching area, we attended a short orientation before interaction with the gentle giants.

Here's an illustration of the guidelines

We were instructed not to put some sunblock for the chemicals might harm the whale shark itself. So if in case that you arrived at the venue with sunblock, don't worry, there is a shower area for you to rinse off. A young girl (maybe on her highschool already) led the orientation and I was amazed that she speaks English fluently. Good job! There were a lot of foreigners in the area, mostly Koreans, that day. After the orientation, we proceeded to the shore to wear our life jackets. If you did not avail of a tour package, you needed to pay a fee for this but I am not sure how much it was because our Oslob trip was pre-paid for 3,000php/person (including accomodation, transfers and activities in Day 1). 

Sunday morning at the shore where the small boats are parked

Each boat can carry around 10 persons and the interaction is for 30 minutes. This is already enough for you to enjoy swimming with the whale sharks because there are plenty during the morning. I remember our trip in Donsol, Sorsogon where the whale sharks were known to be in their shores as well. It was way back 2011 and we had a hard time to see a single whale shark. We were only able to see one and not that close though. Good thing that one of the fishermen of Oslob was able to discover that whale sharks can be driven in their shores by feeding them during the morning.

Heading towards the interaction area

The sun was greeting us intensely that morning and was worried that I might catch a sunburn. So you might want to wear a long-sleeved rash guard to somehow avoid your skin being burned.

The interaction area was actually just a paddles away from the shore which I did not expect. Ready your noses for a not-so-good smell of the sea because of the food of the whale sharks. Once you're at the area, you can just jump off the boat then just wait for the whale sharks to appear around you. They are EVERYWHERE! Haha. Just make sure to keep a 4-meter distance from them as part of the guidelines. In the middle of the area, there are fishermen who keeps feeding small fishes to the gentle giants to make them stay. I wonder why they were called the gentle giants. I remember one of the whale sharks almost touched me with its mouth but it was sensitive enough to swam away from me. See? They are harmless that they know when something unusual is coming their way. So don't be afraid.

We enjoyed swimming around and observing the main attraction of the moment. Good thing that 2 of my friends brought their GoPro and we were able to document our encounter. (Shout out to Ma'am Jacq and Dreb!)  

By the way, should you not have any underwater cameras to record your encounter, they have some at the orientation area that are for rent. Diving gears are also available for rent at the area.

Exploring a Part of Cebu: OSLOB

11 July 2015: Day 1

I was very fortunate that I was able to join a group that decided to travel 3 Philippine provinces in one trip. Bea, whom I known since highschool, told me last April that her boss and a group of friends were planning to do a Cebu-Siquijor-Dumaguete trip in July. Since I have to travel plans yet for that month and me being an adventurer, asked if could join them. When she gave me a GO signal, right there and then I booked my flight from Cebu Pacific. Good thing that they still have a discounted fare that time. I got a MNL-CEB then DGT-MNL route for about 2,200php (Not bad!)

July 11 came and we are to depart MNL at 5:55am. I met Ma'am Jacq (Bea's boss) and friends at the NAIA T3. They were nursing graduates from Makati Med and now some of them are working here and abroad.

We boarded just in time on one of the Airbuses of Cebu Pacific. The flight was on time as well and we landed in Cebu a little past 7:00am.

Kuya Achilles, a MIASSCO accredited driver, picked us up at the airport to have our trip towards Oslob. It was a 3 to 4-hour drive with stops in between for we bought our breakfast at Jollibee and also dropped by Carcar to buy some lechon and drinks. We arrived at Lagunde Beach Resort (part of our Oslob Tour package), around noon to freshen up and drop our bags.

Lagunde Beach Resort's pool area

The resort was okay. It has a lot of rooms and when we got there, we were the only ones who were checked-in that day. They have a pool as you can see above and an access to the beach as well. They also have their own restaurant so you don't have to worry on getting your tummy full. However, their food was a bit pricey. (Tip: You may bring outside food and drinks to save some money) We had a family room that has 3 double deck beds and one queen size bed. The room has its own kitchen and bathroom.

At 1:30pm, we went to meet Kuya Jerome (our tour guide) at the resort to start our agenda for that afternoon. Sumilon Island was our first stop.

Here we are inside our van, excited to explore the famous island in Oslob.

Approaching Sumilon Island. See the turquoise color of the water?

The time that we visited the island, the famous sandbar was still submerged under water (Too bad!). But this did not stopped us from enjoying what Sumilon Island has to offer. The water was so beautiful and was warm too so my friends had a plunged to beat the heat!

 Panoramic view of one side of Sumilon Island

The girls showing of their modeling skills

A little sea creature spotted inside one of the rocks

It's actually fun to examine the rock formations here. Some part of the rocks had water dripping on it that made it moist and maybe that's why there are creatures living inside it.

After Sumilon Island, we headed towards Tumalog Falls. It was just near the drop off point where we road a boat towards the island. We rode the van again going to the falls. There is a 20php per person fee upon entrance. However, we needed to either walk or ride a motorcycle from the parking area leading to the falls. I can't remember how much the ride costs going down but I think it was around 70php per person. We decided to just walk since the road was downhill and a part of the road was very steep so be careful!

Follow the sign

There's Dreb walking down the road

The Tumalog Falls

I was not really expecting much about the falls. But when we got there, I was in AWE. The feeling was very surreal. The water was falling and passing through different rock levels that made it so beautiful. Like I can stare at it for one whole day. You can feel the cold moist coming from the falls once you go closer to it (Ahhh, so relaxing!)

You can see the unique formation of the rocks where the water falls 

Kuya Jerome taking a picture of the girls  plus Jason 

According to Kuy Jerome, the locals fixed the wall when Yolanda struck the country. It is the wall that holds the water from the topmost level of the falls to maintain the level of the water.

After enjoying the cold water and the view, we took a motorcycle (with a driver of course) back up where the entrance of the falls was. By the way, the motorcycles are parked just below the falls so you don't have to worry on walking your way up. It costs 50php per person for a ride. 

Small stores near the parking area

We had our merienda at the small stores near the parking area. There are rice meals, snacks, drinks (water, softdrinks, etc) for a reasonable price and fresh coconuts too!You can buy one at 50php and drink directly from the shell then they can open the coconut for you to eat the its meat for a fee of 20-30php (I'm not sure).

There, there..

After having our merienda, we went back to our resort to enjoy the rest of the night.

Stay tuned for our Day 2 adventure with our Whaleshark encounter.