Swimming with the Whale sharks in Oslob, Cebu, Philippines

 

 Have you heard of swimming with the whale sharks? 

I had not heard about it, I had only heard about "Whale watching" until now. The first whale watching I did was in Boston with friends, where we were taken 25 kms into the ocean and watched some beautiful whales jumping out of the water and also spotted some playful dolphins, all while shivering in the freezing cold, windy weather. This was once upon a time in 2007. 

The second time was 15 years later, in 2022, while holidaying in Sydney with cousins. I can recollect this more clearly as this was in the recent times. The Catamaran boat that took us into the ocean had a lot of turbulence due to the high tides that occur when we venture out deep into the ocean. Saw some people throwing up. We were all given puke bags by the staff to be prepared for such incidents. I found a way to not feel the turbulence too much- I just lay down on a 3 seater sofa and held on tightly to the rails of the seat in front with my eyes closed and just enjoyed going up and down with the boat movements. LOL!

                             

                               

Fast forward to 2023….I decided to go on a girls’ trip to Cebu, Philippines. It is an island known as the Queen city of the South, which has some of the best beaches in the Philippines. On the first day, we booked an activity called “Swimming with the Whale sharks” and had no idea what it is like. I assumed it would be similar to the Whale watching experience and had the courage of a person who has done the same activity more than once  I wasn’t sure what my other girlfriends were going through. They were not new to travelling to new places and experimenting, so I figured there was nothing to worry about. 

                                                               

               

We did an aloe vera massage the night before (which was fabulous) and slept at 11 pm (later than planned) as we were shooting some reels (hint: the photo above). I woke up at 3:15 am and saw that one of my friends was already up and getting ready. We had a pick up at 4 am, so we had to be ready in our swim wear and grab some breakfast to eat during the ride to the spot. We hopped onto the mini van and it was supposed to take us on a 1.5 hour drive to the Whale shark area, known as Oslob. The Oslob whale sharks are considered as the living species of the 'largest fish in the world'. They can reach up to 15 meters long. Whoa!

 

The only rule we were asked to follow was not to wear Sunscreen, as it could affect the innocent whale sharks under water. So we were prepared to get tanned and turn into the same color as our black swimsuits 

 

We reached Oslob, got out of the van and walked over to stand in the queue. We were shocked to see there were at least a 100 people, ahead of us, waiting in line. And here we were, complaining about having to wake up early in the morning on a vacation. LOL. We had a full-time guide, named Gina, who was sweet enough to share details, guide us along, bring us towels, carry our personal belongings, etc. By the time we reached the counter for getting our boat number, it was an hour already. Observed that there were two different counters- one for locals and one for foreigners. We were made to sit in chairs, under a shelter, until a boat number was assigned to our group. It was well organized. After we got our boat number (117), we just had to wait outside near the shore until our boat was ready. All this took a good 3 hours. I was getting super bored, just siting and waiting, without snacking or shopping or sight seeing. Finally, our number was called and we ran to get our life jackets, put them on and walked towards the large boat, which was going to take us to where the Whale sharks were.

                                         

 

We sat in the boat, one on each wooden plank and we had some Americans for company. The boat ride was probably 10 mins and we saw a single man in another boat, wearing a Vietnamese hat, throwing some tiny prawns into the ocean. Then our boat driver asked us to jump into the water and swim. We had worn goggles with nose protection and did not have snorkeling gear. So we had to hold our breath under water and come out at intervals to take in some air. 

Later, we understood that the guy was feeding the prawns to attract the Whale sharks near us and Tada! we saw a gigantic long sea creature with a large head and huge body, swimming near us. It was black with white spots (like a dalmatian in reverse) and so gorgeous. I didn’t know whether to be scared or happy, I was just amazed. After one went, the next one came along and I saw one of my brave friends was farther ahead of us, close enough to touch the whale shark. She was clicking photos and saying hello to it under water. I didn’t have the guts to go and be with her. I felt safer closer to our boat. 

In minutes, I was just looking out and breathing, along with talking to another friend, who was not leaving her hands off the poles of the boat, when I heard others shouting “It’s coming!”. I got excited to take another picture of the Whale shark and went down. with my cellphone camera ready to click. I opened my eyes and here it was, it’s head just inches away from my face, with it’s huge mouth wide open. I tried to scream, but could not with those goggles over my nose and being under water at the same time. I frantically tried to swim away in another direction fearing for my life and thinking it might gulp me down its throat. But then, it just ate the prawns and swam away again. Phew! 

That was one close encounter which will be etched in my memory for a long time.

    

 

We spend about 45 mins in the water and saw more than 10 whale sharks. We were asked to climb back into the boat afterwards. We did not want to leave, but knew we had to follow instructions. There were a small set of stairs to climb back. It was super sunny, which helped with not feeling cold. After reaching the shore, we went to stand under the taps to wash off the ocean water and weeds. Gina was there to hand us the towels to cover ourselves and we walked back to the van. Shopped for some souvenirs and drank coconut water on the way.

 

                                                                      

This was one trip which was worth every penny we spent. It was well worth waking up early morning, before the sun rise and standing in queue to swim with the Whale sharks. Thank you, Oslob for the wonderful memories you gave us for life!

Are you ready to see a picture of the gorgeous massive Whale shark? See below!

Let me know in the comments, if you want to know any more details, like who was the friend who was holding onto the pole throughout our time in the water :P