There’s no doubt that one of the biggest things that draws people to the Philippines are the beautiful beaches and well….the beautiful beaches. But what most people don’t know is that on one of the islands, Cebu, YOU CAN SWIM WITH WHALE SHARKS.
For those of you who don’t know the whale shark the biggest type of shark. It also happens to be the friendliest. 🙂 Once I found out that swimming with sharks could be an actual reality I was all hands on deck.
There are two different ways to do this, one is to fly directly to the island of Cebu and take a bus down to Oslob. The best time to see the sharks is early in the morning (like 630 early) – so plan on being there for at least two days. You’ll need to take a tricycle to the whale shark site – which every tricycle will know.
The second way – which I do NOT recommend – the way that I went – was from the island Panglao off of Bohol. You’ll need to take a ferry from one of the piers. It takes about three hours to arrive to Cebu. This ferry will cost anything from 700-1000 pesos ($17-20). Because of the length of this ferry, you will arrive to the site around 10. With all the turn around – you’ll end up back at Bohol around 4pm. That being said, it’s a VERY long day.
Once you get to the site – it will undoubtedly be utter madness. You will need to pay 1,000 php which is around $21.00 to get in which includes a life vest and a snorkel. Once you pay, you’ll get a number. This will be for your spot on the boat to see the whales.
Since we left from Bohol, we got to the site when it was super crowded and waited for about an hour. We were then taken out in a super small boat to SEE THE SHARKS! Once you get to the feeding water, they have you jump out and then you get to see them!!
I won’t bother going going into detail about how awesome it was because it was ultimately one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life. I HIGHLY recommend renting a GoPro if you don’t have one to take pictures. The experience is UNREAL. I could barely even remember it and was so glad that the pictures were there to remind me.
oh look it’s me
Casually being with a whale shark
No picture truly captures how awesome and massive these animals are
This is a real picture my friend Windor took.
HOW IS THIS EVEN REAL LIFE?!
