Out of curiosity, we decided to see Whalesharks or Butanding in Cebu. It’s our first time so we did some research before finally deciding to pay a visit at Oslob and we are very happy we did it! The thought of going to see a Butanding is very exciting, eventhough we can’t swim were not afraid to meet the Butanding, gentle giants of the sea.
The south east of Cebu is famous for Whale watching in Tanawan, Oslob. The town is about 3 hours away from Cebu city. We travelled by bus and arrived at around 6AM. Oslob Whale shark watching recommended time is 6:00AM to 09:00AM. Lucky us that we arrived early.
How to get there:
1. If you are in the Cebu City, you can take a cab. It takes 15 minutes drive from our hotel to South Bus Terminal.
2. Take a Ceres bus (yellow color bus) which has “Oslob” sign on front. The cost is 150 pesos. Tell the conductor that you want to get off at Barangay Tan-awan.
3. Dropped off at Barangay Tan-awan, Oslob. You wont get lost as the Whale watching resorts are just on the side of the road.
We approached the desk at the entrance of MB’s Sunrise resort and was asked to register our name, age and nationality.
Whaleshark cost:
Php 300.00 each for Whale watching only
Php 500.00 each for Whale watching plus Snorkeling (inclusive of equipments) for locals
Php 1,500 each for Whale watching plus Snorkeling for foreign tourists
You can choose to remain in the boat or swim with them. We chose to swim!
We just leave our other belongings at the receptionist area, there’s locker room. No fee but no padlock! Good luck!
There were many people wanting to see the Butanding when we were there, so we had to wait an hour to go out on the water. First, we were ushered to the information center and the speaker was able to give us the do’s and don’ts. It was a very informative pre-tour briefing. Really good for the awareness and the protection of the Whale sharks.
The Whale sharks were huge, playful and harmless. They are beautiful and sweet. They are free to come and go because they follow the little boats feeding them. Boats are queue up in lines to watch. The whaleshark experience was such an awesome and amazing experience.
We are not a swimmers but we are able to see the Butanding by putting our head under the water while holding the boat. They swim so close to you that they end up touching you at some point with a tail or fin. It took us 45 minutes with the whale sharks.
Because we were very excited asking boat mans to help us take some photos and videos and it’s quite crowded (boat mans are busy taking photos of other tourist too) we didn’t noticed that our GoPro was accidentally dropped to the bottom. I was crying already because I thought we lost it. But the Cebuanos boat mans are very helpful, they searched our GoPro under the sea. Lucky, the water is very clear and it’s not that very deep. They saw it because of the bright blue color of selfie pole makes it easier to find. We’ve been lucky with our generous boat men – the encounter was truly unforgettable.
Some tips:
- Come early or visit on weekdays to avoid the crowd on weekends.
- Don’t forget to bring your underwater cameras and capture pictures and videos. If you don’t have you can rent it for 500-550 pesos. Shots with flash is not allowed.
- Please do not wear SUNBLOCK as this can impact the creatures.
- Respect and be kind to collaborate with your boat guide/diver you can ask them to take pictures/videos of you.
- You may bring your swimming gears for hygiene purposes.
- No touching, no riding, do not stay within 5 meters
Over all, it was a great experience!
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