Whale Sharks In Philippines
by Rachel Fierro
(USA)
At one point, I was right alongside its eyeball. We gazed into each other's eyes and I could see that this pace was nothing for the big whale-shark. He was just playing with us – making us get in a good workout and earn our time with him.
Diving Operator Performance
The setup for whale watching/swimming with Whale Sharks in Donsol is pretty interesting. It's all handled by the Visitors Center, Dancalan, Donsol.
They did a great job of organizing, educating, and running a quality operation.
I found them in the Lonely Planet guide book for Southeast Asia and would absolutely recommend them. This was an amazing experience.
I loved the way they had you sit and watch a very informative video before going out to see the whale sharks.
They had every guest spend about 15 minutes or so watching a video that gave all sorts of information about the whales, why they come to Donsol, the rules for interacting with the whales, and the environmental issues regarding the whales.Out at Sea
Most people choose to wait at the Donsol Visitors' Center until they've got a group of six ready to head out to swim with the whale sharks. This way they can split the cost (3,500 pesos or $72.70) for the boat, butanding spotter, butanding interactive officer (BIO), and skipper.
My girlfriend and I tried that approach, but had missed the main surge of people, so we just paid the entire fee and had the boat all to ourselves.
The boat is a 20-25 foot long outrigger canoe. They can accommodate 4-7 passengers.
The rules were simple. Get your snorkel gear on when you are told, sit on the edge of the boat, then jump smoothly into the water immediately on his command.
The spotter climbed up on a pole and looked for signs of nearby whale sharks – a shadow in the water.
Once he alerted our BIO that he'd spotted a whale shark, we had less than a minute to get our gear on and get our butts down on the edge of the boat. When our BIO said, "Okay," we were to follow him into the water as quickly as possible.
It took me several of these launchings to figure out how not to get banged up by my girlfriend, Shauna's body and flippers. All three of us had to sit close together in a cramped space between the outrigger arms. My clumsy entry meant I got battered each time.
We took Dramamine – the "less-drowsy" version – since we have a history of getting seasick.
The weather was a bit cloudy, but warm and humid.
Our trip lasted 2½ - 3 hours.The Sharks
In the Philippines they are called butanding, but we know them as whale sharks, the biggest fish in the ocean.
While some may call this "whale watching" it seems more appropriate to call it a whale interaction, since that is really what is going on.
In our 2+ hours on the water, we saw and swam with 6 whale sharks of different sizes. It was the most amazing underwater experience I have ever had. We swam right alongside these massive creatures, yet with no fear whatsoever.
We were close enough to touch them, to peer into their eyes, yet feel totally safe the whole time.
We were instructed to stay at least 4-5 feet from the whale sharks, but a few times, because they changed directions unexpectedly, we ended up even closer – maybe 2-3 feet from them.
Once in the water, we focused all our attention on our BIO, kicking like crazy to keep up with him as he swam away from the boat. We could see nothing but blue, hazy water, and then, finally, our guide pointing insistently to one side.
As we wondered what in the world our BIO could have seen, this huge, gigantic shark head suddenly came into view – swimming right toward us. A big, black head with white polka dots and a squared off nose got larger and larger as it approached.
At first, I was in shock – amazed at the size of this fish. I just floated and stared as this behemoth of the ocean got closer and closer.
Then, once I got my brain working again, I moved to the side of the creature and began kicking to swim alongside this massive beast. I was swimming close enough to reach out and touch its enormous head. My entire 5 foot frame could not span the length or width of this animal's head. I was more the size of it gills.
After a few minutes of swimming alongside and above this biggest of all fish, he started to descend. Soon his spots were the only thing I could see and then even those would fade away into the plankton clouded waters. When we popped back up to the surface, our guide told us that was a small butanding – and it was at least 20 feet long.
As we got more and more comfortable, our water entries became less clumsy, and we even got more and more daring while snorkelling. We would take turns free-diving down to get in front of the shark, right alongside its eyes, or directly over its head.
One time I got so carried away, entirely focused on getting really close, I didn't even notice how deep I had gone. I was right there with the whale shark, as close as allowed, then a realization hit me. I needed to breathe – right away. I looked up and the surface of the water seemed really far away. I didn't just float to the top. I kicked like a maniac to get to the surface for a gasp of fresh air.
As the clouds gathered in the skies overhead, our spotter said it would be much harder to locate a butanding. I was starting to think our whale time might be over. I wasn't upset though. All that we had seen was just so amazing and wonderful.
Then the spotter saw a shadow on the surface and we slid into the water for what would be our most thrilling snorkelling yet. This particular whale shark stayed close to the water's surface for a really long time.
All of the others had decided to dive after just a few minutes of us snorkelling alongside. Maybe this one liked human swimming partners because he stuck around for 15-20 minutes! Not 15-20 minutes of floating or easy cruising either, but full-speed-ahead snorkelling.
I've never kicked so hard, so fast, for so long. It was unbelievable! I stayed with the butanding, right up by its 6 foot wide head. It would descend to about 10 feet, then come back up to 2-3 feet deep, moving along at a pretty brisk pace the whole time.
When it was done our legs were rubber and we were panting from exhaustion after that encounter. It was such a long time with the whale shark. I was shocked that he let us stick with him for so very long. It was the most awesome whale interaction of the day!!
Accommodation
There are only about 4 or 5 places to stay in Donsol since it's really just a small fishing village.
We stayed at Amor Farm Beach Resort. It's a collection of about 15 small, supremely simple bungalows and duplex bungalows.
There's a large, open dining area/restaurant, with a thatch roof. They have a large menu of Filipino food, plenty of fresh fruits and vegetable and are happy to try to accommodate all sorts of requests. We are vegans and they even found a way to work with us.
They also take people out diving, rent kayaks, and have a small beach to enjoy. It was very inexpensive and quite enjoyable. I would totally recommend it.
Disappointments
We really wanted to do the Fireflies River Cruise, but the other people who had signed up, backed out at the last minute.
Tips and Advice
Though it wasn't our original plan, we ended up being totally thrilled to have the boat all to ourselves for our whale shark encounter. It really is the best way to go.
If you want pictures of you swimming with the whale sharks, buy a simple disposable underwater camera and let the Butanding Interaction Officer (your guide) take pictures while in the water. They seem to be able to get the best shots!
Keep your flippers on between dives. It makes for less stress.
Take plenty of cash. No one down in Donsol takes credit cards and there's not a bank or ATM for miles and miles.
Shauna and I both wish we would have had more time to spend in the Philippines. There seems to be a lot to do and see.
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