2016.01.30: Oslob - Whale Sharks

I was a bit negative on the last post, regarding Moalboal, but I’m soon to learn that those things that bugged me there, were fairly common place around the tourist locations in the Philippines. In Oslob, we bought our tour with the hotel we were staying at, which allowed us to avoid all of the haggling and hassling from the hagglers and hasslers. That’s not to say it didn’t happen, just, that it happened far less and we were more prepared for those that we did get.

Anyways, I promised you Whale Sharks:

More Whale Sharks:

And more Whale Sharks:

And even more Whale Sharks…

Okay, so while there are some ethical issues surrounding Oslob and it’s whale shark attraction, I have to admit that it was one of the highlights of the trip. I also felt like there was a lot of people trying to make an impact here to reduce to damage done to the whale sharks, and also to warn people about their affects on the sharks. But I do agree with the environmentalists that there are huge problems for the populations on both a short and long term scale… Though I think I will try and tackle this in a future post, specifically dedicated to them though.

For now, I want to share just how incredible it was to come face to face with these beautiful, huge, and docile creatures. The moment we jumped in the water, there was one right in front of us and the 30-40 minutes we got to spend swimming with them, photographing and filming them, was really exhilarating and inspiring.

A note to all people who wish to go here, go early. When we were leaving, buses from Cebu was arriving with tons of people. Another note, please respect these creatures. If you go on this tour, keep in mind that you are supporting the industry that takes advantage of them, but they do have restrictions and you should follow these rules to make sure less harm is done to the sharks.

Next time: Tumalog Falls - What to do after the whale sharks.