Guide to the Whalesharks of Oslob

Day 1 with the Whalesharks of Oslob

As a weekend farmers of Negros, normally we go home via Mactan airport where the airfare from Manila is much cheaper than a direct flight to Dumaguete. Oslob is just a town that we usually pass by in going home, it is the town before Santander, where the Liloan pier is. There is always the great cliff side view of the blue sea and Sumilon Island but that's about it, we don't pay much attention to the place. Things changed when I read about this article on whalesharks of Oslob. It is unbelievable and inviting. Is it real? I was never this excited to go farming ever before because I know that a side trip to Oslob is very possible if we are in Dumaguete.

Last Saturday, January 28, 2012, we took our chance and head for Tan-awan. Tan-awan is the barangay where the whale sharks are.With our rash guard, mask, snorkel, aqua shoes and flippers, we head out. We alighted at the briefing center. To my surprise, the place is organized but not developed. Organized in the sense that there is a registration area, ticketing area, briefing area and then there will be men who will guide you to the boatmen. Not developed in the sense that it is just an parking lot, with ropes to guide travelers in falling in line, and wooden tables for the registration and ticketing area and a make shift tent for the briefing area. Do I care that is has no concrete structure? NO. It just started January 7 of this year, this is barely a month of operation. I am actually impressed that they were able to organize themselves that fast.  

Queue at the registration area

Registration Area

Ticketing area

At the registration area, you will get the priority number and it is color coded. Yellow, Green, Blue and that corresponds the group who will show you the whale sharks. We got Blue. Then you will  proceed to the ticketing area. Php 300 per person for the boat ride if you non Oslobanons. Even if you are from Cebu but not from the town of Oslob, it is still Php 300 including children, no discount. Then proceed to the briefing area and our language of preference is Cebuano. Basically the briefing tells you what NOT  TO DO. Don't feed the sharks. Don't touch the shark. Don't ride the shark. No camera flash. If you are diving, try not to produce a lot of bubbles. Stay 5 meters away from the tail.... Ooppps, it is supposed to be 10, what happened to the other 4! I cant help but be distracted because I can see the whale sharks from the briefing area.  

Banca good for 1

Whale shark watching

Soon after the briefing, we were guided to the Blue Zone which is being headed by Mang Ramon. He asked us to wait for our turn. While waiting, we paid Php 20 for a quick shower at the resort and asked the caretaker if we can just leave our luggage in their house while we snorkel. We requested for the smallest banca that has a capacity of one tourist only. Why? Because it will be easier to go in and out of the boat if you are the only passenger. My husband and I are inseparable, we hold hands while diving but the whale sharks swimming is a totally different story of our lives. Five minute boat ride from the shoreline, we are with the whale sharks already. Suddenly I'm scared. I had all these delaying reasons to my boatman of why I am not going down. I told him, I'm so heavy, I don't think I go up again. His boat doesn't have a ladder.The whale sharks might hit me. The waves are big. There are many small boats. There are 3 whale sharks. All the possible reasons. I'm scared. Being raised in Sorsogon, we got this upbringing that we should never go very close to the whale shark because it might hit us in the head and we forgot our existence. Most of the tourists including children are just in the boat, watching and taking photos. Very few are swimming. The boatman is just so kind to bring me closer so that I will have an up close encounter. I almost touch it! The feeder of the whale shark, reminded me, that we are not allowed to touch it. There goes the 10 commandments! I forgot the other 4 and almost disobeyed 1. When you listen to it, it's like you know it already, but when you are in the moment, you tend to forget this. Believe me, it was so tempting. When I ran out of alibis, I jumped into the waters and. Rico, the whale shark, was just there. Eating and swimming. What a gentle giant. It just keeps on following the boatman with shrimps. I was just expecting to see the whale sharks underwater, to my surprise, there are a lot of fishes and they even have a turtle. For Php 300 I can swim with all of it at the same time! Every time I will clear my mask, I cant hep but say I love it! The boatman just keep on laughing me. I guess I was the only one who is so expressive there. 

Feeder of the whale shark

The whale sharks of Oslob, stays on top. They are like babies who keeps on playing. You cant feed them with your hands, it will close its mouth if it sees your hand. The shrimps has to be in the water , that's the time it will feed. The left overs will be eaten by the school of fish swimming around it.  Viewing time is only from 6am to 1pm. Not for the whale shark to rest, but for the boatmen to rest. They are rowing for 7 hours and at night they still have to catch the shrimp. Whale sharks only eat fresh small shrimps so they have to catch its food every night.

Our 30 minutes was up. It seems like forever. Im so excited for Sunday's snorkeling.

For my friends who would like to go there, this is your guide of getting there. Feel free to share this to your other friends who are also planning to have an amazing underwater experience.

Boat Schedule in Sibulan Pier

Entrance at the Sibulan Pier

Fast Craft

Liloan Pier

Ceres Bus bound for Cebu City

Marker of the Briefing Area

Walkway to the Registration Area

Getting There.

Going to Oslob is closer from Dumaguete airport than Mactan airport. For this trip, we went home via Cebu Pacific to Dumaguete, it arrives at 820am, we only have 2 days we can't waste a lot of time in traveling. Ours is delayed by 1hour but that did not stop us from going there. We walked going out of the airport to the main road (around 3 minutes) and ride the jeep(they call it easy ride) going to Pantalan for only Php 10 each. From Sibulan airport (the airport of Dumaguete is actually in Sibulan) to Sibulan Pier is around 15 minutes. Pantalan is what they call the Sibulan Pier. Then we took the fast craft to Liloan for Php 62 each, it has an hourly departure, and takes 40 mins to cross the channel. Once you arrive in Liloan Pier, there is a Ceres bus waiting for passengers bound for Cebu City. We ride the bus and asked to be drop off at the Briefing Center in Tan-awan, Oslob, its is 13km, around 20 minute ride and will cost you Php 50.00. If you sit on the ride side of the bus, you will see the small banca of Tan-awan  on its way down to the Briefing Center. This will excite you. It will just be a 1 minute walk to the shore and the fun begins!

If you are coming from Mactan International Airport, take a taxi to South Terminal, it will take you almost an hour to get there due to city traffic. Look for the Ceres bus headed to Bato/Liloan/Dumaguete/Bacolod then alight at Tan-awan Briefing Center in Oslob. This ride will take you at least 4 hours so go for the air conditioned bus.