Well, Well, Well, Whale Sharks in Oslob

Before I talk about our whale shark watching experience in Oslob last December with my college barkada (Eytschhh), try reading aloud the title of this blog post. I hope you're amused with the way your mouth struggles to produce the slight nuance in pronunciation of "well" and "whale." Haha

Anyway, about the whale sharks a.k.a. butanding:

The butanding is the largest fish of the sea with head to tail length of 40 feet or more. It is a slow-moving filter feeder with huge mouth (4 to 5 feet wide) with almost 3,000 small teeth. As a filter feeder, it eats phytoplankton, macro-algae, plankton, krill, small squid, and vertebrates. (Source: Wikipilipinas)

There were three to four butanding in Oslob.

They eat little fish in the morning, so come as early as possible.

Oslob has seen its boost in tourism due to these butanding. Many tourists come to visit the place to personally witness them feed on little fish provided by the fishermen. It was a great experience to appreciate the gentleness of a creature so huge and at the same time, to behold the strength of the sea.

From the Cebu South Bus Terminal, we boarded a bus to Oslob with fare of Php 124. You just have to tell the bus conductor about your plan to go butanding-watching and he will inform you once you reach your itinerary. We were dropped off to Aaron Beach Resort. The payment for butanding-watching was Php 600 (you would have to pay double the price if you were a foreigner) for 30 minutes of butanding-watching..

Prior to our dive, there was a short orientation. Important reminders were given, like how we're not supposed to touch the butanding and that no sunblocks were allowed.

There were many tourists who attended this short orientation.

Pro-tip: You may wear a rashguard to protect your arms from the sun's rays instead of wearing sunblock. It is also good to bring an underwater camera to capture the butanding underwater.

On our way to the deep waters. This bangka accommodated 7 people!

Unfortunately, my friend Erika's phone with the GoPro app shut down unexpectedly so we had to take blind shots for our underwater poses. The products were hilarious photos that showed our struggle underwater to pose with the butanding. Apparently, the fish did not know how to pause and pose for the camera!

Some dose of Vitamin Sea!

Clemenz's pose in front of the butanding was the most decent one.

See? I told you so. Hahaha. The rest of the photos are our secret.

Pro-tip: If you want to have really good underwater photos with the butanding, practice swimming and going deep underwater. To make it look extra effortless, also practice opening your eyes in saltwater. The struggle is real on this one and the bold font cannot emphasize it enough. In case it doesn't work, you may wear life vest and goggles. The boatman will push you down once the butanding is close enough for picture-taking.

After the 30-minute allotted time, we headed to the beach to enjoy our lunch and to chat with each other about the whole experience.

We talked about our funny anecdotes from the experience earlier.

All in all, the butanding experience was a memorable one for its novelty and buwis-buhay (life-endangering) factor. Definitely one for the books. Oh, also take time to enjoy the picturesque view of the mountains while you're at sea.

Until the next adventure,

Dena

I'm smiling underneath these huge-ass goggles and snorkel :)