A weekend in Donsol

Donsol, the WhaleShark capital of the world. (Now losing its "fame" as another upcoming place for sightings of Whalesharks is in Oslob)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donsol,_Sorsogon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_shark

The whalesharks are known as Butandings locally and they have been a centre of attraction to many tourists in Donsol.
The beach area is about an hour walk from Donsol town, 10 minutes tricycle ride which you can easily hop on for Peso 20 per pax.

Tricycles to/from town

What do you do?
Basically, everyone will have to register at the Tourist Centre for a swim with the Butandings. Once you have registered, you will need to watch a video where it says the dos and don'ts when one swims with the whalesharks. (However, it is tough to observe all the rules as the sightings are not guaranteed, and once there is a sighting, it is almost natural that the boats will converge into the same area - so everyone will have an opportunity to see and swim with the gentle giant)
Basically
- You swim 3m away from the whaleshark and 4m away from the tail
- One boat per whaleshark
- 6 person in a boat, interaction 10 minutes
- No touching
- Maximum 3 hours out in the sea, 30 boats at any one time

The boats will take you (maximum 6 to a boat) out to look for the Butandings and once spotted, you will be allowed to jump into the sea for a swim with the Gentle Giant. In each boat there is a Butanding Interaction Officer (BIO), the captain, 2 spotters....
The BIO is the one who takes you down and once he say jump, all of us jump into the sea. Best is to follow your BIO who will lead you to the whaleshark.
My BIO is Bong who has been on the job for 11 years, needless to say, experienced and takes effort to make sure that you get to see what you came out for. I went on 2 swims and both with him.

This is the boat we took

Other things to do in Donsol

- Visit the Catadayagan Falls - my very first waterfall view that falls into the sea..... where fresh water meets the sea water

- Snorkeling at San Miguel (rich with corals, lots of sea urchins even saw razor fish) - however the water is not so clean and has lots of jelly fish

- Snorkeling at Halea Island and Nature Park (rich with marine life and corals) - nice and clean!


- Diving - San Miguel, Ticao Island/Pass as there is a "famed" Manta Bowl but the sightings apparently are quite by chance

We spent 4 days, 3 nights in Donsol for this adventure which one should not miss..... a once a lifetime experience that you will not regret..... 

For any further information needed, let me know! :)

A moment with the world's largest fish

I have chosen to share this in a little story than the usual "matter of fact" writings that I do.
A group of us, total 12 pax went on a little adventure to swim with the Gentle Giants, known as Butanding locally.... where? you must be wondering. Ever heard of a place called Donsol? Well, before this I have not.... but now, I have been and swam with the whalesharks!

Wow, to think many months ago, I can't even swim! Let alone to think about swimming with these Gentle Giants. In building up to the trip, Edwin helped by giving a few of us classes - for us to learn to swim and to snorkel. He taught us many things..... from swimming techniques to snorkeling, mask clearing, snorkel clearing, surface dive... he has given me a "hope" that I can swim after all! And for that, I am very grateful!

The swim with the Gentle Giants is not so gentle afterall..... there could easily be 60-130 people chasing after one whaleshark and in the midst of it, people could be holding on to your fins, kicking off your mask, kicking water into your snorkel, kicking the camera off your hands! So do becareful and make sure everything is "secured"! So its really kind of chaotic when its supposed to be a gentle adventure and to some even spiritual as we are all "humbled" in the presence of these Giants.

Some of us did 2 day out with the Whalesharks while some was satisfied with just one day out... both days we saw the Gentle Giants but in my second day out in the very last jump in I had a moment with the Giant.
When the bubbles cleared from my jump in for the last time, the gentle giant below turned and looked towards me (and Tat Seng and Phoebe) and in that one moment (alas! my camera was not ready!) I saw her eyes, mouth and lower body and I imagined her thinking - "Oh no! they are all still around - the 1001 legs are all still kicking around trying to follow me!" or another version is "Oh no! they jumped in so hard that I had to take a peep at what was that?! Just another few pairs of legs"

Haha, that's just my imagination of the baby that we saw....... here's a little video snippet that I have edited to share with you all...... not the best quality but I treasure it all the same.