We made the trek to Donsol to experience swimming with the "Gentle Giants of the Sea" the whale sharks also known as Butanding. We met some fellow backpackers as we were loading the plane headed for Legazip. It ended up working out well as we rented a van for 100 pesos a head together to go to Donsol, about an 1.5 hour ride. You can rent a boat and guide to take you out to see the whale sharks so we gathered a group of 6 to minimize costs. We ended up with the couple we met at the airport from Denmark, Anne Marie and Rasmus, a guy from Holland named Robert and another man for Australia, John. We had such a great time, they were all super friendly and funny! We went out on Monday but it was overcast so the guides had a hard time spotting the sharks as they look for their shadows. It took awhile before we saw one and we were cracking jokes about only seeing tuna. I guess it never really crossed my mind that we would not see one because the day before people were telling us they saw anywhere from 4-8. We ended up seeing a few which was really great, I think I saw 2 and Justin saw 3 or 4. It was a wild and crazy experience hunting these things, when the guide says get ready you have to hustle to get your flippers and mask on and when he says "jump" you better be ready or you will miss it. They are pretty fast! We were all exhausted trying to keep up with them! The first few times I did not see a thing. But later realized you really have to follow the guides as they know right where they are. I was looking around and did not see anything, when suddenly the guide was pointing down and BAAM their it was! The mouth was right it front of me, to be honest I was terrified and tired to move backwards but with fins on that is a difficult task. After a few seconds it was just so surreal, I felt like I was in a tank. Really, really cool experience. Day 2 was even better! We were jumping out of the boat swimming with a shark within 10 mins after departing. From then on we must have jumped in 7 or 8 times to swim with them.
Boarding the boat
The "Whale Shark" spotter!
The gray skies did not hold us back. Day 2 was a bit better, we had some sun breaks along with some down pours but our guide and spotter rocked.
Preparing to jump!
Whale shark! It was a bit cloudy because of all the rain but you get the idea.
Justin made a really cool video with the underwater camera but it is too big for me to upload on my blog. Rasmus also made a video and sent me the link so you can check it out.
That is awesome!!! Such beautiful photos!! Was the water warm?
ReplyDelete