Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus), the world’s largest fish with lengths of up to 18 meters and weighing as much as 20 tons, are the gentlest of creatures and feed only on plankton, shrimp and small fish. These POLKA-DOTTED giants (or Butanding in Bicol dialect) are spotted cruising just below the sunlit surface of the sea in Donsol, Sorsogon at the Southern most tip of Luzon islands. It is believed that Donsol waters, which is abound with tiny organisms such as plankton, krill and small fish, are a seasonal feeding ground for whale sharks between November to May.
Together with Conan, Phua and Aiwee, We left Singapore on 29th March early morning, on a 3.5 hours Philippines Air (PAL) flight to Manila, and connecting on another 50 minutes flight to Legaspi, for the much anticipated whale shark encounter. Upon arrival, Conz and Jun from Adventure Bound (Dive with Manta Rays in Ticao - Whale sharks Donsol, Philippines), who have helped to arrange for our trip, picked us up. We had a “quick” breakfast before proceeding to Donsol, which is about 1 hours 10 minutes van ride from the town of Legaspi.
After dropping our bags at the Woodland Resort, we set-up our camera equipments and
headed straight to the Vistior’s Office to meet our BIO (Butanding Interaction Officer), Michael and registered for the butanding interaction program. We set sail at 11.30am on an assigned outrigger boat with 4 boat crew- members and can’t wait to have our first rendezvous despite lacking of sleep from the overnight journey.
The whole butanding encounter started as our outrigger boat cruised about 20 minutes to the bay where the gentle giants congregate in the municipal waters of Donsol. Michael and the boat crew will be standing under the hot sun on the look out for these elusive creatures. The sea was crowded with boats competing for interaction opportunities as only one boat is allowed to swim with whale shark at each time and the interaction has been limited to 3 hours for each boat, a new regulation imposed recently.
Minutes later, our guide announced a sighting and asked us to get ready for our first jump in the water. We frantically put on our masks and fins and sit on the boat’s ledge whilst the boat captain slowly moored the boat towards it and positioned the boat in its direction before making a full stop. We all jumped into the sea as our guide shouted “Go Now” and not knowing where the whale shark was, we followed and kept pace with him. Then within seconds, nothing quite prepared us for that massive rush of adrenaline when we saw a monster of the deep, with gigantic shark fins, seemingly rushing straight at us, mouth agape. We swam and tried to keep up with it for a minute or two before it vanished into the murky waters. This one is about 6.5-meters, and was Conan’s, Phua’s and Aiwee’s first whale shark sighting and they were grinning from ear to ear when they got onto the boat and ready for more.
Our second encounter came twenty minutes later, and we had an awesome interaction with a small-sized fish about 4 meters. We swam with it for close to 10 minutes and definitely had many opportunities for photograph, but Conan and I did not bring our cameras with us. Feeling a bit disappointed, we could only wished for another similar experience the next time. Aiwee blurted “The feeling was just so surreal” when we clambered back onto the boat and we all had the same mutual agreement.
We had another 4 more sightings on Saturday afternoon but they were all fleeting rendezvous lasting about 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Time passes and before we knew it, it was 3 hours into the interaction and time to head back. We decided to try our luck the following day starting out at 6.30 in the morning, which was reported to have better sightings and requested Michael to make the necessary arrangement.
We invited Michael and the boat crew for lunch and beers at the resort’s restaurant. We ordered the Bicol Express, a spicy local dish and some other local dishes, which were quite appetizing but the service was slow. The afternoon was spent reminiscing about the whale shark interaction experience, sharing conservations with some other guests from USA and Denmark, watching a spectacular sunset falling below the horizon before we headed to Barracuda Bar & Grill for dinner and drinks. This is a small but nice restaurant by the beach, about 100 meters from our resort. Juliet, the owner makes the best Margaritas and she served the freshest catch of the day, which is always appetizing, particularly the grilled prawns and pasta. Juliet- she has got to be one of the most welcoming and gracious person I have ever met, always with a big smile despite having to make drinks, help out at the kitchen and serve, all almost at the same time. We had a delightful dinner and a few Margaritas before retiring back to our rooms at 9pm.
Sunday was judgment day! We woke up at 5.30am, had a light breakfast and feeling energized, we were all ready for the interaction. Our boat left just after sunrise, at about 6.30am and the sky wasn’t fully lighten up, making the waters gloomy. This made underwater photography harder due to the lack of natural light. Luck was not on our side and we did not have very good sightings, only went into the waters 4 times and the interaction were brief- they seemed to be in a hurry to lose us. This has got to be mother’s nature at work, as the wild refuses to follow schedules.
Not content with the morning’s experience, Conan & Aiwee decided to go back and try their good fortune later in the morning whist Phua & I were scheduled to do 2 dives at the macro sites at Ticao. The sites are about 1 hour away from Donsol and we did our first dive at San Miguel, with Carlos as our dive master. San Miguel was as wonderful as I had remembered but visibility wasn’t good at around 12 meters. Stunning soft corals gardens are abundance and pristine and every macro photographers' favorites - nudibranchs were everywhere. Colorful feather stars with crinoids shrimps were also aplenty and I also saw a sea snake and some whip gobies.
2nd dive after lunch at Capating was also interesting. The corals at this site weren’t as rich as San Miguel but it was another great site for nudibranchs, nudibranchs, and nudibranchs. I couldn’t stop clicking away. The visibility was much better, around 20 meters and the water temperature average 27 degree Celsius for both sites. On the boat ride back to Donsol, we were lucky to see few dolphins performing their acrobatic acts at the surface.
When we got back to the resort, Conan was thrilled and told us that they had some good interaction with the whale sharks and showed us some amazing photos he took. I was jealous! We showered, watched another beautiful sunset and then head over to Barracuda where we had pre-ordered our dinner. That evening was crazy and naughty- we had a fabulous dinner of grilled prawns and fish, pasta and garlic rice with potatoes. Juliet, Jurgen, Michael and Martin joined us for some drinking games and I do not remember how many glasses of Margaritas and tequila shots I had. I only remember dancing and swimming in the sea under the stars and waking up the next day at 5.30am for my morning dives.
Conan and Aiwee left early that morning for their journey back to Singapore. Phua and I went diving at the muck site, Bantol Kokok, about 20 minutes from Donsol. This site was considered to be an open water classroom until the recent discovery of the critters- hairy frogfish, wonderpus, the flamboyant cuttlefish, ornate ghost pipefish and blue-ringed octopus were sighted here. I made both dives averaging about 6 meters depth and visibility about 5 meters and found numerous colonies of anemones with different species of anemone shrimps, 2 seahorses, cleaner shrimps, juvenile lion fishes, ringed pipefish, mantis shrimps and many strange looking fishes. My housing fogged up after minutes into my first dive so I do not have many photos to show.
After the dives, we went for our 3rd and final interaction program with the whale sharks. As soon as we hit the bay, Michael shouted “Get Ready” and we were in the waters and came upon a 6-meters giant that headed straight at us and then paused face-to-face. The gentle giant then allowed us to swim beside it for as long as we could. I think I must have swam about 15 minutes continuously, till my legs turned jellies and decided to stop. I still vividly remember the gaping mouth, the swift motion and elegant stokes of the tail. The gills were huge and so was the dorsal fin, which was broken. The moment was magical! 30 minutes later, we went into the waters for another one but this small one was shy and took off into the deep before we can approach it.
It was the best for last. Imagine, having two whale sharks, a 7-meters giant and another 3.5-meters juvenile, together at the same spot- we were spoilt for choice on which one to photograph. Absolutely mind blowing!
That evening, our hospitable friends, Conz and Jun invited us for dinner in Legaspi town and Jun picked us up at the resort. We had a great time spent catching up, as well as sharing dive trip stories at a German Restaurant, Gasthof, which served delicious pork knuckles, sausages and back ribs. The car broke down 9 Kilometers from the resort on the way back and we had a chance to ride on a trishaw, which was a pretty cool experience.
Unforgettable and surreal as it sounds, this is the true Donsol and Ticao experience.
Photo link: Jovin's Cool Photos!! :: Donsol & Ticao Mar 2008
Happy bubbles,
Jovin-
Together with Conan, Phua and Aiwee, We left Singapore on 29th March early morning, on a 3.5 hours Philippines Air (PAL) flight to Manila, and connecting on another 50 minutes flight to Legaspi, for the much anticipated whale shark encounter. Upon arrival, Conz and Jun from Adventure Bound (Dive with Manta Rays in Ticao - Whale sharks Donsol, Philippines), who have helped to arrange for our trip, picked us up. We had a “quick” breakfast before proceeding to Donsol, which is about 1 hours 10 minutes van ride from the town of Legaspi.
After dropping our bags at the Woodland Resort, we set-up our camera equipments and
headed straight to the Vistior’s Office to meet our BIO (Butanding Interaction Officer), Michael and registered for the butanding interaction program. We set sail at 11.30am on an assigned outrigger boat with 4 boat crew- members and can’t wait to have our first rendezvous despite lacking of sleep from the overnight journey.
The whole butanding encounter started as our outrigger boat cruised about 20 minutes to the bay where the gentle giants congregate in the municipal waters of Donsol. Michael and the boat crew will be standing under the hot sun on the look out for these elusive creatures. The sea was crowded with boats competing for interaction opportunities as only one boat is allowed to swim with whale shark at each time and the interaction has been limited to 3 hours for each boat, a new regulation imposed recently.
Minutes later, our guide announced a sighting and asked us to get ready for our first jump in the water. We frantically put on our masks and fins and sit on the boat’s ledge whilst the boat captain slowly moored the boat towards it and positioned the boat in its direction before making a full stop. We all jumped into the sea as our guide shouted “Go Now” and not knowing where the whale shark was, we followed and kept pace with him. Then within seconds, nothing quite prepared us for that massive rush of adrenaline when we saw a monster of the deep, with gigantic shark fins, seemingly rushing straight at us, mouth agape. We swam and tried to keep up with it for a minute or two before it vanished into the murky waters. This one is about 6.5-meters, and was Conan’s, Phua’s and Aiwee’s first whale shark sighting and they were grinning from ear to ear when they got onto the boat and ready for more.
Our second encounter came twenty minutes later, and we had an awesome interaction with a small-sized fish about 4 meters. We swam with it for close to 10 minutes and definitely had many opportunities for photograph, but Conan and I did not bring our cameras with us. Feeling a bit disappointed, we could only wished for another similar experience the next time. Aiwee blurted “The feeling was just so surreal” when we clambered back onto the boat and we all had the same mutual agreement.
We had another 4 more sightings on Saturday afternoon but they were all fleeting rendezvous lasting about 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Time passes and before we knew it, it was 3 hours into the interaction and time to head back. We decided to try our luck the following day starting out at 6.30 in the morning, which was reported to have better sightings and requested Michael to make the necessary arrangement.
We invited Michael and the boat crew for lunch and beers at the resort’s restaurant. We ordered the Bicol Express, a spicy local dish and some other local dishes, which were quite appetizing but the service was slow. The afternoon was spent reminiscing about the whale shark interaction experience, sharing conservations with some other guests from USA and Denmark, watching a spectacular sunset falling below the horizon before we headed to Barracuda Bar & Grill for dinner and drinks. This is a small but nice restaurant by the beach, about 100 meters from our resort. Juliet, the owner makes the best Margaritas and she served the freshest catch of the day, which is always appetizing, particularly the grilled prawns and pasta. Juliet- she has got to be one of the most welcoming and gracious person I have ever met, always with a big smile despite having to make drinks, help out at the kitchen and serve, all almost at the same time. We had a delightful dinner and a few Margaritas before retiring back to our rooms at 9pm.
Sunday was judgment day! We woke up at 5.30am, had a light breakfast and feeling energized, we were all ready for the interaction. Our boat left just after sunrise, at about 6.30am and the sky wasn’t fully lighten up, making the waters gloomy. This made underwater photography harder due to the lack of natural light. Luck was not on our side and we did not have very good sightings, only went into the waters 4 times and the interaction were brief- they seemed to be in a hurry to lose us. This has got to be mother’s nature at work, as the wild refuses to follow schedules.
Not content with the morning’s experience, Conan & Aiwee decided to go back and try their good fortune later in the morning whist Phua & I were scheduled to do 2 dives at the macro sites at Ticao. The sites are about 1 hour away from Donsol and we did our first dive at San Miguel, with Carlos as our dive master. San Miguel was as wonderful as I had remembered but visibility wasn’t good at around 12 meters. Stunning soft corals gardens are abundance and pristine and every macro photographers' favorites - nudibranchs were everywhere. Colorful feather stars with crinoids shrimps were also aplenty and I also saw a sea snake and some whip gobies.
2nd dive after lunch at Capating was also interesting. The corals at this site weren’t as rich as San Miguel but it was another great site for nudibranchs, nudibranchs, and nudibranchs. I couldn’t stop clicking away. The visibility was much better, around 20 meters and the water temperature average 27 degree Celsius for both sites. On the boat ride back to Donsol, we were lucky to see few dolphins performing their acrobatic acts at the surface.
When we got back to the resort, Conan was thrilled and told us that they had some good interaction with the whale sharks and showed us some amazing photos he took. I was jealous! We showered, watched another beautiful sunset and then head over to Barracuda where we had pre-ordered our dinner. That evening was crazy and naughty- we had a fabulous dinner of grilled prawns and fish, pasta and garlic rice with potatoes. Juliet, Jurgen, Michael and Martin joined us for some drinking games and I do not remember how many glasses of Margaritas and tequila shots I had. I only remember dancing and swimming in the sea under the stars and waking up the next day at 5.30am for my morning dives.
Conan and Aiwee left early that morning for their journey back to Singapore. Phua and I went diving at the muck site, Bantol Kokok, about 20 minutes from Donsol. This site was considered to be an open water classroom until the recent discovery of the critters- hairy frogfish, wonderpus, the flamboyant cuttlefish, ornate ghost pipefish and blue-ringed octopus were sighted here. I made both dives averaging about 6 meters depth and visibility about 5 meters and found numerous colonies of anemones with different species of anemone shrimps, 2 seahorses, cleaner shrimps, juvenile lion fishes, ringed pipefish, mantis shrimps and many strange looking fishes. My housing fogged up after minutes into my first dive so I do not have many photos to show.
After the dives, we went for our 3rd and final interaction program with the whale sharks. As soon as we hit the bay, Michael shouted “Get Ready” and we were in the waters and came upon a 6-meters giant that headed straight at us and then paused face-to-face. The gentle giant then allowed us to swim beside it for as long as we could. I think I must have swam about 15 minutes continuously, till my legs turned jellies and decided to stop. I still vividly remember the gaping mouth, the swift motion and elegant stokes of the tail. The gills were huge and so was the dorsal fin, which was broken. The moment was magical! 30 minutes later, we went into the waters for another one but this small one was shy and took off into the deep before we can approach it.
It was the best for last. Imagine, having two whale sharks, a 7-meters giant and another 3.5-meters juvenile, together at the same spot- we were spoilt for choice on which one to photograph. Absolutely mind blowing!
That evening, our hospitable friends, Conz and Jun invited us for dinner in Legaspi town and Jun picked us up at the resort. We had a great time spent catching up, as well as sharing dive trip stories at a German Restaurant, Gasthof, which served delicious pork knuckles, sausages and back ribs. The car broke down 9 Kilometers from the resort on the way back and we had a chance to ride on a trishaw, which was a pretty cool experience.
Unforgettable and surreal as it sounds, this is the true Donsol and Ticao experience.
Photo link: Jovin's Cool Photos!! :: Donsol & Ticao Mar 2008
Happy bubbles,
Jovin-
