Donsol Whale Sharks!

[shugar]

not good news....

hmmm....not good news at all.

heard through the grapevine that gloria declared the 25th a NON holiday... not that the lot of you really care...

on the bright side though: i get to dive gensan for 2 days! weeeeeeee!!!

Jag

PS
hope the WS show up next week...

 

[pakman]

hope the WS show up next week...

If not, maybe the gang can go investigate those dodgy bars at the waterfront at Padre Burgos when you exit the pier dive there

 

[shugar]

If not, maybe the gang can go investigate those dodgy bars at the waterfront at Padre Burgos when you exit the pier dive there

that'll make for an interesting trip report...

i wonder how fast myra can rip caloy's stent out of his still-beating heart?

Jag

 

[tazzmeyer]

Greatwolf - that's the key...you only pay for the rooms if you are part of a group booking I guess. Those of us who book solo just get an email saying that you're booked and then I suppose you can get bumped. I specifically asked how we could secure our reservations and the response I got was - "don't worry I have booked you a beachfront cottage for..."...he just failed to mention that our room was not going to be at the resort. The bugger of it is that had we known, we would have waited to book the vacation when we could be assured a room at the resort. But, it all worked out for the best because there were some other unbelievable things that happened that it was just as well we didn't end up diving with SBR either.

Kevster and Pakman - While we were there, Peter's had two days where a Chinese group of about 8 or 9 spent the day looking for whale sharks and they came up with zip. My husband went on a whaleshark tour last Friday and they came up empty as well. On the trip that my husband went on, they did not use local spotters. I cannot say whether they used local spotters on the other two trips though... I gave up on the hope of seeing a whaleshark based on the news that we were getting and just concentrated on the diving.

We met another dive guide named Gary and he swears he can spot whalesharks no problem. We met him a little too late to give him a try for Whalesharks (we did a day of diving with him though). If you want to try him, just PM me for his details. I can't say one way or the other whether he would do any better than the other guys but he was the one that found us a great room for the tail end of our trip!

 

[Pinay_Diver]

Just got back last nite from a week trip, splitting my time between Donsol to snorkel with whale sharks and then off to Anilao for some more relaxing macro diving

The trip to Donsol was a mix bag. Partly being there too early in the season, the weather, and some "issues" with the dive ops that I used in Donsol. More on that later in a trip report to come shortly.

In the meantime, here are a few shots of the gentle giants of Donsol. We did two days of whale shark interactions. The first day, we had a more cooperative whale shark but I was shooting video and unfortunately the wide angle lens I have just wasn't wide enough to work out. Due to the low visibility from all the plankton (that's why the whale sharks are there!) you had to literally be on top of the whale sharks. Wish I had left the video and took the DSLR out on that first day as a couple whale sharks hung around a for a good 3 hrs. But as there were only a few whale sharks in the bay at one time, it soon turned into a underwater rugby scrum with nearly 6 full boats all chasing the same whale shark... Of course, the day I brought the DSLR out, it was pissing rain and just two sightings over a 2-3hr period...

Trying to time the whale shark, I dove too early only to have it pass by just as I was surfacing!!

OK, well my gf was a couple whale shark lengths behind so I had to do with the guide as a model...

Shouldn't have had all that garlic rice and tocina for breakfast... Just couldn't keep up with him!

Hi Pak! Great photos you have there...I'm going to Donsol end of this month. My 3rd visit to that awesome place. Well I hope to get some photos.. at least half as good as yours.

 

[kopin]

Pakman & Kevster

We got goose-egged AND has a terrible experience with the resort. We were bumped off the resort and after traveling 5 hours by plane and 3 hours by car got nothing but attitude about the bump from SBR. They had a room for us but it wasn't as nice and not on the resort but it was the same price Not happy. Will say more in my trip report but honestly can't recommend staying with Sogod Bay Resort. We ended up diving and spending all of our money with Pete's and they were great.:mooner: Found much better accommodations as well in a private house that had just been refurbished.


shelli:

I just came back from Sogod Bay last week. The main purpose for this trip is to see the whale shark, but I didn't see it. The diving there is flat "to me"....Can you imagine that if you want to eat meat but someone just gives you vegetables?

Also the Philippines is not an interesting country to me. Really nothing....This is my second time to PI (first time: Dumaguete/Apo Island)....I really feel that this may be my worst dive trip, both for the past and for the future....


I don't know why there are so many "over estimation" here about Sogod Bay. Maybe divers had some good luck in the past years, but definitely not now.I just joined Scuba Board and now I find out that part of this board is just a chat room.

About the service, I did dive w both Peter and SBR, Peter first and then SBR. I left Peter because I don't want to dive with 14 divers within the same boat again. To me, I think SBR is better....

 

[greatwolf]

I just joined Scuba Board and now I find out that part of this board is just a chat room.

What's wrong with that? You don't have to stay you know.

 

[chip104]

I just came back from Sogod Bay last week. The main purpose for this trip is to see the whale shark, but I didn't see it. The diving there is flat "to me"....Can you imagine that if you want to eat meat but someone just gives you vegetables?

that sucks to hear you didn't see a whale shark. Hopefully we'll get lucky when we're there.

Also the Philippines is not an interesting country to me. Really nothing....This is my second time to PI (first time: Dumaguete/Apo Island)....I really feel that this may be my worst dive trip, both for the past and for the future....

Sure, maybe to you. But to me and a lot of other people the Philippines is a wonderful country. Personally for me, Taiwan is a crappy island with nothing to see and Singapore has no heart to it. But I still find them interesting places to visit just to immerse myself in other people's every day lives. Maybe the PI is not your cup of tea or maybe you're just not looking hard enough.

You've been to some interesting places in Asia - I would consider some of the places cream of the crop for diving and tourist going (your Tibet pics are amazing). Just curious what are you comparing the diving to and what do you expect to see in the PI? Also, just wondering if you've met more friendlier people than Filipinos? (that last question is subjective, but you've travelled around Asia a lot so I'm curious)

edit: I read some of your previous posts, and I can certainly understand your disappointment in missing the whale sharks. Also, it was unfair for me to say you're not looking hard enough - any foreigner who can commute using the public transit system here has my respect. But I still can't understand how the PI is "really nothing" - this is the first time I've heard this, and it's coming from someone who is well travelled.

I don't know why there are so many "over estimation" here about Sogod Bay. Maybe divers had some good luck in the past years, but definitely not now.

I'm wondering the same thing about Sogod Bay. It's touted by my colleagues as the most pristine reef system in the Philippines. Maybe it's all hype. I'll see for myself next week. I've been told there's nothing much to do there as well.

I just joined Scuba Board and now I find out that part of this board is just a chat room.

First, are you new to foruming? What do you think a forum is for? Second, we answer the same questions each and every week (where should I go? is this a good time of the year to go? Can you recommend a dive op to me? What should I expect to see at this place?...) so we're not unhelpful. Third, welcome to the internet.

About the service, I did dive w both Peter and SBR, Peter first and then SBR. I left Peter because I don't want to dive with 14 divers within the same boat again. To me, I think SBR is better....

Thanks for the heads up about Peter's Dive Resort. Nice to know what we're paying for at SBSR.

 

[pakman]

I don't know why there are so many "over estimation" here about Sogod Bay. Maybe divers had some good luck in the past years, but definitely not now.I just joined Scuba Board and now I find out that part of this board is just a chat room.

I think part of it was that two groups had back to back great* trips to Sogod in Dec 2006/Jan 07. I was on the Dec 06 trip and we had a number of good encounters despite poor weather towards the end of the trip. The Malaysian group that went after us in Jan 07 had an amazing experience with video footage of I think 2 or 3 whale sharks playing with them literally (their report here). My own trip report is here (Dec 06 trip). So, I'm a bit disappointed to hear that there haven't been any sightings this year's season.


Hi Celine. Thanks for the kind words! Have fun on your Donsol trip Hope there are more whale sharks later this month.

 

[Babydamulag]

Your honesty is refreshing. If a spade is a spade then call it a spade!
You had a bad trip to Sogod Bay. Don't write the Philippines off yet buddy. We have so much to offer compared to your part of the world. Our proximity to Taiwan makes us a place you can explore with ease. I recommend you try another spot before going for the "SLAM DUNK". Sorry you had a bad trip.....try again.
As for the forum being a chat room....well, there is a lot of nit-noid chatty poop going on but it is the Internet.....filter through it and get what you need.

I just came back from Sogod Bay last week. The main purpose for this trip is to see the whale shark, but I didn't see it. The diving there is flat "to me"....Can you imagine that if you want to eat meat but someone just gives you vegetables?

Also the Philippines is not an interesting country to me. Really nothing....This is my second time to PI (first time: Dumaguete/Apo Island)....I really feel that this may be my worst dive trip, both for the past and for the future....


I don't know why there are so many "over estimation" here about Sogod Bay. Maybe divers had some good luck in the past years, but definitely not now.I just joined Scuba Board and now I find out that part of this board is just a chat room.

About the service, I did dive w both Peter and SBR, Peter first and then SBR. I left Peter because I don't want to dive with 14 divers within the same boat again. To me, I think SBR is better....