Question Whale shark diving near Cebu or Manila?

[Torontonian]

My kids went to Cebu for a wedding. From there, they, they did a tour to Whale Shark swimming and boasted about it.

My wife and I are going to Taiwan in early 2024 (from Canada). We'd like to take a side trip to Cebu and Manila. Are there good places to go for whale shark diving for me, and snorkeling for my wife?

Or should we just snorkel with whale sharks?

 

[Johncn]

Hello,

The whale shark experience offered most commonly in Cebu is snorkeling with large groups of tourists at Oslob. Many have issues with the treatment of the sharks, as well as the rather chaotic “carnival atmosphere” that prevails. The sharks are fed plankton by local fishermen while the snorkeling is going on. Did it once, and I personally would never participate again. In fact, I feel guilty I didn’t research it better ahead of time, but to each their own.

There are some dive shops in Cebu (from what I have heard) that offer actual dives in that area with whale sharks. Perhaps others here know about those.

The best place for my wife and I to see whale sharks has been snorkeling in Sogod Bay, Southern Leyte. We have done this perhaps six or eight times over the years, and it is always special. No feeding of the sharks takes place, and access is seasonal (December - May?), is capacity controlled to 10-12 snorkelers, and limited to one bangka with spotted for three hours at a time. We have also seen whale sharks in passing on dives there, but direct diving in their vicinity is forbidden.

The downside for some is that Sogod Bay is not a day trip from Cebu, and the trips are not done daily by dive shops…a schedule is maintained, so depending on which shop you are using, it may only be once or twice a week that they offer the whale shark snorkeling ling trips. We have observed many divers show up expecting to go, but only staying for a couple nights. They were unable to go because there was no trip scheduled, and/or there was no space on the boat. If doing Sogod Bay for whale sharks, it is essential to plan ahead before you arrive. Your hotel or dive shop will assist.

Hope this helps. Others may have insights or opinions that differ.

John

 

[gwklein]

Diving and snorkeling with the whale sharks in Oslob is a very controversial subject. I've had both a very positive experience diving with them but a negative experience snorkeling with them. I dived with a shop out of Moalboal. No more than 4 divers with a dive master who acted as a guard for the whale sharks. The divers were not allowed knives and had to take showers beforehand to remove any sunscreen, perfumes, deodorant, or other body lotion. We were instructed not to touch the whale sharks, to stay relatively calm, and not to go shallower than five meters. The DM enforced all the rules. The whale sharks came closer to us the less we moved. The sharks were being feed from above with masses of snorkeling hanging from rafts. When a shark came near the rafts some of the snorkelEd’s would flee in terror but others would lunge at the sharks trying to touch them. There were guards above trying to stop the snorkelers but they were severally outnumbered. The sharks could leave anytime they wanted but came for the food. The dive shop that I went with no longer does the dives. I was told that they stopped because the divers didn’t want to follow the rules and they began to act like the snorkelres. I would dive with the whale sharks again if it worked the same way. I wouldn’t if the divers were allowed to act like the snorkelres.

 

[cetacean]

My kids went to Cebu for a wedding. From there, they, they did a tour to Whale Shark swimming and boasted about it.

My wife and I are going to Taiwan in early 2024 (from Canada). We'd like to take a side trip to Cebu and Manila. Are there good places to go for whale shark diving for me, and snorkeling for my wife?

Or should we just snorkel with whale sharks?

Oslob is a mess of humanity and poor human behavior.

To each his own, but (to me) supporting the exploitation of the whale sharks in Oslob is a non-starter.

 

[Tom Winters]

Oh wow…. Cebu or Manila.
Manila…I was there a lot during the Marcos years. One night I went out dinner with my wife who had flown in special to mess with my time off in Olangapo, and the entire city…4.5 million people…was blacked out for one reason or another.
We had a great meal in a hotel lit by copious candles. The kitchen had some heatstroke casualties, but we had an awesome meal and stepped carefully over anyone prostate on the sidewalks.
We had heatstroke casualties on my destroyer all the time when the power tripped off and all four boilers were lit. The a/c flashwater system didn’t work all that hot in the tropics anyway, but we always had ice.
The poor folks in the fireroom would get lifted up to the main deck, the poopie suits zipped open, and a bucket of ice just shoveled in. They were always ok after a while. Until 3 to 5 years after their 20. Then they died.

So Manila was sorta ok, but Cebu…

Cebu was a port call. A long sea & anchor threading our way in.
On the way there from Subic Bay, there was a seamount in the Sibuyan Sea, well submerged (I’m thinking 165’), that a Soviet submarine may or may not have accidentally hit at depth, and this Soviet submarine may or may not have had state-of-the-art anechoic tiles to deaden its acoustics.
And the US-by-God Navy may or may not have desperately wanted a chunk of said anechoic coating.
You know, with a couple of double trimix non-magnetic 80’s, and a REAL good drop in a 3.5 knot current, one would be surprised what could turn up in the absolute middle of nowhere.
Blue, deep dark glorious blue. Nothing but blue and then a dark black column rising up to almost greet me.
I never had a second to enjoy it or be scared $hitle$$. It just was. Unreal.
We tied up in Downtown Cebu. And of course that night, a Soviet cruise ship came in and tied up exactly next to us. I was floored by all the American tourists on this luxurious scow.
What especially floored me was when one of the highly classified radiomen (effing RM’s) on my ship decided to defect to the USSR that night, before I had a chance to sample local wares and libations of Cebu.
I had a pleasant chat with my Soviet counterpart, and after a few hours, our POS RM was returned to us, regurgitated from the Belly of the Beast. He was well and truly useless even to the Sovs, and that’s saying something.

That’s enough of my nonsense for now. The next morning, I got off the ship, and that’s when the fun really began.

Manila is ok…love the dump, but Cebu, Cebu…that is the stuff of dreams…

 

[Centrals]

There are plenty of articles written on the whaleshark in Oslob over the yrs.

The Philippine town that must feed the sharks to survive

Despite it being to the detriment of the whale sharks themselves, a town in the Philippines relies on these giant fish for its income, writes Hannah Reys Morales

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Torontonian]

Thanks for the responses. I'm just starting the research, and didn't know whale shark tourism is controversial. It sounds like Cayman Island and stingrays. So many tourists, including cruise ship tourists, go to Cayman Island for the stingray excursion.

PADI lists Philippines as one of the places in the world for whale sharks. With my kids and others having been to Cebu and day trips to Oslob for whale shark swimming, that's why we're quite interested. That 2021 article indicated the pandemic hit Oslob hard with many shops closing, but they may be on a rebound.

I'm a responsible diver and would not want to do anything to endanger whale sharks. So I'm look for a good way. Sogod Bay sounds like an option, but it sounds risky to go there for several days but the dive op doesn't take us out.

 

[Centrals]

Thanks for the responses. I'm just starting the research, and didn't know whale shark tourism is controversial. It sounds like Cayman Island and stingrays. So many tourists, including cruise ship tourists, go to Cayman Island for the stingray excursion.

PADI lists Philippines as one of the places in the world for whale sharks. With my kids and others having been to Cebu and day trips to Oslob for whale shark swimming, that's why we're quite interested. That 2021 article indicated the pandemic hit Oslob hard with many shops closing, but they may be on a rebound.

I'm a responsible diver and would not want to do anything to endanger whale sharks. So I'm look for a good way. Sogod Bay sounds like an option, but it sounds risky to go there for several days but the dive op doesn't take us out.

No difference from safari park, zoo or shark feeding. You can even swim with the manatee in Florida.
The whaleshark in Oslob is free to go to anywhere they want.
It is the behaviour of some divers and snorkellers that are causing the problem.
I can never understand why some peoples would like to touch wild animals. I certainly do not like being pat on my head by a complete stranger let alone multiple times a day/wk.

 

[cetacean]

@Torontonian

If you really want to get in the water with whale sharks, there are other options.

These aren't the only options, but this is a decent summary of a few:

7 Places to Swim With Whale Sharks Responsibly

www.frommers.com

 

[Volleyball]

@Torontonian

If you really want to get in the water with whale sharks, there are other options.

These aren't the only options, but this is a decent summary of a few:

7 Places to Swim With Whale Sharks Responsibly

www.frommers.com

I just wanted to point out that I snorkeled with whale sharks a few months ago in the Maldives and in Cancun/PdC just before the pandemic (both are on this list). Going to the Philippines soon so was researching and saw this

Neither South Air nor Isla Mujeresare are what anyone would call responsible. Both had hoards of boats, and at least 20 snorkelers in the water kicking hard. For whatever reason, half the people were there for one thing, to touch/grab the whale shark. While we were TOLD not to touch them, there's zero enforcement of any kind or consequences if you got caught doing so. While it's debatable how unethical touching a whale shark is, it shouldn't be considered "responsible"