For those interested a non-commercial view of the whale shark business down south of Oslob in Cebu Island: I snorkeled there twice this week with about 5-7m visibility (early afternoon) and 15-20m visibility (right after sunrise). At least 3 different but relatively short (4-5m) whale sharks around and I could spend the whole allocated 30-40 minutes in quite close proximity in the surface and freediving. No really point in scuba diving there, sharks move around quite fast and they are at the surface all the time. The sharks appear to hang around due to feeding at night and while tourists are around. Some guidance was given when the nominal 100-200 pesos was asked at the shore but both fishermen and tourists seem to touch the sharks and common safety distances are not really enforced in any way.
Some operators around Cebu seem to ask really high prices for trips to view the sharks. I remember hearing as high as 200 euros for a round trip from Moalboal. I took the bus (5 euros) and rented some gear and a canoe at the beach (another 3-5 euros) and that's it. I wouldn't have minded paying the high trip cost if I knew most of it would go to whale shark conservation...
So if anyone in Philippines now and wants close to 100% chance of close-up and long whale shark watching 10 minutes south of Oslob in Cebu is the place to be. It remains to be seen if the feeding is enough to keep them there and another question is if they really should be fed to begin with. I definitely understand the motives of the local fishermen but a different practice is in place in Bohol maybe for a good reason.
Some operators around Cebu seem to ask really high prices for trips to view the sharks. I remember hearing as high as 200 euros for a round trip from Moalboal. I took the bus (5 euros) and rented some gear and a canoe at the beach (another 3-5 euros) and that's it. I wouldn't have minded paying the high trip cost if I knew most of it would go to whale shark conservation...
So if anyone in Philippines now and wants close to 100% chance of close-up and long whale shark watching 10 minutes south of Oslob in Cebu is the place to be. It remains to be seen if the feeding is enough to keep them there and another question is if they really should be fed to begin with. I definitely understand the motives of the local fishermen but a different practice is in place in Bohol maybe for a good reason.
