We met at the boat at 7:15 Thursday morning and got underway from Tongo Point by 7:30. I was thinking about how long I had been waiting for this day trip as we turned south making our way down the West Coast of CEBU. We were finally on our way to look for new(to us) Dive Sites.
Our captain, Mario set the throttle at a fuel saving 12 Knots, as we crossed Moalboal Bay and entered into the coastal waters of Badian Town. As we neared Badian Island I asked Mario to slow down. I jumped into the water with my snorkeling gear and was pleasantly surprised to find a decent wall with healthy corals to at least 15 Meters(50 Feet), I grabbed the line which we had deployed, and Mario put the Engine in Gear and started to trail about 10 Meters behind the boat. The corals were healthy but the reef fishes seemed a little sparse. After 10 Minutes in the Water I jumped back into the boat and we kept following the reef line for another 3 Kilometers... The next time we trailed a line, Paul, Jo-an and I all entered and were pulled along the edge of the reef, there were a couple of spots that we felt were not worth diving, but overall the entire coast was nicely populated with corals and a nice mix of Reef Fishes....
We continued to check the reef in the same manner over several kilometers and then piled back into the boat and headed down to Kawasan River. We passed the river which is the landmark for those heading to Kawasan Falls, about a Kilometer south of the river, I entered the water ready to be towed when Jo-an shouted "WHALESHARK" . I could see Jo-an, Paul and Lindon had huddled up on the bow of the boat slowly turning and pointing to port, I made out the silhouette of a whale shark coming directly at me I popped my head underwater as the 4.5 meter whale shark gracefully approached and passed within 1.5 meters of me. The shark appeared to have no reluctance to interact with me and was oblivious to Paul and Jo-an slipping into the water to join us..
We swam with the graceful giant for at least 15 minutes as he fed on the invisible nutrients in the water. Once we felt we had over stayed our welcome we climbed back onboard the boat and once again headed south...
We cruised down to the town of Alegria where we made a dive before we started our 25 Kilometer return trip back to Moalboal. We saw another Whale Shark on the way back who was not very interested in us. But, as we made another dive the shark came very close to the boat while Lindon and Mario waited for us to complete our dive.
Altogether we made three dives on reefs which probably had not been dived for many years. It was well worth the trip and interacting with the Whale sharks was an added bonus.
As we past Badian Island we saw a Pod of Dolphins which we ran with for just a minute or so before they broke off to continue their hunt.
What a great day.
Our captain, Mario set the throttle at a fuel saving 12 Knots, as we crossed Moalboal Bay and entered into the coastal waters of Badian Town. As we neared Badian Island I asked Mario to slow down. I jumped into the water with my snorkeling gear and was pleasantly surprised to find a decent wall with healthy corals to at least 15 Meters(50 Feet), I grabbed the line which we had deployed, and Mario put the Engine in Gear and started to trail about 10 Meters behind the boat. The corals were healthy but the reef fishes seemed a little sparse. After 10 Minutes in the Water I jumped back into the boat and we kept following the reef line for another 3 Kilometers... The next time we trailed a line, Paul, Jo-an and I all entered and were pulled along the edge of the reef, there were a couple of spots that we felt were not worth diving, but overall the entire coast was nicely populated with corals and a nice mix of Reef Fishes....
We continued to check the reef in the same manner over several kilometers and then piled back into the boat and headed down to Kawasan River. We passed the river which is the landmark for those heading to Kawasan Falls, about a Kilometer south of the river, I entered the water ready to be towed when Jo-an shouted "WHALESHARK" . I could see Jo-an, Paul and Lindon had huddled up on the bow of the boat slowly turning and pointing to port, I made out the silhouette of a whale shark coming directly at me I popped my head underwater as the 4.5 meter whale shark gracefully approached and passed within 1.5 meters of me. The shark appeared to have no reluctance to interact with me and was oblivious to Paul and Jo-an slipping into the water to join us..
We swam with the graceful giant for at least 15 minutes as he fed on the invisible nutrients in the water. Once we felt we had over stayed our welcome we climbed back onboard the boat and once again headed south...
We cruised down to the town of Alegria where we made a dive before we started our 25 Kilometer return trip back to Moalboal. We saw another Whale Shark on the way back who was not very interested in us. But, as we made another dive the shark came very close to the boat while Lindon and Mario waited for us to complete our dive.
Altogether we made three dives on reefs which probably had not been dived for many years. It was well worth the trip and interacting with the Whale sharks was an added bonus.
As we past Badian Island we saw a Pod of Dolphins which we ran with for just a minute or so before they broke off to continue their hunt.
What a great day.
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