Swimming with whale sharks is one of the most remarkable experiences that you can have in Cebu! Seeing these gentle giants up close in crystal-clear water is truly a one of a kind moment.
Getting There
To get to the whale sharks in Cebu, you will need to travel to Oslob. This was about a 4 hour car ride from our hotel at Shangri-La in Mactan.
We booked a tour through Cebu Tours PH (the same tour we used for the Sardine Run) which cost 3,000 PHP per person. Our driver picked us up at 3:30AM the night before because we needed to get there really early to secure our spot.
Before the Whale Shark Tour
Once we arrived at the area, it was barely sunrise. There was a random nest that you could sit in or stand in and take pictures!
The tour company provided us a light breakfast that consisted of sticky rice and mango.
Swimming with whale sharks is an experience that will remind you of going to the DMV. It is government regulated which means there are no private tours at all. Only the drive there was private. In order to put your name down and get a number, you have to wait in line. Luckily for us, our tour guide got there really early and we got #72.
Since we had time before we would get called, we visited Tumalog Falls first (this is part of our tour package).
After we were done at the waterfall, we went to the whale shark waiting area. They have an orientation that you need to attend where they talk about the rules (i.e. don’t touch the whale sharks or you can go to jail).
In the waiting area, you can also rent fins for 100 PHP per person.
The thing that surprised me and Brea was that the originaly cost of the tour (3000 PHP) did not include swimming with the whale sharks. You have to pay extra for this (which we did) – 500 PHP additional.
We waited between 1-2 hours before our number was called.
Swimming with Whale Sharks
When your number is called, you’ll get a life vest and get in line for the boat. Each boat can only fit 12 people and you can decide if you want to swim with the whale sharks or stay on the boat.
There were so many whale sharks that day! And since Brea and our friend are better swimmers than most of the other people on our boat, we managed to get some really nice pictures with no one else in them.
The whale sharks are big but they move pretty slowly. When their tail hits the water, it makes a really loud sound. Sometimes their tail would hit me too haha
Your time in the water with the whale sharks is timed – you only get 30 minutes. Even though it was pretty short, we still were able to get shots of these gentle giants. Sometimes, we even got 2 or 3 whale sharks in one photo!
After the swimming, we were served a filipino-style lunch and then drove back to our hotel.
In my opinion, swimming with whale sharks is something you should try once but I am not sure I would do it again since it is so regulated. We still had a great time though!
