We had no real itinerary set for our trip to the Philippines, only a 60 day visa, a flight to Coron and a desire to go snorkelling with wild Whale Sharks! Unfortunately Coron did not quite live up to our expectations and after spending a week there, we made the decision to bail out, in exchange for somewhere more off the tourist trail.
Why we chose NOT to snorkel with Whale Sharks in Cebu
We knew that it was possible to see the sharks in Cebu, specifically Bohol and Oslob. But after some quick research online, we were horrified to read about this controversial area which has essentially become a Whale Shark zoo.
The sharks here are intentionally fed by the locals, attracting them to the area. Speedboats chase them around the bay, as snorkelling tourists jump in en-mass, supporting this unethical operation. This forced feeding disrupts their migration pattern, causing malnutrition. The Whale Shark is now closer to extinction than ever, and has had its conservation status updated from vulnerable to endangered. A recent assessment revealed significant population decline from ongoing human impacts, including fishing and boat strikes.
The last thing we wanted was to end up in a tourist trap. But above all, we do not condone this kind of ‘animal tourism’ and only wish to experience wildlife in its most natural state.
Sogod Bay vs Bohol and Oslob
During our research, we discovered another place in the Philippines where it would be possible to see Whale Sharks, but in their natural environment. It was well off the beaten track, a bit of a mission, and there was absolutely no guarantee of seeing them. It sounded perfect! Sogod Bay was calling.
Sogod Bay is in the Southern Leyte province of the Philippines. It happens to be a stopping point for migrating Whale Sharks, who enjoy the feeding on the rich plankton and krill filled waters between November – May.
Padre Burgos
We headed to the small town of Padre Burgos in Sogod bay, which is a relatively unknown dive haven. Only the most savvy scubas will have heard of this place. It certainly wasn’t on our radar until our research into alternatives to Oslob. For more information on Padre Burgos, read our Travel Guide here!
There are just a handful of resorts / dive centres dotted along the coast in Padre Burgos. We chose Peters Dive Resort. Peters schedule their Whale Shark excursion infrequently, and only go out if there has been a recent sighting in the bay.
It is only possible to snorkel with the Whale Sharks here, and resorts in Padre Burgos refrain from diving with them as bubbles and clinking tanks can scare them – snorkelling is far less intrusive to their personal space.
You can read more about diving in Padre Burgos here!
Setting off in search of wild Whale Sharks in Sogod Bay
Before we set off on our excursion with Peters, we had a briefing from the team who made it very clear that there was absolutely no guarantee of finding the sharks.
Our boat took us to the outskirts of a very small village on the opposite side of Sogod Bay. Here we were met by six local ‘spotters’ who work closely with the Marine Conservationists in the area to protect the sharks, and to monitor their behaviour.
The spotters used small wooden paddle boats to scan the area in search of the sharks. We watched them dip their heads in the water every few minutes to just check, some of them didn’t even have goggles.
Our crew jumped on the top deck of our boat to look into the water from above.
A local marine biologist also joined us, as she was monitoring Whale Sharks in the area. She explained more about Oslob and Bohol, which further confirmed our fears. Coming to Padre Burgos was a good decision.
Two hours searching and about to give up
The spotters were out in the bay for some time. You could cut the atmosphere on the boat with a knife as we waited, hoping and praying one might turn up. We were about to give up and turn back, when suddenly the guys on the deck started pointing and shouting ‘shark shark!’
I looked down into the water next to me and what I was seeing did not look real. A huge Whale Shark, about 8-9 metres long, and absolutely beautiful.
Snorkelling with wild Whale Sharks is hard work!
We scrambled to grab our snorkels and jump in. My heart was pounding! The sea was super deep, and soupy thick with plankton. By the time we were all in the water, the shark was about 30 meters away from our boat, and we had to swim quickly to catch up.
Although they look slow in the water, Whale Sharks move fast compared to humans, and we found it hard to keep up.
Once we reached him I was out of breath, and couldn’t figure out whether this was adrenaline kicking in, or the sudden burst of exercise. It was difficult to get in front of the sharks path and still have the breath left to make a freedive. But the strong desire to see him more closely took over my need to breathe!
We found more than one!
After about 30 minutes, one of the spotters started waving his arms around – There was another shark in the bay! Kicking as quick as I could, I began swimming towards the next one, about 200m away.
On the other side of the bay we heard even more screams of excitement. One of the spotters offered to drag me along to get me closer to our third Whale Shark. I grabbed onto the back of the boat with both hands and was pulled along, slowly, but I wasn’t complaining!
I suddenly found myself face to face with two sharks, skimming the top of the water and feeding on plankton. As they opened their mouths to feed I felt like Pinnochio and the whale, so I kept my distance for fear of being swallowed!
We felt so unbelievably lucky to have encountered so many sharks in one place. The experience was unreal and in total we ended snorkelling with six amazing creatures for almost three hours . Heading back to Padre Burgos, we were exhausted, but had huge smiles on our faces.
Why were there so many Whale Sharks here?
Back on the boat, the marine biologist was overwhelmed – Aside from the ‘zoo’ in Oslob, she had never seen this many Whale Sharks in one area.
What we’d just encountered was extremely rare, and quite unusual behavior. She couldn’t explain why they were all there. Perhaps they had come to Sogod Bay to mate? But neither mating nor pups have ever been observed. After hearing this, we felt even more blessed by this awesome experience.
The biologist urged us to log any photos we took on whaleshark.org. There is still little known about these elusive creatures, so a photo-identification library helps marine biologists analyse sighting data, to learn more about their movements.
If you like snorkelling with wild Whale Sharks
Having the opportunity to witness the world’s biggest fish in its natural habitat was such an unbelievable privilege for us, and is a stand-out moment from our travels – one that we will never forget.
If you would like to experience snorkelling with wild Whale Sharks, why not check out our Padre Burgos Travel Guide to find out more about how to get there, where to stay, things to do and the best time to visit.
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Really nice story. A was in Oslob just after the Whalesharks there was “discovered”. Then it was quit, but it really sad it turned that way it is now. I was in Padre Burgos April 2012 and experienced something like you, with up to 5 Whalesharks around at the most, exactly the same place. Fantastic moment. Back in 2003 I did snorkel with 2 whalesharks in Coron as well, just outside Busuanga. But area is going the wrong way as well, as you mentioned.
Thanks for an inspiring story, warming my heart up here at the end of the world.
Regards
Stian Estil
Norway
Hi Stian,
Thanks so much for your comment and kind words. Snorkelling with Whale Sharks was definitely one of the most incredible experiences in all our travels, Sogod Bay certainly is a very special place!
All the best,
Claire & Nick
Thank you for sharing your experience! It pleases me to hear that you had such a great interaction with the gentle giants.
My partner and I are heading to the Philippines and really want to see whale sharks. Our last journey to see them in Utila, Honduras proved to be unfruitful on the whale shark front, but after reading about Oslob my heart broke. I’m going to dig in a bit more to see if we can make our way out to Sogod Bay.
Hi Crystal,
Many thanks for your comment and so glad to hear that you enjoyed reading about our experience with the Whale Sharks in Sogod Bay! So sorry that your journey to Utila was unsuccessful, we consider ourselves very lucky to have seen as many Sharks as we did, especially considering they were in their natural environment. Really hope you make it out to Sogod Bay one day, we cannot recommend it enough!
Best wishes,
Nick
Sounds incredible!!!
What did you pay?
Hello Sarah, Yes it really was! We did the tour with Peters Dive Resort (which we can highly recommend) and paid 2,500 pesos each. This included a conservation fee. Hope this helps, Nick
I think there are some misrepresentation about Oslob. The fishermen there had been feeding the whalesharks for decades: to lead them away from fishing area so that the the sharks don’t damage their nets. And, according to the guides, there are a total of 14 sharks that show up in Oslob, but not all of them come daily, sometimes only 3 or 4. This tells me that the sharks do not depend on the feed. Afterall, each fish eat tonnes of plankton daily, so there’s no way the feeding can alter their behaviour. And, Oslob’s success encouraged Filipinos to protect the sharks, because they can make them rich. Further more, some of my Chinese friends vowed to never eat shark fin soup again after seeing these beautiful fish. I have in fact talked to the Asia director of WWF when he came to Hong Kong several years ago, and he agreed that the verdict on Oslob is still out.