After visiting Bohol and Cebu, we flew to the island of Palawan. Palawan was highly recommended to me by many of my co-workers who are lifers in China and head to the Philippines a lot for vacation. They said that it's the best place to go for uncrowded island paradise so the next day we flew from Cebu to Puerto Princesa, the largest city and right in the middle of the long, thin Palawan Island.

On our second day in Cebu we decided to take a day trip to nearby Bohol Island. The numerous small islands in the middle of the Philippines are called the Visayas and they are easily connected by ferries making many trips a day. On the fast (and more expensive) ferry, getting to Bohol only took us about 2 hours. We just showed up at the harbor office at 7:30 and were speeding along watching Home Alone 3 (the complimentary movie) by 8am.

Making a trip to Donsol to try and swim with the whale sharks is kind of risky in itself because there is absolutely no guarantee that you will see one. The season that they are usually closest to shore in the Philippines is February - May so we had a decent chance of swimming with one as we arrived in early February. The day before we arrived, 8 out of 15 boats (with 6 people in each boat) had seen and swam with one. Sometimes you can get your guide to give you a discounted price to go out on the boat again later in the day or again the following day if you weren't able to interact with one.


We got up early because our boat left at seven and got acquainted with the other members of our group. The permit to visit the whale sharks is about $8 each and the boat costs $88 but if you decide to split it with other people then you end up only paying $15 each. Snorkel gear costs another $15 each (but many people brought their own). We also got an underwater camera which was about $20 (!). On each boat there is the captain, the guide (official name: BIO - Butanding Interaction Officer - Butanding is the name of the whale shark in Tagalog, the language of the Philippines) and two spotters who stand at the top and are always on the lookout for sharks. The whole experience is a little dramatic and one big adrenaline rush. You have to wait in full snorkel gear on the side of the boat while it's speeding around until the guide gives the signal to jump in and swim as fast as you can.

Our guide the first day was not really that great but the other people on the boat were super nice. Our guide explained that you never know what it will be like. Some days there are hundreds of whale sharks just hanging around and each person can swim with their own. But other days there aren't many at all and many boats have to share just one. This can lead to some chaos as 6 boats = 36 people all swimming frantically trying to get a glimpse of the fish.


Unfortunately, our first day was one of those days. The whole day we only got in the water once and didn't really get that great of a view. Everyone was really disappointed and totally bummed. We saw a few fish from the boat but the guides guessed that they were particularly shy or young ones because as soon as the boats arrived, they dove down deep out of sight. It was a waiting game that tested our patience as from 7-2pm we just drove around in the hot sun on the boat looking for whale sharks.


Because we didn't really get to swim with the whale sharks we signed up for another day and this time we got our own boat and guide. This turned out to be an awesome decision and the next day was an absolute blast. There were many whale sharks out and about and we got to swim alongside so many that after a few hours I had pretty much had enough. Our guide was fantastic and every time we would jump in he would grab my arm and we would swim as fast as we could. He was an expert at knowing how and where the fish would move and helped me follow along with it. Sean followed behind me sputtering and gasping because he had given me his snorkel as mine wasn't working. (That's love, people). I didn't think I would be scared at all, but when I was actually in the water so close to the giant beast that I could actually touch it, I kind of freaked out. I don't think I have ever been next to something that huge that was alive - it was crazy!


We took a lot of pictures of the whale sharks with our crappy underwater camera but they didn't really turn out. The experience, however, was unforgettable and Sean said that it was one of the coolest things he had ever done in his life. We had to turn the boat back a bit early the second day because we had to catch a flight back to Cebu. I'm so glad we decided to take the gamble and try swimming with the whale sharks because it was a unique experience that I probably won't ever be able to do again.

I'm finally getting around to posting about the final destination on our trip - the Philippines. We flew from Singapore to Cebu on February 8 and island-hopped until February 24 when we flew back to Shanghai. Fortunately, the budget airline Cebu Pacific had really cheap flights to and from the Philippines as well as on domestic flights within the country.

While on the plane, I read a really cool article about the chance to swim with whale sharks in another part of the country. We were within the season when the animals would be near shore for mating and feeding so we made a quick decision in the airport and decided to take the next flight out of Cebu to Donsol to try and swim with the largest fish in the world.


The stay in the airport was pretty rough however. Our budget flight had deposited us in Cebu at 4am so we slept on benches until the ticket offices opened and we could buy our ticket to Donsol. Then we slept some more until the flight actually left at 1pm. We were in good spirits though because a) there was free internet in the terminal b) our Chinese ATM cards were working in all the machines and c) there was a Dunkin Donuts. Life really doesn't get any better.


Swimming with whale sharks has started to become big business as tourism for some parts of the Philippines. We headed to Donsol because there is a good system in place for seeing the giant beasts. For example, only a certain amount of people are able to go out in boats every day, you have to go with a trained guide and all of the prices and permits are regulated. Although swimming with whale sharks sounds a little intimidating, they are harmless to people and they aren't sharks - they are just giant, slow-swimming fish who feed on plankton. While some unregulated areas let you ride or touch the fish we were only allowed to swim alongside and observe them.


The coolest thing about whale sharks is their size. They are HUGE! (many grow as long as a bus!) They are also beautiful with gray backs and dappled spots making them easy to see in the water. Fortunately for us, they are relatively slow swimmers that stay near the surface. They also didn't seem to notice or mind the boats or all of the swimmers/divers near them.


We were exhausted when we landed in Legaspi and then had about a two hour ride to Donsol. We ended up splitting a van with a German couple and the rural, winding and twisting almost made all of us sick. When we arrived, we signed up for snorkeling the next day, got our permits, tried on gear and found a hostel and got some dinner. The prices were higher than normal because of being in high season for seeing whale sharks but nobody minded and everyone was super excited about heading out on the boats early in the morning the next day.