Whale Sharks are maestetical creatures and you can only stare at them in awe when they silently glide through the water in front of you. I had been lucky to be able to see them at the aquarium in Osaka, Japan but so far, they hadn’t showed up for me in the wild. This should change in the town of Oslob on the island of Cebu. Here you can be 99% certain that you can go  swimming with whale sharks in Cebu.

How to get to swimming with whale sharks in Cebu

Cebu is an island and most likely you will get to Cebu in Cebu city. Either at the airport or by ferry. If you arrive at the airport, you can take the airport bus to SM transit center for 25 pesos. Depending on traffic this takes between 30 minutes and one hour. From there, you can either try to find the correct jeepney to the South Bus Terminal (7 Pesos) or take a taxi (about 100-150 pesos).

If you arrive at the port, you can also navigate your way to South Bus Terminal with one or two jeepneys (7 pesos each) or you take a taxi.

At South Bus Terminal you take a bus toward Oslob. That’s the small town where snorkelling with whalesharks takes place. Take a yellow bus with a/c and good working free wifi for 180 PHP. The bus without a/c and wifi is 130 PHP. Normally, the ride takes three hours and has one short toilet stop. However, on the way down to Oslob it was a Saturday and traffic and the crowds of local tourists were insane! We had to wait 1.5 hours at South Bus Terminal (there are rows of chairs like the lines at an amusement park and everytime the line moves, you go to the next chair and sit down again). Then, due to traffic, the journey took 5 hours. So, if you can plan it, don’t travel on the weekend.

Swimming with whale sharks in Oslob

There’s not much going on in Oslob apart from the whale sharks and a night food market. You can chose items for the bbq and they will prepare them for you. Try an eggplant, because they will make a delicious eggplant salad with tomatoes and onions!

So, how can they guarantee that there will be whale sharks? The answer is simple, by feeding them. Therefore, it will not be that magical experience of a whale shark naturally gliding through the water in front of you. There will rather be several whales that circulate between the boats with an open mouth to catch the food from the boats. The depth of the water is about 4 meters. So, not much space to observe them dive and take pictures below water. They stay close to the surface anyway. Nevertheless, they are beautiful animals and it’s amazing to be so close to them! You really have to pay attention not to accidentally touch them.

Probably, you can book the whale shark tour through your hostel. Make sure that you get there by 6 a.m. or even 15 mins before that and that they will organize the boat ticket etc. for you. The tour will cost between 1100 Pesos and 1500 Pesos. The actual time with the whale sharks will only be 30 minutes. You will be back in your hotel by 7 a.m. Hence, it’s rather expensive but I guess you pay for the experience. By the way, they only do it until noon every day, so you have to arrive there before 11 a.m.

The whale sharks

Even if you arrive at the docking area at 6 a.m. it will already be very busy and might be complicated if you have to get a ticket yourself.
Although they will give you a life vest and a snorkel, I would recommend that you bring your own snorkel and mask if you have one. The ones they give you don’t have water guards at the top.

When they call your number you can hop on a boat with six people and they take you to the feeding area in about three minutes. There, you are allowed to swim for 30 minutes but you must stay close to the boat. We were in the first batch of boats but honestly, I didn’t even notice the other boats as the animals absorbed my complete focus.

Was it worth it?

Yes, it was nice to be so close to the whale sharks but it certainly was an artificial experience. Here, it was more about the thrill to be within touching distance of the animals. If you just want to appreciate the beauty of whale sharks you could also visit the aquarium in Osaka (Japan). There, I found it a truly magical experience just to watch them in the huge water tank with hammerhead sharks and rays.

What else can you do in Oslob?

Tumalog Waterfall

Wow, this waterfall is absolutely beautiful! The water softly flows over a big cliff and spreads into many light sprays of water, all collected in a blue pond.

The waterfall is situated between Oslob Town and the whale shark experience. Therefore, you could go there right after the whale sharks when there are no other people yet. The waterfall is behind a steep hill and you can get there by taking a motorcycle taxi for 30 pesos per person each way. The motorcycle fits two guests.

If you are lucky, they will drive you straight to the waterfall. If not, they will wait for you at the top of the hill and you have to walk down the steep hill on the other side, to get to the waterfall. Later, back up again of course. Both ways take about 10 mins. The entrance fee to the waterfall is 20 pesos but we were there before seven and so it was free.

Canyoneering and more waterfalls

If you are based in Oslob, you can also do the canioneering experience from here. We hired a trycicle for the whole day for 1000 pesos and started at 7 a.m. By 9 a.m. we were at the start of Alegria Canyoneering and began 3 hours of fun jumping down waterfalls and swimming in amazingly clear and blue gorges. That really is a must in this area! It costs between 1300 and 1500 pesos and should include lunch, a life jacket, water shoes and Kawasan Waterfall.

After the tour was finished, we told our trycicle driver that we wanted to see one more waterfall and he should bring us to the nicest one. He drove us to Aguinid waterfall which consists of 6 levels and also is a must in this area!

Were you ever lucky enough to observe whale sharks? Where? Tell me in a comment.