Whale Sharks (Cebu Day 5)

Day 5

It was whale shark day, the experience I had been most excited for in this trip (though I felt a tinge of sadness because whale sharks would also be our last experience in the water before we returned to Singapore.)

We left Eve's Kiosk at 7am and took a 1.5h van ride to Oslob, to a place called Aaron's Beach Resort. (For future reference, it cost 1000 pesos for 30min experience with the whale sharks.)

No sunblock was allowed, and I am so very thankful to Mei for lending me her long sleeved swim top throughout the trip because I'd gotten sunburnt on the first day and my back really hurt the first few days.

There were about 4 sharks in the waters when we were there. The rules were that we were supposed no less than 4m away from whale sharks but the whale sharks themselves didn't follow that rule. When I first entered the water, one swam right beside me and I accidentally touched its fin. Later on, one swam directly under me so I had to stop swimming to let it pass, but that view was amazing. Also, one swam into my back. So I ended up unintentionally touching them several times. They are so cute with their little eyes at the side and 1m long oval mouths. They were about 4m long, much smaller than I'd initially expected. I suppose they were young ones.

The whale sharks themselves were beautiful, but the place was extremely crowded and touristy - it felt like there were far too many people in the waters at any one time. Also, the local guides kept yanking us back while we were swimming around, and while I was following one particular whale shark (keeping a safe distance), one guide scolded me and said, "not your boat, go back", so I had to turn around. It was also difficult to take photos due to the bubbles from the scuba divers below us -  marine biologists who were studying the behaviour of whale sharks when interacting with humans. Nevertheless, it was a really awesome (in the actual sense of being in awe of these majestic, beautiful creatures) experience. I also got to do what I'd planned to, though I ran into some complications at the start, but I'm really glad that it all went well in the end.

Our lunch consisted of very sweet pork that tasted similar to charsiew, and chicken which I gave Donny, along with such wonderfully sweet mangoes. 

Everything mango in the Philippines is amazing.

We then returned to the hotel, and by then I felt completely zonked out from the past days activities (I must have been running on a whole load of adrenalin and exhilaration the first few days, because I didn't get very tired and went snorkelling every time). 

After a short rest, Aunty A brought Mei & I to a coffee place which had sand on the ground as part of the experience, and there we shared crepes and did devotions. 

Mei and I then had a brief hour of souvenir shopping (the only shopping on this trip) before we joined the rest and headed to Chili's for dinner (there I tried moussaka and decided it is delicious) before heading back to pack.

We left the following day after breakfast...

...and enjoyed our last mango shakes at the airport (I miss drinking one everyday).

Underwater photos taken with Canon G16 in underwater case, borrowed from Pastor Ivan.
Other photos from Mei's camera & my camera.