Swimming with Whale Sharks in Donsol, Philippines

Beholding the beautiful creatures within their deep wide habitat will make everyone feel the wonder of the Mother Nature. This becomes more real once you personally witness whale sharks.  You can see them in the Philippines in Donsol, from Sorsogon province.    

Donsol is an old-fashioned coastal town for fishing at around 600 km away from the city of Manila—Philippines’ capital country.  Donsol is situated in Luzon Island at the southwest coast.  The place has been the natural habitat for years by whale sharks or “Butanding,” as what people most commonly call them. 

The town has kept this in secret for a long time until a team of divers from other countries introduced it to the public for awareness.  Sadly, the people of doubtful intentions have taken advantage of the place.  Rustlers began to go to the place after hearing the news of the migration of Butanding.  Thankfully, the government has taken the necessary action to give protection and preserve the whale sharks, saying publicly that those are protected species. 

What exactly the place offers to the sharks making them special after all?  Sea waters in Donsol province are perfect for the right water temperature for Butandings during their migrations from the months of February to June.  In addition to the satisfying temperature, these whales can feed on the plentiful species of fish food.  The rich planktons give the whales more than sufficient food to sustain their lives and live long in the place. 

Each time these marine creatures begin to come, Donsol transforms itself into an occupied site fully-packed with both foreign and local tourists.  People from across the world arrive to witness the wonderful living creatures roam and play under the water.  For this year, it has been noted that there are about 168 Butandings at the sea’s costal water areas.  Some of these whales can even swim as near as twenty meters away from the shore.  With this natural scene of excitement, it is not a surprise that bigger numbers of tourists flock around the town each year.

Most of Donsol’s hotels organize some activities for visitors like arranging transportation.  Sometimes an additional fee is required besides the normal price. One area of the place that shouldn’t be missed by tourists is the PADI Dive Resort at Giddy’s Place.  The resort provides a variety of fun-filled activities like kayaking and diving.  

And to mingle with welcoming sharks, you can register yourself at the Visitor’s Centre situated at Dancalan Barangay.  They will show you a video clip on how to interact with whale sharks then you can take the exotic tricycle to guide you to the boat station. Tourists and watchers of the whale sharks will be assigned to an expert officer to assist them.  For security purposes, set of policies are strictly implemented to be followed by everyone.  Furthermore, Visitor’s Centre also gives tour boats together with the assigned officer. Many resorts also provide tour pre-booking at a cheap service price.  A single boat can accommodate as many as six people. 

Here are the existing rules and regulations visitors can see on Visitor Centre’s walls.  Rules are restated during the short video showing.

1. No riding or touching on Butanding.
2. Don’t control the whale shark’s movement or block its way.
3. Standard distance: 3-meter away from the body and the head; 4-meter away from its tail.
4. No flash picture taking allowed.
5. No scooter, scuba, jet-ski, and any sort of motorized underwater driving force.
6. Only one boat allowed per shark with maximum 6 swimmers only.

Donsol is one of the most popular tourist destinations because of the great swimming Butanding.  Donsol has now laid claim to the designation as the “world’s whale capital.”