DIY TRAVEL in Southern tip of Cebu: WHALESHARK WATCHING IN OSLOB and GETTING WET N TUMALOG FALLS

Never in my entire life did I dream of swimming and watching closely to a whale shark but because I need to complete the best tourist spot of Cebu- so I embraced all the guts I needed to face it.

April 26, 2013, we woke up as early as 3:00 in the morning, requested our hotel to packed-up our breakfast, and brought our extra shirts and headed to South Bus Terminal, that’s 1.5 km. away from the hotel. The best time to chase Whale sharks is around 6:00-7:00A.M. where the sun rays are not so intense. 

The safest way to get into Oslob is through Ceres Bus Liner (yellow bus) or SunRays Bus with the route to Bato,Oslob, it travels as early as 3:00A.M. A little patience for the 3-hour travel won’t be a dead beat upon seeing blue-colored “whale shark watching” tarps hanging around in Brgy. Tan-awan, Oslob, Cebu. You may also ask the bus conductor to drop you off in Brgy. Tan-awan for whale shark watching just like what we did.

Whew! Oslob is situated in the Southern tip of Cebu, a less traveled province before, now came one of “a-must-visit-place”. Local resident shared the butandings’ first visit in a private beach resort in Oslob sometime in 2011 which soon fed by the local fishermen until it became what it is today-- - a tourist attraction protected by the local government.

We headed to the resort where we had our contact, Kuya Reneeboy of Aaron Beach (09334159460) left our stuffs in a private locker, got our snorkeling gear and headed to the briefing area. A 3-minute briefing was very essential to be remembered, such as:

1.    No touching of Butandings (otherwise the Butandings will pass/touch you unintentionally), that means keep your distance up to 4 meters. Heheh.

2.      No using of lotion/sunblock (it might contaminate the water).

3.      No using of jewelries (I lost the other pair of my earrings because I never listen to this),huhuh.

4.      Cameras are allowed but camera flash are strictly prohibited(it may disturbed the sea creatures)

5.      Too much noise is also strictly prohibited.

Right after the briefing, officials had been very courteous in accommodating us to the pumpboat where 3 men assisted us to the water, 1 had been the camera man, 1 pumpboat driver and 1 safekeeper. We were also given a vest for security.

Sample photos of whale sharks underneath

We're interacting them

This was one of my highlighted adventures in Cebu. To swim even if I don’t have any idea how to, and to watch gentle whale sharks felt so overwhelming! 30 minutes of swimming and watching is soo fast to meet up close with the gentle giants.

Afterwhich, the group asked assistance to the resort crew if they can help us get a cab going to Tumalog Falls and instantly we were accommodated. The resort crews were really accomodating,thumbs up! You can only reached Tumalog falls via habal-habal or a chartered cab. It took 20minutes before we reached the entrance of the falls and trek for another 10-15 minutes that’s approximately 400meters going to the eco-tourism view. It’s all soo WorthIt!

Don't think you'll never get wet with it

Keeps pouring!

Just so fun of different falls, this one has its own style. Unlike any other falls which had been so robust in pouring, this one poured out like a cold shower cascading in its umbrella-shaped rocks. Cool! Everything in the sight was all natural! No advertisement/huts/mini-food center or whatsoever.

Cascading umbrella-like showers

 From there we went back to the resort for a little shower and dressed-up and packed our stuff while the cab waited to drive us to our next stop ,the Very Old Church of Our Lady of Immaculate Concepcion which was constructed in 1830, too old yet too strong. Amazing!

Great Heritage!

 Resting in a park was one of the best things we did after we have sensationalized what we’ve witnessed, park is located in front of the old church and the sea, then we walked our way to the main highway and waited for a bus back to the city.

Summary of Expenses

Hotel to South Bus Terminal (Taxi)                         61.00     /    3   =    20/pax

South Bus to Oslob (Ceres bus:bound to Bato)Aircon                         155/pax

Entrance Fee (Aaron Resort)                                                               50/pax

Whale shark watching fee                                                                   300/pax

Snorkeling gears                                                                                  200/pax

Chartered multicab inclusive of tumalog entrance fee

 (tumalog-resort-ICChurch)                                                                150/pax   

Oslob Proper to Cebu City (bus/Aircon)                                               155/pax

Lunch                                                                                                  140/pax

Dinner                                                                                                 FREE

TOTAL                                                                                          PHP 1, 170.00

Note: 

•          TUMALOG ENTRANCE FEE IS PHP20.00 

•          Whale shark watching is available everyday during 6:00 A.M. to 1:00pm ONLY.     

•           In whale shark watching, you may also opted to go directly to the Briefing Area     without going to any beaches nearby.
•           Underwater camera is also available for rentals.
•           Last Trip from Oslob to Cebu City is 9:00 P.M.