Date Visited: March 7-9, 2008
Travel Time from Manila: 1 hour by plane, 10 to 12 hours by land
Four years ago, I asked my husband if he wanted to swim with the Whale Sharks, or Butandings as they are locally called. I came across this idea when I read in a newspaper of a huge whale shark caught in Taiwan. It's prohibited to hunt whale sharks because they are in danger of becoming extinct but several countries consider their meat as a tasty meal. I really wanted to experience a Butanding interaction in case these gentle creatures are lost forever.
We booked our Sorsogon trip via a travel agent. We were to take a Philipine Airlines flight to Legaspi and from there, a van will take us to Fernandos Hotel in Sorsogon. View website here.
 |
| Welcome sign from Fernandos Hotel staff. |
Arriving at Fernandos Hotel, we were the only guests at the time so we were able to check in early. The rooms are spacious (we got the twin sharing room for only Php 1,600). The bathroom had hot water and even a small tub. We met the owner, Ms. Cecilia Duran, and she showed us around the hotel. I remember reading about Ms. Cecilia in The Lonely Planet Philippines and she is something like a local celebrity in Sorsogon.
 |
| Our twin sharing room in Fernandos Hotel. |
 |
| Irosin hot springs. |
We headed back to Fernandos after a couple of hours in Irosin. The jeepney ride took about 45 minutes. We were a bit tired when we arrived at the hotel and Ms. Cecilia suggested that we have dinner in their small restaurant. She ordered the food for us and had it prepared while we freshened up.
Dinner consisted of Inihaw na baboy, fresh seaweeds and fresh seafood (Php 500 good for 2 persons). Ms. Cecilia had guests but she still joined me and my husband for a quick chat. We arranged to have breakfast in the hotel and again, she ordered the food for us.
The next day, we ate a heavy breakfast of eggs, ham, bacon, toast bread and freshly brewed coffee (Php 350). I packed some biscuits because we knew we would be in the boat for the rest of the day. The ride from Sorsogon took less than 2 hours. We rented our snorkeling gear which consisted of fins and a mask (Php 250 per person). If you lose a fin or a mask, you pay Php 1,500, so be careful.
Before going out to sea, visitors need to watch a 10 minute video on whale shark interaction. It basically tells visitors not to touch the whale sharks and to stay close to the BIO, Butanding Interaction Officer.
Our BIO was named Anthony. The boat he got costs Php 3,000 for an unlimited time. Luckily, we were joined by another couple and we split the cost. A representative from WWF asked if he could tag along because he needed to take photos of the whale sharks for research. So, in a boat, there were 8 of us. Aside from the BIO, we had a 'spotter', his job is to stand on a pole on top of the boat and look for the dark shadows of the whale sharks.
Note that it is better if you know how to snorkel, you won't get much fun if you just wear a life vest. It's better to swim BESIDE the whale shark ^_^
We were at sea for 5 hours and we saw 6 whale sharks! Each is about the size of small bus. They are very gentle creatures and won't even mind the swimmers. We were able to video one shark with his mouth open! :true:
It was such a rush to swim with the whale sharks! I really hope they won't disappear from Philippine shores. As a souvenir of our trip, I bought a whale shark pendant from Ms. Cecilia. They also sell other novelty items but try to look for bargain buys in the nearby market. Prices are cheaper as you can always haggle. For more information about Sorsogon, visit their website; http://www.sorsogontourism.com
Dagos Tabi!
No comments:
Post a Comment