The Great Whale Shark (Butanding) Adventure!

Location: Donsol, Sorsogon
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.

The flights of both PAL and CEB to Legaspi are in the morning. Vans or tricycles are available upon arrival to Legaspi and they can easily take you to Sorsogon.

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.

Ms. Cecilia offered to arrange for us our whale shark interaction but we already had one courtesy of the travel agency. We ate at the nearby Cindy's restaurant (Php 200 for 2 meals) and then hopped on a jeep that would take us to Irosin. Irosin is located at the foot of Mount Bulusan and we wanted to visit their famous hot springs. Entrance fee is only Php 20 per person. Additional fees if you want to rent a cabana or picnic table.

Irosin hot springs.

We tested our underwater camera case in Irosin as we were going on our whale shark interaction the next day. We had a Sony Cybershot digicam and placed it inside a DicaPack waterproof camera case. The case cost us Php 1,500 but it was well worth it when we took a video of the Butanding.

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!

Photo Album Fakers

Recently, I saw a friend post in Facebook that he went Whale Shark hunting. Since I went to Donsol, Sorsogon to do the same thing a few years ago, I was excited to see his underwater photos/videos of the Whale Shark (locally known as the Butanding). I had naturally assumed he had an underwater digital camera.

I was so disappointed when I saw his albums, the Butanding shots were photo grabs from another website and taken by a professional photographer! These were mixed in with the friend's photos taken from his own camera. Did you ever notice that there are people on Facebook who create albums made up of other people's photos? The least you can do is give credit to who really took the photos. Or better yet, I'd best start putting watermarks on my photos 3:)

My first attempt in making a watermark AND a video grab

Facing Where?!

I love taking pictures of the funniest signs! This is one I took in La Union last year. We ended up parking far away from this sign!

Playa Laiya Vacay

Location: Playa Laiya in Batangas
Date Visited: March 30, 2012
Travel Time from Manila: 2.5 hours

My summer vacation officially started when my daughter graduated from Kindergarten mid-March. But the first sign of summer vacation was when my husband announced that he can bring me and our daughter along their company outing in Playa Laiya.

Since several of hubby's office mates will be riding with us, we decided to use the party van that seats 8 persons. Travel time usually flies when a vehicle is packed with fun people!

For a 2 hour drive, it's a good idea to pack the following items for a 6 year old;

• Enough snacks such as biscuits, wafers and chips
• A small cooler with water and juice
• Pillow and blanket
• Small pack with crayons, markers and a notebook for doodling
• A fully charged iPad with enough apps to keep a 6 year old busy 

Turns out, my husband's friends are enough to keep my daughter busy. They played games on the iPad and even sang songs from the playlist.

When we arrived at Playa Laiya, I was surprised to see how 5 star looking the resort was. I've visited sevral resorts in Batangas and this one was the best so far. To think it wasn't even done renovating.

We were an hour early for lunch so we headed to the beach for a quick swim. Sure, it's no white sand but at least there were no stones that made it hard to stand on the beach.

The waves were a bit high, very enjoyable!

A safety net around the trampoline makes sure kids can't fall out.

There's also a trampoline that children (even adults) could play.

We stayed at cabanas near the beach but had lunch at big tents where you can either bring your own food or grill on site. Of course it's always cheaper to bring your own food than to order from the resort. The shower rooms are clean but few. Good thing there were only a few groups that time.Visitors can use the pool but at an added fee.

For more details on Playa Laiya, check out their website http://playalaiya.com/index.php

Moms Need Wings

Hi, my name is Sharlene but friends call me Shars. I used to pave the concrete jungle in Makati, I was in sales for 6 years. I decided to quit my job to be a full time mom. My daughter is 7 years old and we enjoy the simple mother-daughter dates that my new found freedom has allowed. Plus, my daughter has never been happier waking up with me beside her instead of an empty bed.

I've decided to start a blog to share my mommy-hood adventures. Enjoy!