Whale Sharking in Donsol, Sorsogon, Philippines (Top 5 Places in the Philippines, 2/5)

My friend Harrison and I on our way to swim with the whale sharks

After facilitating at a design and marketing workshop with some fellow Peace Corps Volunteers, my friend Harrison and I went to Sorsogon, which is famous for butanding (whale sharks). We checked in to Amor Farm Beach Resort, which is just down the street from where the whale shark tours leave, and headed to the beach. Amor isn't very fancy, but it was well-suited to our volunteer budgets.

We got a beautiful sunset at the beach.

Enjoying sunset at the beach

We met some guys who were catching small octopus. I don't know how they do it, I tried looking for them, but didn't see any! Plus, it was getting dark... They were pros.

Don't know how he caught this!

Who knew octopus in a broken glass cup could make such a beautiful picture?

Ok, on to the whale shark experience. If you're planning on swimming with whale sharks, first go to the tourist center and sign up for a tour. We paid 1,800 Php (about $30 USD) per person for the tour guide/boat/registration fee (from what I remember). If you have snorkeling gear, bring it because it is not included in the cost.

What an amazing experience! We got the first trip out around 8am,but we didn't have any spottings until 9am-ish. I'd suggest going on the 10am trip. Be ready to get kicked in the face by other enthusiastic whale sharkers. I was lucky, the first spotting we had, I jumped in kind of late, but my tour guide grabbed my hand and brought me right on top of the the thing! It was such an amazing experience. Whale sharks are huge (harmless, but gigantic!). I got to swim for quite a while right on top of it. I missed the second spotting we had because the shark was too quick. On the third sighting though, I was able to again swim right on top of the shark. In fact, I had to back away because it was coming up, and I didn't want it to touch me! (Touching is against the rules.) Definitely one of my favorite experiences in the Philippines!

After whale sharking, I saw some people filming by the docks. I was curious, thinking they were doing some sort of documentary on the whale sharks. Turns out, they were Fil-Ams doing a documentary on their first visit to the Philippines. Also, turns out they're actors/actresses. One of them was Dante Bosco, known for his character Rufio in the movie Hook. As anyone who knows me knows, I'm the worst at recognizing famous people, so I had no idea who they were. They ended up interviewing us, so we might be in The Basco Balikbayan Project: A Journey To Our Roots!

With The Basco Balikbayan Project cast and crew at Amor

While Amor Farm Beach Resort has simple accomodations, the food there is really good. I loved Bicol food — lots of spice and coconut milk.

Yummmyyy Bicol food

If you are flying out from Legazpi, try to get a window seat because Bicol has one last treat for you as you leave — an amazing view of Mt. Mayon :)

View of Mt. Mayon on my flight out