Have you ever heard about the Whale Sharks’s in Oslob, Cebu? Known in Tagalog as “Butanding” and Visayan language as “Tuki”, these Whale Sharks found in Barangay Tan-awan in the municipality of Oslob in the “Queen City of the South” is quickly getting the attention it badly needed.
Featured in a UK-based website, the Whale Shark or Butanding in Oslob became popular after Filipinos share the wonderful images and inspiring words through Facebook and Twitter. Foreigners, mostly Koreans and Japanese, started to share their own experiences with these Gentle Giants to their friends, which also help the promotion of these whale sharks.
Whale Shark Watching in Oslob
The local travel junkies are now finding a way to visit the Butanding in Oslob, so they can add it to their websites/blogs and proudly share their adventure to their families. Foreigners are also busy looking for a hassle-free tour package, so they no longer need to go to the Bus Station and wait for hours before the bus depart for Oslob.
Prior to the discovery of the Butanding in Oslob, the only popular area in the Philippines which has these whale sharks is Donsol in Sorsogon. In fact, it is currently one of the main tourist destinations in the country. Now that these creatures are in Cebu, foreigners may have second thoughts in going to Donsol. Compared to Sorsogon, Cebu City is more urbanize and it has a lot more tourist attractions to offer including natural wonders, beaches, old churches among many others. Nevertheless, the whale shark watching in Donsol is stable and the government is doing everything they can to maintain the cleanliness of the place and encourages the growth and health of these Gentle Giants.
Swimming with the Butanding in Oslob is one of the most unforgettable experiences. If you are planning to go there, you can take a Bus at the South Bus Terminal and wait for it to depart when it is full or you can simply tell us that you want a hassle-free tour package for a certain number of persons and we will give you our prices within 24 hours.
Driving your own car for 3 long hours can be very stressful but if you plan to do so, you can ask for some locals in Barangay Tan-awan on where you can find the resort that offers “whale shark watching”. The resort has no name so locals recognize it as such. It is a few meters away from Barangay Hall in Tan-awan, which you can use as your landmark.
To be more intimate with the Butanding in Oslob, you need to pay the entrance fee at the resort and hire a boat with outrigger. You can already see the bodies of these whale sharks even if you are just standing in the beach but swimming with them will be an awesome experience. Used for the development of the place and for the shrimps, which are use as food for the “Tuki”, the payments/prices are slowly getting higher. If you do not a hassle-free tour package and do not want to pay several persons for just one activity, you can simple contact us and we will be glad to offer you our professional services, which includes a DOT-licensed tour guide.
Before going near the Butanding in Oslob, there will be a short orientation and they will inform you about the rules, which are the following:
– Do not attempt to touch, ride, or chase a Whale Shark
– Do not restrict normal movement or behavior of the Shark
– Maintain a minimum distance of 3 meters from the Whale Shark
– Do not undertake flash photography
– Do not use motorized underwater diver propulsions
Similar to the Butanding in Donsol before it became popular, some whale sharks in Cebu experience injury because of the carelessness of some tourists and locals. Thrown at these Gentle Giants, the spears and other sharp objects hurt them a lot. Regulated and overseen by the LGU, local are now doing their best to take care of these animals because it is now one of the main sources of income. There are over a dozen of Butanding in Cebu and the local government is relentlessly asking the financial help from the higher offices. They are also seeking the help of whale shark experts so they can preserve and multiply them in the near future.
If you want to visit the Butanding in Oslob, please send us an email at gett.inc@gmail.com or use the inquiry form below. Tell us how many you are in the group and your preferred dates. Please also tell us if you are planning to avail a Cebu-Mactan tour or a Bohol tour and we will give you our proposal within 24 hours.