Oslob Whaleshark with Sumilon Island

We did Oslob Whaleshark and Sumilon island tours and all 10 of us (different ages) had a grand time experiencing God's beautiful gifts. Sumilon Island is exquisite and the Butandings are truly magnificent. I just hope they minimize the number of boats that set out at a time so that it doesn't look very crowded from the shore and the whalesharks can swim more freely.

I was in Cebu for work from late April to Mid-May. I took a one day trip to Oslob and Sumilon. I booked the tour with Southwind Travel and Tours. They pick up at hotel and bring you back. I was the only one on the trip so i had the guide, Rachel and the driver all to myself! They were both awesome. Cebu to Oslob is about 2.5 hours in the morning. You get there around 7am. Put on the life jacket and away you go. Six tourists to a boat. Two guides. They paddle you out to the Whaleshark feeding area, where a 'feeder' is throwing food over the sides of his canoe. The Whaleshark comes up, opens its huge mouth and inhales. You have stairs off the small boat to ease yourself into the water and you can swim right up to the Whaleshark, you cannot, or SHOULD NOT touch them. You can get pretty close as they just ignore you. It is an impressive creature! Good experience. Great for all ages. But keep in mind, "Whaleshark Tourism" is big business and there can be lots of people, I was lucky on the day i was there, it was only half packed i was told. Still when you look underwater you see scuba divers swimming around along with some pretty colorful fish. The whole experience last about 30 minutes. Water looks like its 30-40 feet deep and you are 50 yards from shore. There can be 10 or so people with you in the water at any given time. No everyone jumps in. You can take off the life jacket if you want. Then its onto Sumilon Island. Small Island, ten minute drive from Oslob. There is a small pier with a Tourist station (with bathroom) owned by the Bluewater Resort on Sumilon. Southwind Travel has an agreement with them to use the facilities. Its a 15 minutes boat ride to the Island. Great place. On the south side of the Island you have a sand bar with very gentle waves and very shallow water. Great for all ages. That is where most people hang out. I stayed practically all day on the north side where there is a marine preserve. Very nice snorkeling, lots of very colorful fish (some huge ones and some eel fish too) and sea life, including the odd 2.5 foot shark. The waves can be rough on this side. Lots of bolders, rocks. The tour included lunch at the Resort. It was a very good buffet I might add. The snorkeling beach has little tiki huts with elevated floors (no sand on your towels!!!!) and hammocks. You spend four hours or so there. Its not too busy, so you can just relax. Around 1:30 pm we headed home. Took the boat to shore. The ride home was close to 4 hours. All in all, a very great day trip and I could see myself staying a couple of days at the Bluewater Resort as it looked very nice.

In May 2018, a group of us went to the Philippines on a scuba trip. On one of our days in country, we opted for the Cebu Whale Shark excursion to knock off a bucket list item. When we arrived, there were so many people there (it was a Sunday), so we got slightly worried about the chaos. However, everything was very well organized and set up. Our wait time was not unreasonable at all, and they had a very systematic program that kept the boats rotating. Once out on the boat, we were able to hop in the water while the middle boat fed the whale sharks to bring them close to us. We were able to take amazing photos and videos of these incredible creatures. They gave us a full 30 minutes in the water so everyone was able to capture the pictures that they wanted. I would recommend bringing some soap/shampoo/etc with you for afterwards, as you will smell like dead shrimp. They do have showers available for use. We were VERY pleased with the set up and execution of Cebu Tours and would recommend this excursion to everyone!