Ultimate DIY Cebu Adventure: Whale Shark Watching in Oslob (with city tour!)

For some reasons, it took me this long to post the continuation of our Ultimate DIY Cebu-Bohol Adventure. (Read the first part of the segment HERE). It is better late than never so I'll be posting the one of the highlights of our trip last year, the whale shark watching in Oslob, Cebu.

We were looking for a beach we could visit that is relatively near from Cebu City when I accidentally saw a blog post about the whale watching activity in Oslob, Cebu. Honestly, I didn't know that we have whale sharks in Cebu. So without further discussions, Edge and I decided to go to Oslob and swim with whale sharks.

We left Bohol at around 10:00 in the morning and arrived in Cebu minutes after 12:00 noon. We knew we had to travel almost 3 hours by land from Cebu City so right after lunch, we hopped in to a bus going to Oslob.

How to go to Oslob?
From Cebu South Bus Terminal, ride a Ceres or Sunrays bus going to Oslob or any destination that will pass along Oslob. The fair is more or less Php 200.00 (sorry, I can't remember the exact amount) and the travel time is about 3 hours. Get off at Poblacion, Oslob, right in front of Julie's Bakeshop. Note: Almost all town has a baranggay named Poblacion and a Julie's Bakeshop so make sure you will be dropped off at Poblacion.

We arrived at almost 4:00 in the afternoon, which was earlier than expected. We called Ate Eva Malonzo of Malonzo Pension House (I will be sharing more about the accommodation they offer in a separate post.) to inform her that we were already in front of Julie's Bakeshop.

Edge and I decided to just rest in our room but Ate Eva and her husband, Kuya Rene, insisted we should take a stroll around the town and visit the church. And since we still had time to burn, we walked our way to the sentro as the people there call it.

Warning: Expect to see me in my simplest look (without my defined brows!) from here on. :)

The place was so beautiful. It was perfect, in my perspective. Peaceful neighborhood, friendly people, great ambiance. All I thought was we would just see the municipal hall and the park located a few streets from Malonzo Pension House. But no, we still hadn't seen the church Ate Eva and Kuya Rene wanted as to see. They said, "may maganda na simbahan dyan sa sentro" or (there is a beautiful church in the center of the town) but actually, we didn't expect that the place they described as beautiful is way more than beautiful.

Church of Immaculate Conception

I knew that there will be a mini-city tour in Oslob but I didn't know that it would be that breathtaking. Honestly, we could have let it pass if we arrived later than we did. It was indeed a blessing that we still had time to explore the town.

I have a thing about old churches. I find them more beautiful than the new and modern ones. Fact: If possible, I want to get married in an old church.

Wait, there's more. So much more! Oslob has kept some of the structures built hundreds, or thousands, of years ago. Located in front of the church, there is an unfinished building that resembles as a barracks. It was the cuartel that was planned to be used by the Spanish soldiers when they were in Oslob. Apparently, it was not finished and remained unfinished.

We admired how the municipality of Oslob and the people themselves keep old structures like these in their place. Would you believe that everything is still vandal-free up to know? Respect and discipline at its finest, dear!

Hi there, Tourism bus!

A few meters from the Cuartel, the Baluarte (a watchtower) is seen. It is a structure that served as a safe place for the guards as they watched the area. The one we saw is just a part of the 6 watchtowers located in the coastline of Oslob.

In ruins but still breathtaking. 

It was past 6:00 PM when we left the place. As we walked back to our room, we didn't do anything but gush about what we've seen. We were very lucky to have seen such beauty.

So the next day, as early as 6:00 in the morning, we were on a jeep going to Tanaw-an or the place where the whale-shark watching highlight is. I don't have much photos on the activity (Boo me!) because my tummy was not cooperating that time. 

How to go there?

Ride a jeep going southbound. It will sure pass by Tanaw-an so just ask the driver to drop you off in front of the resorts that offer whale shark watching activity. Tip: Ask around which resort does not have an entrance fee and just go there. If I am not mistaken, it is the yellow one (they have color schemes). There are resorts that charge Php 150.00 - 200.00 per head as entrance.

We headed to the briefing area where we were taught about the dos and don'ts of the activity. After the lectures, we paid the activity fee of Php 500.00 because we wanted to go swimming with the whale sharks (Php 300.00 if you want to just look at them) and we received the gears we'll use.

Not too far from the beach, we already saw whale sharks. They were 3 of them swimming around the boats! According to the boatmen, there are about 11 whale sharks frequenting the area (They actually have names!) but not all of them were there during our visit. 

It was a surreal experience! I never thought I could swim and be near with the largest known extant fish species. The encounter lasted for 30 minutes, just enough for us to have an experience of a lifetime!

Travelling for 3 hours just to have a 30-minute encounter with these huge sea creatures was truly worth-it. Edge and I wouldn't trade it to a day bumming around the beach. Actually, we are already planning a trip back to Oslob with our friends! :)

I hope you enjoyed this not-so beauty related post. Expect more of these soon since I want you to have a glimpse of my interests aside from makeup! :)

Leave me a message if you want to know more about this activity! 

♥ Jes ♥

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