Donsol is the whale watching town
near Sorsogen and Legaspi in southern Luzon.
Here are some blurry old
photos of Donsol.
There is much more up to date info on the web so this
will be kept short.
I stayed in town for a few days and teamed
up with other snorkelers to share the cost of the whale watching boats.
There are a couple of boatmen and a spotter who is crucial in directing
the boat where to go.
He sees shadows in the water and the boatman
positions your dive boat at an intersecting point ahead of the whaleshark.
Everyone plops in the water and tries to swim alongside the shark until
it either sounds or outswims the snorkelers.
February and March seem to be good months as the whale sharks are a
migratory animal and not there all year long.
The neat thing about
Donsol is that it is run like a co-op.
The boatmen
take turns taking out the tourists so everyone gets a piece of the pie
instead of one out of town operator grabbing all the gravy.
The whale
shark center in town organizes the trips and shows a few videos to
familiarize to the snorkelers with what to expect.
I have
heard that it is getting quite built up in town with a few bars and
internet access.
A few years back it was kind of nice being the only tourist staying
there in town.
Everyone else would stay in Sorsogen and come out in the
morning.
There were even shark fins being dried in the alley at that
time. (From other species of sharks)
There wasn't much happening at
night except for an El Shadi rally, but it seemed interesting because there
was nothing else going on.
Philippines - Donsol - Whale Sharks (1995?)
Here is some updated information from Feb 2008
I stopped in Donsol last week to have another look at the whale sharks and to see what changed since I was there last.
The tourist center has moved to a sparkling new building on the beach 3 to 4 kilometers out of town.
The whole program is well organized and efficient. The park fee is 300 pesos and is good for a week.
The boat fee is 3,500 pesos and up to 7 swimmers can share the costs.
That makes for a very inexpensive day - only 500 pesos each.
There are 2 spotters, a BIO or butanding interaction officer, and the pump boat man on each boat .
This whale shark watching puts a lot of money into the local economy and it makes you feel good to be a part of it.
There is a big rack of snorkel equipment that is for hire. 300 pesos per kit. All boats carry life jackets if you feel more comfortable swimming with them.
The Vitton Beach Resort is next door and is a handy place to stay but not cheap. For those on a budget there are several guest houses in Donsol town itself.
The pickle's choice is the Santiago in town for 300 pesos per night. Tricycle rides are 15 peso from town to the tourist center.
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