Anyway, I have always been planning to visit Cebu for my get away this summer and visit some friends there. But for some reason, I always cancel and until now I haven't visited.
Then my friend sent me a text message all the way from Singapore and invited me for a trip to Legaspi. Hmm... well, I remember I have been there before and saw the perfect cone shaped Mt. Mayon and visited every famous church I passed by. But he said this is a different trip because he wants to see the whale shark and if I am up for it. Whale shark??? Of course I am up for it !!!
According to the
Albay Tourism Website:Whale Sharks, or "Butanding" as they are locally known, are enormous in size and power, reaching lengths greater than 15 meters, they are remarkably gentle and docile enough that it is generally safe to swim among them. Swimming among the whale sharks is a captivating experience. If you are not comfortable swimming in the waters, then it is just as amazing to experience them from the boat. The Butanding swim along side the boat all the time.
Generally, the whale sharks at Donsol swim very close to the surface of the water. Some basic snorkeling gear (mask, snorkel, fins and a water vest) are just about you'll need in the water to be able to experience swimming among them.
So in short, I am safe !
The night before leaving.. We treated ourselves to a wonderful sushi dinner at Noda Sho... It is the best sushi bar... (must go and eat there everyone) then we partied hard until we drop at Embassy. It was crazy I was drunk and driving... hahaha !!! but it was a lot of fun...
The day came..went to NAIA 3 I was really surprised with the new airport.. It was modern, clean, organized WOW !!! am I in Philippines? Damn! I love it.. it smells sooo gooddd !!! hahahaha !!! And it was my first time to fly Cebu Pacific and I was really happy.. it was not the old, scary plane that I used to hear from the stories of people riding that plane. They even play hip-hop and RnB music. yah diggin' it !
Upon arriving at Legaspi we rented a van and went straight to Donsol it was an hour drive. Once we arrived we immediately looked for a place to stay I was almost losing hope because there were few resorts most of them were fully booked. But finally, a room at Lola Erna was vacant !!! Aleluyah!!!! We rested for few hours and made reservations to see the fireflies... hmm... so, at 7pm we rode the boat and sail thru the dark river... and there you go.. a whole colony of fire flies twinkling like christmas lights swirling around a mangrove tree. It was amazing I have never seen sooo much fire flies in my life. Going further into the river we saw fishermen trying to catch shrimps.
The next day we had an early breakfast and head straight to dive at San Miguel and Manta Bowl we rented a boat with a couple from Hong Kong. It was a quiet ride going there but after we arrived at San Miguel it was an amazing view... clear blue waters... you can even see the corals from the top... after 2 dives and snorkling...we went straight to Manta Bowl near Ticao Island. The dive master was explaining to us how to go about the diving procedure and we need to use a hook and hook ourselves cause the current is too strong... hmmm.. got a bit scared with it.. and since I am a freshmen I have decided to pass and just stay on the boat. Me and Candy (the girl from Hong Kong) just stayed and concetrated on getting ourselves tanned. When suddenly a HUGE MANTA RAY !!!! flew up from the water !!!! OH MY GOD !!!! Candy and I shouted WOW !!!!! we looked at each other and asked did you see that??? It was crazy !!!! I was so happy !!!!!!
When the guys came up I said "Did you see the manta rays?" they replied "No" Of course !!!! the manta ray knew you were coming and so he went up! hahahahahaha !!!! I was so lucky !!!!! When we got to Donsol Shela of Tourism office recommended that we should try the Baracuda restaurant and guess what ??? It was the best dinner !!!! They don't have a menu they just have the catch of the day. Make sure you order the tiger prawns, a fish (which ever is available), cucumber&tomato salad, fresh mango shake. And Juliet - the proprietress will cook it perfectly for you... yum yum !!!!
Our last day at Donsol was a bit stressing we were expecting to be at sea at 7 am but the tourism office opened at 7am and they were just arranging the boat and we were in a hurry to get out cause we have to catch a flight. It turned out that we have to rent our own boat and head out to the sea after 1 and half hour of searching out into the sea. I was geared up with my fins and snorkling goggles and just waiting for the signal..our tour guide finally told us to get ready and shouted JUMP!!! we jumped out to the open sea and finally got to see and swam with the gentle giant. It was AMAZING !!!! I was above it and just following it. you can even see the small fishes beside him swimming as well.. the dots on his back are just like art it's really beautiful... The one we saw was about 6-7 meters long. after roughly 3 minutes of swimming with the gentle giant it finally went deeper until it vanished into the dark sea. I wanted to stay and see more but time is really important and we have to catch the flight. So, we head back to the resort and packed our stuff.
All in all it was a great summer adventure for 2009 and the best is yet to come!!!!
You can check out some photos at
http://www.cyworld.com/dinahcastillo ( make sure you allow temporary pop ups)
Contact Infos:
*Vuitton Beach Resort
Annie - 0927.912.6313/0921.690.4399
*Tourism Office
Shela -0907.600.2299
*Steady Eddie Dive Center
Gladys - 0917.515.6045
*Baracuda
Juliet - 0926.640.0863
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