Have you ever thought to yourself, “Aww man, I need to swim with some sharks”
Yknow just to keep things interesting. Or is it just me? Little did you know just off the coast of Phillipines is a little province Oslob which is reknowned for whale shark tours (the humane kind of course). Shall we?
Warning: it takes 3-4 hrs to get from Cebu to Oslob (Whale shark snorkelling location) so plan your itinerary accordingly ya
Woke up at 5.30AM and took about 1hr to reach the designated location and we were taken aback by the snaking queue for the session. Luckily, we booked the package so we didn’t have to queue but we still have to wait 2hrs before finally gettiing onto the boat with 6 other people to view the sharks. Do wear your swimwear/swimming attire and proper footwear for swimming because I wanted to wear shoes but I realized that wasn’t appropriate so we changed into slippers instead. Slipper stayed onboard the boat the whole time of course, I swam barefoot HAHA
Oh, pack light or make sure yoru bag is waterproof if you plan to bring it along for the session (leaving it on the boat ya). If you don’t know how to swim (like me), don’t worry, everyone will be provided with lifevests so it’s almost a guarantee you won’t drown so there’s that. If you have a phobia of water…maybe this isn’t the right activity for you hm.
Now, let’s go snorkellinggggggg:
Next, we have canyoneering at Kawasan Falls (also located in Oslob). It is about an hour drive away from the whale shark place. It came along with the package we booked btw.
Canyoning is a type of mountaineering that involves travelling in canyons using a variety of techniques that may include other outdoor activities such as walking, scrambling, climbing, jumping, abseiling, and swimming.
Now we know.
Lunch was provided in this package (rice, fried drum stick, soup and veggies). It’s a simple meal really, not for fussy eaters in case you are wondering. To be honest, food in these places are not excatly the best but it simple and nice so stfu stop complaining (oops). Anyway, we geared up with the helmets and life vests they provided and made our way to the canyoneering trail.
According to our canyoneering guide (Mr MC RICH), there is a restriction on the number of people allowed in the trail – 1500 people, that’s why they made us write our particulars at the entrance of the trail location. Ngl the cantyoneering trail for not for the faint hearted because there is 3-4 jumping locations, 2-3 back slide locations and 2 swing locations. AWESOME. I was very “brave” and jumped off without any hesitation HAHAHA I wonder why.
Jokes aside, do make sure you are of decent fitness level to join this because there is a lot of climbing of stairs, swimming and trekking through the river (filled with plenty of rocks). Same as the whale shark session, you don’t need to be a swimmer because you have life vests on so that’s something to take note as well.
Enough talk, let’s jump off a cliff NOW. JUMP.
Alrights, budget wise the breakdown is rather simple here you go:
Some useful tips:
Oddly enough, we got to show our flight itinerary to enter the departure hall at Cebu so take note, do download a copy of your itinerary to show the staff when they request for it. Normally I don’t encounter this but I guess Phillipines is different.
Also, you have to do an e-declaration of your vacination status upon arrival at Cebu but you can do it beforehand here and show them the QR code (As of 9 April 2023).
That’s about all, have fun and stay safe kiddos.
Signing off,
D
theniecextn. 
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