Thursday, June 26, 2014

Sumilon Island, Oslob

After the whale shark encounter, we plan to take a peek at the very famous Sumilon Island in Oslob. We have the whole afternoon to tour the island before we spend our night in Dumaguete City. 


Sumilon Island 

Picture taking of the newlyweds while waiting for the motorized boat to bring us in the island.
That big waves and the water of Oslob seems so inviting :)

No! that flag is not part of my short... :p 

Just notice how beautiful the water is. Big waves are very relaxing to the eyes considering that you haven't reach the Sumilon Island yet. After waiting patiently, our boat arrived (good thing its not a small banka). As soon as we step on the motorized boat, we can feel how terrible the big waves were, as it makes the boat dance on a faster beat.

See that waves? How about a flying boat when slap by a big wave? 
Yes, that is what happened to our boat. But, I enjoyed it much!

Hehe, just smiling.. I love waves! As long as it won't let our boat drown :p

The siblings and their unstable reactions fighting the wildness of the waves. haha, peace guys!


We tour the island first, see the beauty of it, before we dock to one part of an island. The whole island was already privately owned, it is a luxurious resort where most of the customers are foreigners. 


This is part of the island which is open to the public. The resort is only open to its guest, or else you need to pay a thousand pesos as entrance fee. 



Oh! Lovebirds on a clear water of Sumilon Island...


After some picture taking session, we opt to leave the island because there are no shades and the sun is at its peak. Instead, we went for some underwater adventure...

Snorkeling... (the camera we rented didn't work)

We only spend 2 hours for Sumilon Island and we rented the boat to tour us for P1500. Going back to the base is definitely not easy for us. Bigger waves are on our way back. Its 2:00pm and we haven't eaten our lunch yet. We ate our packed lunch despite of the waves since we're already starving. Packed lunch was prepared by the resort with an extra fee.

At 3:00pm we already changed our clothes and ready to leave Oslob. Byeee...

Just at the front of this resort, we waited at the bus stop. We need to travel again via bus to catch the fastcraft at Bato Port. We took the 4:30pm fastcraft that will bring us to Sibulan Port. After 1 hour sea travel we arrived at Sibulan Port and rode a jeepney that will take us to Dumaguete City. We checked in at Bethel Guesthouse, the only hotel that was near Dumaguete port, since we need to be early for next day trip to Siquijor. 


We had our stroll at Dumaguete boulevard.




And after a very tiring day and still have floating hangover, we pigged out at the famous Hayahay Treehouse Restaurant.


And to totally wrap up my day, a cafe macchiato from Sans Rival!


Although it's just a short time I stayed in Sumilon Island, I can say that the beauty of it especially the clear water really relaxed my mind and urged me to dip some more. I was fascinated by the cleanliness of Oslob and I salute the government for taking care of it most especially the whale sharks that keep the tourism of Oslob alive.

One last pose! 




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Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Oslob Whale Shark Journey

Oslob is located at the northern part of Cebu Island. Tourists love to visit the place mostly because of the Whale Shark encounter but when you were able to get there, you will be mesmerized by the blue-green water.

(Sorry, I turn on the flash) 

Its February when we plan to visit Oslob. We travelled 7 hours from our hometown Bacolod. From Bacolod South Terminal we catch the 2:45am trip to Dumaguete. 8am we arrived at Sibulan port and bought a ticket immediately for a 2 hours Roro going to Cebu Island. We dock at Tampi Port and after 20-30 mins. land trip, we arrived to Oslob Whale Shark Watching Resort.

Brumini Beds Beach Resort Entrance

Upon arriving, a woman approach us for whale shark watching adventure. Since, this is already the reason why we are here we bought the Swim with the whale shark ticket. 

For 30 mins. Swimming with whale shark P500 ; Whale shark watching P300

After we changed our outfit into a swimming attire and rented an underwater cam for P500, we headed our way to the banka. Believe it or not, that very small boat can bring us in the middle of the sea despite of the big waves. Considering that we are big sized humans and there are 2 boatmen who accompanied us. Big waves, 6 of us in that boat and whale sharks are everywhere... sorry but I was scared enough to jump. 

But then, I did it. Brave enough, huh! Hello Whale Shark :)

Silas and his best shot with the big mouth whale shark! Love it!

Hold on and show that genuine smile while whale sharks are under! Woaaaah...

And... times up! Our 30 mins. is done. That was very fast for me, I'm scared before but when you're swimming already with the whale sharks you will feel amazed seeing that perfect creature almost 1 meter away from you. Sad enough because I don't have that best shot with the sharks (eer, boatman not a good photographer). 

oh! Souvenirs :)

Loved the experience, loved that big creature and I love this adventure. Even though we havn't sleep that much, we still have that energy to face and swim with the whale sharks. We spend half day for this journey and the remaining time, we choose to explore the island of Sumilon.

Thanks for this treat Newlyweds! ^_^


The Cast :)
Silas, Joanne, April (me) and my boyfriend Tim



Note: Whale Shark schedule is only 6am-12nn.

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