More fun in the Philippines indeed!!! The interaction fee goes for PHP 500 for Filipinos, PHP 1,000 for foreigners. This comes with a life vest, mask, and snorkel. Fins can be rented for PHP 150 a pair. For those wanting to stay in the boat and just observe the sharks above water, the fee is PHP 300 and PHP 500 respectively.
OSLOB WHALE WATCHING
But before you begin, you have to sit down to a short briefing outlining the dos and don'ts of whale shark interaction. Here are a few key things I came away with:
- Interaction is limited to a maximum of 30 minutes. At first, I thought 30 minutes was too short, but I soon realized that treading choppy waters whilst avoiding boats, people, and whale sharks can be very tiring, so 30 minutes is more than enough. This time limit helps keep things organized and moving as well.
- Sunscreen is not allowed. Hundreds, thousands of tourists leaving oily residue in the water can’t possibly be good for the whale sharks or the environment, so I’m glad they enforce this.
- Flash photography is not allowed. Self-explanatory.
- A maximum of six (6) tourists per whale shark. Less people, less stress for the animals.
- A minimum distance of five (5) meters from the head and six (6) meters from the tail must be maintained at all times. Again, to lessen stress on the animals and help prevent contact and injury (to both whale sharks and humans alike).
- Touching the whale sharks is strictly prohibited. An incidental touch here and there probably won’t be too harmful, but hundreds of hands intentionally groping the animal will undoubtedly cause it stress and potentially disease. Better to keep everyone’s hands off. This is the cardinal rule here, the intentional violation of which can be subject to a fine of PHP 2,500 and imprisonment of up to 6 months.
AGUINID FALLS
Aguinid is just one of the 5 popular waterfalls in Samboan, located in Barangay Tangbo, a green, farming area of the municipality, and a feature that can easily amuse or attract visitors. You can see that each tier is unique and this feature makes it truly unique and incomparable with other falls in the area. Yyou need to exert some efforts to climb some rock walls in order to see the tiers themselves. But, it’s alright if you stick only to one of the tiers and not challenge yourself to reach the other tiers. The first tier of Aguinid is around 10 meters high and has about 5 feet deep water at its base where you can swim in and enjoy its refreshing effect. From this tier you can reach the second by walking for about 5 minutes. The third tier can be reached in another five minutes through the rock walls of the second tier. The fourth tier has the highest height (about 30 meters—that’s high enough!), which is about ten minutes’ walk from the third tier. Going from one tier to other tiers is not that easy since you need to be fit enough to climb the limestone walls, which are quite slippery hence dangerous. For that reason, most visitors prefer to stay only close to the first two tiers of Aguinid. The water falling from Aguinid runs for over two kilometers from its base and will converge creating what we call “Tangbo River” of Samboan.
