20140101 Summary. Donsol, Bicol. Whale shark interaction

Donsol, Bicol. Whale shark interaction summary


Since some people are already asking for this itinerary and the Whale Shark season is here, I am creating a summary of what you can expect in Donsol. It would purely be my schedule, expenses and a few notes. Just enough information to get you started on your trip.

The Lonely Planet Guidebook describes the Donsol experience as the "quintessential Philippine adventure." And it truly is. This experience will change your life for good.

Before I begin, let me just say that this trip was on a short notice so I wasn't able to plan it really well. If I could do it all over again, I think I would've passed by different tourist attractions before going to Donsol. Since Donsol is at the southern most regions of Bicol. There are also a lot of things to do near Donsol, check the links below if you want to visit other places. But for this trip, my goals were simply to experience swimming with the Whale sharks. It's best to a lot at least two days to see them. Their appearance is never guaranteed. The chase and this risk is part of the experience. I've allotted three days just to be sure.

I should've confirmed if Whale sharks have returned to Donsol first before I started this journey. I've only realized this en route to Bicol. I did however read an article online saying that there were already sightings around late December. But it's always best to call the tourism office to get the latest update. There was no turning back, and I was full of hope. I also checked the weather until January 5, and it was a nice week for Whale Shark sighting. 

They say that the best time to visit Donsol is between February and June. There are a lot of Whale shark sightings recorded on these months and is also the best time to go scuba diving or island hopping.

Let's begin.

Itinerary:
Day 0. January 1, 2014
1600 ETD Shopwise Cubao to Legazpi. The Alps bus regular with AC. I liked this bus it was comfortable for a medium built person like me.
1900 Stopover 1. Eat supper

Day 1. January 2, 2014

(Update: Find my detailed itinerary for this day in this link)
0100 Stopover 2. Near Camsur tourist inn
0300 ETA somewhere between Legazpi and Daraga. Walked around asking for directions and stumbled upon Biggs Diner. Drank coffee and ordered Bicol special. The Diner had a nice ambience, good food and great people. They even gave me detailed directions to get to Lignon Hills on specific times of the day. In the morning there are Jeepneys in the area that passes by Lignon Hills; but at night, the only choice was to take a special tricycle ride. There is a tricycle line just across Biggs Diner.
0410 ETD Biggs Diner to Lignon Hills via Tricycle.
0425 The driver was kind. They even gave me a lighter with flashlight,  since it was still dark then, and they thought I didn't have a flashlight. I kindly refused but since he was really insistent, I couldn't refuse his kindness.
0450 ETA viewing deck of Lignon Hills. Rested and waited for the sunrise
0630 ETD Lignon hills to Binitayan to Cagsawa Ruins via 2 jeepney rides
0650 ETA Road to Cagsawa. Walked to Cagsawa Ruins
0700  ETA Cagsawa Ruins
0730 ETD to Daraga Caltex to head to Donsol
0745 ETA Daraga Caltex. I didn't see a van, but there were jeepneys bound to Pilar and Donsol. Walked around Daraga before finally taking the jeepney
0820 The Jeep waited for 20 minutes at Caltex and then waited another 20 minutes at Shell. Had I known, I went to shell instead since I passed there earlier. (The jeep would take two hours, Vans would take an hour.)
1030 ETA Donsol
1040 ETA Tourism Center via tricycle. Registered. Inquired for rooms, rates and things to do in Donsol
1115 Checked in at Vitton and Woodland Resort and settled down. For P500, you'll have a nice room with a good bathroom, access to their swimming pool, a beach front hotel, wi-fi, nice view of the sea, restaurant with great food, a bar with choice liquors, and the most accommodating and friendliest of people
1230 Rest. Free time. Explore. Swim
1700 Early supper. Bicol Express. It was nice and delicious.
1800 ETD Woodland to firefly boarding at Ogod River via tricycle
1830 ETA Ogod River
1845 Firefly watching tour. This was lead by our guide, Rodel. It was resplendent. The moon was in hiding so all of the fireflies went out to greet us along with a multitude of stars. It was the perfect night for firefly watching. Two fireflies took refuge in my hands and I watched them in perfect tranquility until the wind forced them to take flight.
1950 ETD Ogod River
2010 ETA Giddy's place. I just checked the place since it was popular. It looks like a nice albeit expensive restaurant. Bring me close to the sea and I can eat simple bread and drink water in peace while listening to the waves and the reflection of the stars… But of course, after the day that I had and the activities that I still plan to do, I needed protein.
2020 ETA Woodland Resort. Swim. Rest. Bath. Sleep

Cagsawa Ruins

Day 2. January 3, 2014
0530 Wake up. Waited for sunrise
0600 Restaurant is now opened. Ate Tapsilog
0700 Head to tourism center.
0710 Briefing. Watched the video about their regulations. Paid for the registration. Waited for other people to register to complete the group.
0750 Boarding. It was a bit cloudy that day but it was warm and the sea was calm. Everyone was hopeful and excited.
1000 After long hours of chatting and just going around, the group got a bit excited because it was around this time did the sighting yesterday occurred.
1045 The excitement was gone as little drops of rain started to fall from the sky. You can see it in everyone's faces, including mine, I was still hopeful, but was ready to accept defeat.
1115 ETA tourism center. This was a dark day. No whale sharks were spotted anywhere. Preparing to accept defeat is different from defeat. It was crushing, and every question: "Did you see a Whale shark?" added insult to the injury. But if you are going to Donsol, you must have anticipated this. The chase is part of the reason why you wanted to go here. And you know that you will not always be rewarded. And so everyone in the group resolved to try again tomorrow. But now, we've arranged to meet at 9 am. Hopefully, this is a strategy that we would not regret.
1230 Lunch. Happy hour is from 12pm-3pm. And after our defeat, we decided to make use of this. When happy hour is in effect, they "daquirize" your fruit shake for free. Meaning they put a shot of rum in to the mix. Just a perfect way to spend your afternoon in the beach.
1400 Explore. Paid for overnight extension. Swim.
1730 ETD Woodland to firefly boarding station near the bridge. Walked.
1815 ETA Firefly boarding station. Only one person, Matthias, was in waiting. We've joined him to wait for other people to be able to share the boat with them. There is a limit of 5 persons per boat.
1845 Only a group of 4 persons showed up so Matthias joined them. Chatted with the guide there, Girlie. She was very fluent in English so she was asked to entertain Robin, she was kind and all three of us had a nice conversation. We asked her where the best place to eat is and she recommended AGM Resort.
1930 Nobody else showed up and we were getting hungry. So we took off and went to AGM resort.
1945 ETA AGM Restaurant. Walked. This place looks like it was shut from the world, I don't know how it would look like in the morning but at this time, it was peaceful, secured but at the same time, sad and constricted. There was also no view of the sea. I think it should be considered a crime to have a restaurant in a beach front resort without a view of the sea. I have a strong pining for the sea.
2130 ETD to Woodland. Walked.
2200 ETA Woodland. Rest. Sleep. And hoped that tomorrow will be a luckier day for Whale shark sighting.

Sunset at Dancalan Beach

Day 3. January 4, 2014
Yesterday was a dark day. No whale sharks were spotted anywhere. On my 3rd day at Donsol, we've changed our strategy and arranged to meet at 9 AM. Fortunately, all the excitement, torture, pining, wishing, begging and hoping proved to be fruitful. There were 3 sightings that day. And it was said that only 5 out of 20 boats saw a Whale shark. I was blessed to have been on one of those boats and have witnessed this magnificent creature.

0630 Wake up. Prepare for the Whale shark interaction. Because today, we will see it!
0730 Breakfast. Garlic Longanisa.
0900 ETA Tourism center. Paid for the return trip.
1000 Got excited. There were movements and bubbles coming from afar. We stood up to see what it is. We were excited to see that it was a multitude of flying fishes trying to conquer the sky. But it was also a dissapointment since there were no Whales sharks.
1030 Saw Whale shark. Saw Whale sharks! "Ready your gear" is the sweetest three little words you will ever hear in Donsol.
1100 Got excited. There were big tunas jumping. Thinking back, it was a nice experience to witness this. But we wanted to see more Whale sharks.
1200 ETA tourism center.
1215 ETA Woodland Resort. Bath. Packed. Checked out.
1400 ETD Donsol Terminal. Tricycle.
1410 ETA Donsol Terminal. Caught a van that was still waiting. ETD Legazpi Bus terminal
1515 ETA Legazpi Bus Terminal. Searched for Bus that still has seats. Ate lunch and purchased food for the bus.
1700 ETD to Pasay. There were two stopovers but I didn't recorded it anymore

 

After the dive

Day 4. January 5, 2014
0500 ETA Pasay. Alighted at Five star bus terminal. Walked to Edsa and took a bus going to Cubao.

The whale shark will only be visible in the first 14 seconds of the video, the rest would seem like frantic rush. I had to swim faster to get a better view of the whale shark. It would do you better to use a go pro with a headband accessory than capturing this with a handheld camera. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful experience, I did not capture it in my camera but have witnessed it with my eyes. And I go through it in my head every once in a while to make the memory a little more permanent every time I close my eyes.

Expenses in Peso:
Day 1
700 The Alps Bus. Shopwise, Cubao to Legazpi, Bicol
142 Breakfast at Biggs Diner
85 Cappuccino at Biggs Diner
70 Tricycle to Lignon Hills
8 Jeep. Lignon Hills to Binitayan
8 Jeep. Binitayan to Cagsawa 
10 Cagsawa Ruins Registration 
8 Jeep to Daraga Caltex 
60 Jeep. Daraga to Donsol 
500 Woodland Resort Backpackers Room 
85 Tricycle. Woodland Resort to Ogod River. P250 Good for 4 
250 Firefly Watching Tour. P1250 good for 5 
250 Supper at Woodland Hotel. Bicol Express
_________________________________________
1499

Day 2 
150 Breakfast at Woodland. Tapsilog 
585 Whale shark interaction 
100 Registration. P300 for Foreigners. 
160 Lunch at Woodland. Seafood Marinara 
60 Banana Shake Daiquiri 
500 Woodland Resort Backpackers Room 
150 Supper at AGM. Bicol Express with Rice
_________________________________________ 
1705

Day 3 
150 Breakfast at Woodland. Garlic Longanisa with Rice
585 Return trip. Whale shark interaction 
25 Tricycle. Woodland to Donsol Bus Terminal 
75 Van. Donsol to Legazpi Bus Terminal 
50 Lunch at Legazpi Bus Terminal 
30 Food for the bus. 
800 Bus. Legazpi Bus Terminal to Pasay
_________________________________________
1715


Total: 1499 + 1705 + 1715 = 4,869


Other things to do in Donsol:
http://www.lakwatseradeprimera.com/ten-things-to-do-in-sorsogon/

Helpful Links:
http://www.driftwoodjourneys.com/daily-schedule-of-bus-liners-manila-legazpi-manila/
http://ameramor.com/2012/03/01/juan-oh-1-donsol-whale-shark-adventure/
http://panaylakbay.com/blog/2012/04/03/diy-getting-to-donsol-home-of-the-gentle-giants/
http://munchwaffle.hubpages.com/hub/The-Perfect-Cone-and-the-Big-Spots-DIY-Donsol-Legazpi-Bicol
http://www.elaljanelasola.com/2012/11/bicol-albay-sorsogon-camarines-sur.html
http://www.confessionsofawanderlass.com/2011/06/whaleshark-interaction-at-donsol.html
http://www.lakwatseradeprimera.com/donsol-sorsogon-whale-shark-watching-travel-guide/