Polka-dotted…SHARKS!??!! Massive doses of Awesome in Donsol, the Philippines
POLKA-DOTTED SHARKS!!! Don’t TELL me God doesn’t have a sense of humor (or some serious drugs). They are absolutely awesome and even more incredible in person than I’d imagined – and I’ve been looking forward to this for YEARS!!! I’ll never forget the first moment I jumped in the water, mask and snorkel on, and saw my first one…I knew it was there, and I knew it was harmless…but out of the murky, plankton-rich darkness of the deep Philippine sea…a massive, hulking, motionless shadow, and my heart clutched in my chest and I could hear my own breathing through my snorkel as my respiration rate leapt to match my racing heart. This giant, submarine-sized silhouette against the thick waters didn’t seem to move, and yet it was coasting through the water fast enough to keep our fins a-splashing. It was magnificent.
We saw I think 6 of them the first day, yesterday, and came back today for another go. It was better visibility today, and we had better interaction time as well. We had another 6 encounters, with 4 different sharks. We jumped into the water with a young one twice, who was small at roughly 4 meters or 12 feet. “Small” when it comes to whale sharks means you can see its head and tail at the same time. Suffice it to say, my heart still went pitty pat. Both times. The second one we had a repeat encounter with was “mine”. I got to have an experience that I reckon very few people do – just me and the shark, for a good several minutes. I thought everyone else from my boat and the others that were headed our way when we jumped in were still tailing the shark as well, though I was happily aware that I had the prime view of the front of its head. I swam my legs off for I have no idea how long, until finally I could go no more, and he drifted on, still without seeming to move, but disappeared into the dark within seconds as soon as I stopped, panting, but elated. I couldn’t believe it when I lifted my head from under the water and looked around to share my look of glee with my fellow swimmers…and saw there were none. Not a single other person, nor boat, had been following along with us. We’d left them hundreds of feet behind. It. Was. AWESOME
More pics coming soon, when we don’t have such…wait for it…SPOTTY internet!
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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WOW! This may be the coolest thing here yet G! I REALLY want to experience this also! Well written too! Do they make sounds like the ones we heard in Hawai’i?
I hate you! (for hate read ‘unbelievably jealous and dying to get out of this recessionary hell hole country{which I really love}’) KEEP THE DREAM ALIVE!
Amazing! Amazing! Amazing! I insist on more pictures!
Wow, that looks so awesome! You guys are truly having an adventure beyond what most people ever dream of. I’m loving reading about it – too much fun!! (-:
SO SO COOL!
I had no idea these existed!
came across your website as i do research on my own plans to backpack asia next year. awesome that you guys included the philippines, there is so much to see there.
safe travels!
Hi Everyone!
@Sjoerd How is it that I dated you for 4 years and never knew you wanted to see whale sharks? If you ever go, I’ll go with you. I’ve seen and swam with 30 of them now, but I’d happily do it 30 more times, especially with you! :) Lol and no they don’t make sounds like the humpback WHALES in Hawaii, probably primarily because they’re SHARKS. ;)
@Cathal Can never say it enough, man – we miss you guys! We said so many times how we wished you guys were still there traveling with us. We’ll keep on keepin on, and you guys’ll always be on our mind!
@Deanna Thanks for the nice comment! We really are having a blast and are so grateful for having this opportunity. Life is so good.
@Adam Ha, really? I’m not even sure when or where I learned about them, but somewhere down the line I found out they were one of the world’s superlatives (biggest fish/shark), that they wouldn’t eat me, and that I could swim with them. Naturally, it had to be done. Like I mentioned to Sjoerd, I’d do it again. So I mean, if you happen to go to Donsol…I’m just sayin…let me know. :)
@me (not, like, ME, but “me”) Thanks for stopping by and for your comment! The Philippines has been so awesome, we were happy to extend our stay from the planned one week, to the initial 21-day allowance, and then extend the visa for another 38. I’m excited to hear you’re planning your own Asia backpacking trip – if we can be of any direct help to you whatsoever, don’t hesitate to send us an email or ask in the comments!
@Hil More pics coming!