Whale Shark Heaven - Donsol, Philippines

November 3rd, 2005

My buddy Tom, who I met while diving the Philippines, recently emailed me and told me he moved from the beautiful island of Bohol to Donsol, in the Bicol region of the Philippines. Tom is a jovial German guy who I had the pleasure of having as my guide while diving off of Alona Beach, to the islands of Balicasag and Panglao. There I saw everything from Jeepney and plane wrecks, to writhing masses of venomous sea snakes and ghost-pipefishes. Tom guided me with all the patience and accuracy of someone who’s been diving the South Pacific for years.

He describes Donsol as “one of the world’s foremost locations to view whale sharks“, and the fact that he’s a PADI IDC Staff Instructor, I tend to take his word for it. As the biggest fish in the sea (whales aren’t fish - they’re mammals and a ‘whale shark’ is a shark/fish), these mammoths have been a huge draw to SCUBA divers anywhere they go. He sent me some splendid photos of types of things you can see in Donsol, shown below. As I understand it, Donsol is relatively unknown among divers who frequent the PI. I sure hadn’t heard of it on my last excursion.

You can find Tom at either Ticao Island Resort or Bicol Scuba Center.

Thomas Steinczhorn
PADI Master Instructor & Consultant
Rawis, Donsol 4715, Sorsogon
Philippines
+63 920 914 2688
email

a manta ray glides along effortlessly