What‘s Included

Meeting and Pickup

What To Expect

Reviews

• Not a special wildlife encounter, this is a commercial chaos that puts animals at risk just so tourists can take selfie

  Carla M,

  Sep 24, 2025

  - Viator

  3.00

  This was not at all what I expected particularly the whale shark encounter. I was picked up 30 minutes late (booking said 4am), so I could have got a little more rest before the long day. There was no guide to explain how the tour would run and the driver didn’t tell us anything until we stopped at the 1st stop to see the monkeys. This was a fun little stop that was supposed to be for 1 hour but 30 minutes was more than enough. When we arrived at Oslob we were met by a local guide who instructed us to get changed into our swimsuits and bring only a towel and shoes. There was nowhere to store our bags, wallets, phones and valuables. The guide agreed to hold my backpack when he saw how stressed I was about leaving my belongings unattended. He then walked us down to a beach that was full of people and said that we would only be going about 200m offshore to find the whalesharks. Then we were handed a mask with no snorkel or flippers. Use of snorkeling equipment was supposed to be included. So i had to wear my shoes in the water. We were given life jackets and then told to get onto a canoe style boat with a whole group of other people and the guide handed me a go pro and told me to give it to one of the boatmen. Use of the GoPro was included but I never got to use it during the experience. Instead the boatman simply held it in the water and told us to swim towards the boat so he could film us. This was impossible because the waves were rough and I had to try not to get hit on the head by the wooden frames that stuck out from the side of the boat. And there was just too many people in the water so i had to swim away because people kept kicking or bumping into me in the water. There was also a smaller boat in the water going back and forth and I realised that this guy was throwing food into the water to entice the whale shark to follow him and come close to us. This presented a whole other problem because you are supposed to stay at least 4m away from the whale shark but there is no room to move away between the feeder boat and the row of tourists boats and dozens of swimmers in the water. It seems this whole situation is based on getting as many people in the water and too close to the whale shark for photos and no consideration given to the welfare of the whales. This constant barrage of people getting in their faces as well as the constant supply of food to keep them in close to the beach is not natural and will have a detrimental impact on their natural life. I was very unhappy to be involved in this commercialised exploitation of these gentle giants of the sea. After getting back to shore I saw the guide sitting in the waiting area with my backpack left on a chair while he played on his phone (i’m sure he would not have noticed if someone picked up my bag and took it). we were then told to get changed again but when i came back to where the guide was supposed to be he had walked off. I had to go back and forth to the road and look in all the shops trying to find him and this wasted valuable time and had me worried that he had left without me. Eventually I spotted him at a counter where a lady was downloading the GoPro to our phones. Unfortunately there was mainly footage of people swimming and distant shots of the whales. We then continued on another long drive to Moalboal for the sardines and turtle snorkeling and were met on arrival in a parking lot by another local guide. Instructed to get changed again and then leave all our belongings in the minibus that thankfully the driver was going to stay in until we got back. This time we were given a proper snorkel but no flippers and then walked down to the beachfront. This guide at least explained what was going to happen and forewarned us that visibility would be poor because the water had been churned up by the typhoon. Although I am a good and confident swimmer I always rely on flippers to keep moving and buoyancy in the water, particularly when removing the lifejacket to be able to dive down to see the one turtle and trying to avoid another group that just barged in and swam over the top of us fighting to take selfies close to the turtle who also seemed distressed being surrounded by humans. Again the guide held onto the GoPro so i couldn’t get any footage of the sardines. This guide however did make an effort to get some photos of us close to the sardines when he could. Getting back to the shore was difficult without flippers but thankfully this guide tried to be helpful and make sure none of us slipped or fell. We then got changed and taken to a nearby cafe to have something to eat. We had not had any breakfast or lunch and it was already 2.30pm. We had not been given any coffee/tea or snacks that was supposed to be included and were not given any choice of places to eat. The guide had disappeared with the GoPro and he did not return until we finished our meals. But at least he made sure that this footage was also downloaded before we left. Then the guide left so that it was just the 3 of us and the driver for another 3-4 hours drive back to Cebu City. I am seeking a partial refund from Cebu Southern Tours for the inclusions that were not provided. I would highly recommend that travellers be forewarned about what this tour actually does and that it is not the special wildlife encounter that it suggests.

• Awesome tour!

  cposwn,

  Oct 7, 2024

  - Viator

  5.00

  Fed the monkeys, swam with whale sharks (awesome), swam with turtles and a lot of sardines and fish. Great day.

• Amazing experience 🥰

  Christine Y,

  Apr 15, 2024

  - Viator

  5.00

  The whole experience was amazing! The whale shark encounter is one of a kind experience that you should try once in your lifetime. The tour guide Eller was a great driver, tour guide and a wonderful person..treated us like a family, specially my dad. I believed they had a great conversation all throughout the tour. There was just four of us in the tour and in the van which makes us very comfortable. The van was spacious and comfortable for the four of us. The Tumalog falls was unfortunately close because of the drought but they gave us a remedy for it and offer us an alternative which is the beach and the Simala Shrine which is equally wonderful as well. Next time we come back for a vacation we would definitely do a tour again with them, we would like to try the Moalboal tour next time. I highly recommend them if ever you want to try an adventure in Cebu. Lastly, the owner Jason is very responsive and nice person as well. Thanks guys for the wonderful experience that we will treasure for life! ☺️