For the next ten minutes I enjoyed one of the most memorable experiences of my life as I snorkelled with this giant shark as it glided over the shallow coral reef.
The shark changed course several times, turning towards us on several occasions, meaning we had to back pedal to get out of its way, as whale sharks have right of way here. After ten minutes the shark headed out into deeper water, so we returned to the boat ready for the next whale shark encounter.
We were snorkeling with whale sharks at a place called Sogod Bay. Never heard of Sogod Bay, well not many people have, but this area is one of the best places in the world to encounter whale sharks in clear shallow water.
Sogod Bay is located on the Philippine island of Leyte. The Philippines has a number of spots where whale sharks can be seen, with Donsol the most well known and popular. However, it will not be long before Sogod Bay becomes more popular than Donsol, as it has much clearer water and the added bonus of fantastic diving as well.
I recently spent a glorious week exploring Sogod Bay. My base was the Sogod Bay Scuba Resort, which is located at the southern end of the bay near the town of Padre Burgos. The resort is owned and operated by Englishman Ron Parkes and Australian Phil McQuire, who have found themselves a little bit of paradise.
The resort has only been open since February 2006, and sits on the beach, lapped by blue water and surrounded by swaying palm trees. Real picture postcard stuff. The resort offers basic but comfortable accommodation at a very affordable price, has a restaurant that serves Asian and Western meals and runs daily boat and shore dives to the amazing dive sites in the area.
Some of the best dive sites in Sogod Bay are located right in front of the resort. Barely ten steps from the dive shop puts you in the water and ready to explore five brilliant sites packed with colorful corals, abundant reef fish and some amazing critters like pygmy sea horses. Night diving here is spectacular.
The boat diving in Sogod Bay is also superb. North of the resort are several dive sites including a Japanese Landing Craft sunk during World War II. While in other parts of Sogod Bay are wall dives, reef dives and plenty of amazing corals and critters. For shark divers they occasionally see hammerheads at a spot called Adrian’s Cove, but the whale sharks are the main attraction for shark lovers.
Whale sharks, known locally as Ihotiki, can be seen in Sogod Bay between November and April. They gather at the southeast tip of Sogod Bay at a place called Sunok.
After an early start we headed across the bay and down to Sunok. Picking up some local guides from the nearby town, we then started our search for whale sharks in a very unlikely place, right in front of a small village in quite shallow water. It didn’t take long to spot the first shark. Most grabbed snorkel gear, others decided to scuba, while Phil briefed us on the whale shark guidelines. No touching, keep 3m away, no camera flashes and the shark always has right of way.
When the boat stopped in front of the shark we slipped over the side and followed Pedro, our local dive guide. With 70 foot visibility we had a fabulous view when the 25 foot long whale shark swam out of the blue. We then swam with this first shark for the next ten minutes.
It only took a couple of minutes to spot the second shark, which was a fast moving 12 foot long baby. We only got to swim with this shark for a few minutes before getting exhausted by its fast pace. The next shark was a little shy, only seen by our guide, disappearing into the blue before we could see it.
The local guides had a spotter on our dive boat and several of them also paddle around in canoes, sticking their heads over the side to spot the sharks. They seemed to love swimming with the sharks as much as we did, and it is amazing how fast they move underwater with only a wooden board attached to one foot as a fin.
The guides then found another 25 footer. It was swimming in deeper water about thirty feet below us. As we got closer to the shark we could see a piece of rope was wrapped around its tail, cutting into the flesh. One of the local guides, very protective of their sharks, dived down and quickly removed the rope.
We then swam with this shark for quite some time, diving down to take photos and just watching its graceful swimming action from above. At one stage I dived down to take a photo and the shark rose up to greet me, giving me a chance for some nice head shots of this gentle giant.
The final shark was only seen by two of the divers on scuba. Scuba diving with the sharks is a waste of time as the divers usually cannot keep up, so only seeing each shark for a few seconds. But this last shark disappeared and then doubled back to where the scuba divers were waiting. They said it was over 30 foot long and slowly swam with them for several minutes at a depth of 70 feet.
In only two hours, with no spotter planes, we had located five whale sharks. Speaking to Phil he informed me that the numbers vary every day, on one day they had eleven whale sharks swimming around them at the one time! Some days the whale sharks cannot be found, but they had a great 2007 season with sharks seen every time they looked for them.
Why the whale sharks gather at Sogod Bay is not known, they have been observed feeding, but with so little known about whale sharks they could be here for any number of reasons. I am just glad they are here where you can swim with these giant sharks in calm, clear water.