Donsol 🇵🇭 Ethical Whale Shark Snorkeling 🐋 What to Expect?

Feb 3
5 min read

Updated: 7 days ago

Snorkeling with Whale Sharks 🐋 is definitely a bucket list experience on many Adventurers' minds. 🙌🏻

As Animal Lovers ourselves, we certainly do understand the appeal to swim alongside these incredible marine giants, measuring up to 10 metres long (as big as half a school bus or more!).

As our core purpose for Adventure Together has and always will be to find and support more ethical Wildlife experiences, we sought to find a more Ethical alternative to the highly popular Whale Shark Feeding & Snorkeling in Oslob.

Join us from 🗓️ Fri 3 - Tue 7 Apr 2026

over the 🎉 3 Apr, Good Friday, Public Holiday

on our 5D4N 🇵🇭 Donsol Ethical Whaleshark Safari 🐋

Turns out, right in the Philippines itself, we found Donsol: the OG 🐋 Whale Shark Snorkeling destination in the Philippines. 🇵🇭

Here, Whale Shark Snorkeling Safaris take place seasonally when Plankton blooms in Donsol's waters, between November and June, and peaking from February to May. (Which explains the cloudy-ish looking water above!)

Why Snorkel with Whale Sharks in Donsol? 🐋

Set up by WWF Philippines in cooperation with the local 🇵🇭 Philippines government and local Donsol community, WWF trained Donsols' locals on how to conduct the sessions safely both for people as well as the Whale Sharks, setting Interaction guidelines, as well as the rules to follow and enforce.
Whale Sharks in Donsol are Wild Marine Life. The Whale Sharks are not baited or fed. They visit Donsol's waters seasonally when their primary diet of Plankton is available, and thereafter continue their migration across oceans, up to 13,000km / almost a third of the Earth's circumference.
Donsol is much less crowded & more peaceful / with less queuing for the Whale Shark session, and is known as the Ethical Whale Shark Snorkeling destination with a no-feeding policy, as well as a strong reputation for enforcing rules.

In addition, the surrounding region from Legazpi City (where we fly in to), Albay and Donsol have several more fun Adventure activities to enjoy, which are perfect to incorporate into a nice 5D4N trip over a long holiday weekend!

Below, we'll cover everything else we'll do for our April 2026, 5D4N 🇵🇭 Donsol Ethical Whale Shark Safari 🐋 Adventure!

1. welcome to mini hawaii 🌺

(Day 1) Landing in Legazpi / Daraga Airport (DRP), one of the first things you'll notice is the beautiful 🌋 Mayon Volcano everywhere we go.

One of the world's most symmetrical Volcanos, we begin our first day after landing with lunch by the lake and beautiful views of the Mayon Volcano, giving it visually such mini Hawaii vibes!

the most peaceful beachfront resort 🌊

(Day 1) After lunch and a 1.5-2hrs drive, we'll arrive at our most peaceful beachfront resort.

This area isn't very touristy yet, thus there aren't any big, flashy, beachfront hotels, just several mid range - budget accommodations.

But this was definitely one of the most peaceful & relaxing places we've ever stayed at that we love going back to every year. 💛

We'll be staying here for 3 out of our 4 nights, and it is just 5-10mins from the Whale Shark Snorkeling Centre which we'll be heading to first thing next morning!

the Ethical Whale Shark Snorkeling 🐋

(Day 2) After a nice little breakfast, we'll proceed just 5-10min down the road to the Whale Shark Snorkeling Centre.

We'll get fitted with our snorkeling fins and watch a briefing video on the Do's & Don'ts of the session.

We'll split into smaller groups of 4 - 6 people per boat. Each boat has a captain, spotters (Butanding / Whale Shark Interaction Officers), and a local guide who will enter the water with you.

Over a ~ 3hr session, we'll cruise the bay looking for the Whale Sharks. The spotters are often perched atop the boat, scanning the water for the Whale Sharks.

Since the Whale Sharks are wild marine life, filter feeding on their own in the bay, as per any wildlife safari, sightings in general cannot be guaranteed.

Should we not see any Whale Sharks on Day 2 morning, we'll have a 2nd chance to try again on Day 3 morning (although so far we haven't needed it yet, since we also always target single best months to visit for the highest chances)

How soon have we seen the Whale Sharks? It really varies. We've seen the Whale Sharks as soon as 30min into the session, jumping into the water up to 4-5 times. We've also waited 2.5 out of 3hrs, but had a great last 30min.

Once a Whale Shark is spotted, your guide will alert you to prepare yourself with your mask and fins along the front of the boat.

The boat will position itself along swimming trajectory of the Whale Shark, and your guide will alert you to jump into the water.

Coming face to face with a Whale Shark in the water is a deeply humbling and awe inspiring moment.

Watching them glide past gracefully, and knowing we supported a more Ethical Wildlife alternative, made it all the more meaningful, to be able to share a space with this magnificent giant momentarily.

✨ As many fireflies as stars in the sky 🌌

(Day 2) At night, enjoy the beautiful night sky full of stars 🌌 given our remote location. Cruising this time into the 🌴 Mangroves instead of the Open Sea 🌊, we saw as many Fireflies as the stars in the night sky. 🥹

Can you hear Owl City's, Fireflies song in your head yet? 😆

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/6a07d6_372d3f43473f4a3e9c2debcf5a6c27d5/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

ride a Philippines jeepney & Explore an underground river cave 🏞️

(Day 3) Dressed in our swim wear, we climbed aboard a local Philippines Jeepney bus, beautifully decorated with Whale Shark designs, for our day trip to the local, popular underground river cave.

Jeepneys are a common form of public transport in the Philippines, and are a cultural symbol of local Filipino creativity & community.

The more beautiful and eye catching a Jeepney was, the more people were likely to hop on board it & pay the fare to ride it. This resulted in many beautiful Jeepneys not just as practical buses, but pieces of street art roving about on wheels.

We entered the cave through a bamboo raft, had a crawl / climb a bit through the rushing waters, and had a thoroughly refreshing time, just chilling in the water, and swimming a little bit.

challenging & Exciting 🏎️ ATV ride toward mayon volcano 🌋

(Day 4) We've ridden our fair share of 🏎️ ATVs and the ATV route toward 🌋 Mayon Volcano really stands out as one of our favourite ATV rides ever!

Challenging and exciting through various terrains, from dirt tracks peppered with rocky obstacles, through little streams of water, it's essential to drive cautiously and attentively for safety.

And sometimes, that can be hard to do, as you're driving toward the stunning views of 🌋 Mayon Volcano before you.

We formed a veritable ATV convoy to Mayon Volcano!! 😆

✨ Short tour of region's highlights & last night hotel with pool view of mayon volcano 🌋

(Day 4) We spend the afternoon visiting a few key sights in the region, such as the Cagsawa Ruins, still standing after a Volcanic eruption in the 1800s, and Daraga Church, built from Volcanic stone.

We spend our last night in Legazpi in a beautiful hotel with a pool with views overlooking the Mayon Volcano. 😍 Some of us even woke up the next morning to enjoy the pool one last time before we took the car to the airport for our flights back to Singapore!