The wind blows on the dead coral beach of Sogod Bay Scuba Resort. (Leyte, Philippines, February 2008)
The wind blows on the dead coral beach of Sogod Bay Scuba Resort. (Leyte, Philippines, February 2008)

Sogod Bay, the Whale Shark Bay

#Leyte #Philippines

  Philippines: Visayas - February 2008

Dear English-speaking readers, this page is an automatic translation made from a post originally written in French. My apologies for any strange sentences and funny mistakes that may have been generated during the process. If you are reading French, click on the French flag below to access the original and correct text: 

First step of my Philippine trip: the southern tip of Leyte Island. For dives in Sogod Bay, in the hope of crossing the road of a whale shark

The few tourists in the area are there for that too. Sogod Bay is known for being frequented by these nice giants of the seas.

Diving in Sogod Bay

I dream to meet again this huge shark (that I saw once in Thailand, in 2006). It is the largest fish in the world (it can exceed 10 meters, I refer you on Wikipedia) and it is totally harmless to humans (it has no teeth and feeds on plankton).

But for the moment, nothing! I have been diving in Sogod Bay for three days already, without having seen the shadow of a whale shark's tail. At the same time, it is not very serious. The coral is superb here, remarkably preserved. And the tropical underwater fauna abounds.

I am enjoying new nudibranchs (sea slugs), toadfish (or frogs) and other critters, including a very nice "striped knit" snake. We even found today a tiny pink seahorse-pygmy.

Snuggled against the reef, a "knit-striped" snake. (Sogod Bay, Leyte, Philippines, January 2008)
Snuggled up against the reef, a "tricot-rayed" snake. (Sogod Bay, Leyte, Philippines, January 2008)
A nice size nudibranch, of a beautiful pink-purple color, photographed today, on the site of Napantao, on the other side of Sogod Bay (Leyte, Philippines, January 2008)
A nice size nudibranch, of a beautiful pink-purple color, photographed today, on the site of Napantao, on the other side of Sogod Bay (Leyte, Philippines, January 2008)
Not easy to photograph a pygmy seahorse... It is not bigger than the nail of my little finger (Sogod Bay, Leyte, January-February 2008)
Not easy to photograph a seahorse-pygmy... It is not bigger than the nail of my little finger (Sogod Bay, Leyte, January-February 2008)
This scorpion fish is watching me bubble, impassive. (Sogod Bay, Leyte, Philippines, February 2008)
This scorpion fish is watching me bubble, impassive. (Sogod Bay, Leyte, Philippines, February 2008)

Philippine Ferries

There are not many divers on the sites. Only two-three resorts operate in the area. And this part of the island, away from the tourist circuits, is not so easy to reach. The ferry schedules from Cebu, the central island of the Visayas, where there is the airport, are more than random.

Mine, the 6pm Cebu-Bato ferry that I thought I would take when I got off the plane, was conveniently replaced by another one... at 1:30pm. So I missed it. Bad luck. No boat to Bato...

The Cebu-Bato ferry is at 13:30 (Philippines, January 2008)
The Cebu-Bato ferry is at 13:30 (Philippines, January 2008)

I settled for the 9pm flight, with bunks on the deck for the cheapest tickets. But I travelled with the rich, in a tiny cabin called First Class, with four berths, TV (!) and air conditioning like a fridge. Arrival in Bato at... 4am!

Fortunately, I was able to call the Sogod Bay Scuba Resort (SBSR) with whom I had contacted by e-mail before the departure, and they sent a guy to pick me up before dawn by car at the exit of the boat. Then, about an hour drive from Bato to Lungsodaan, a tiny town at the crossroads of two roads, belonging to the municipality of Padre Burgos, where the resort is located.

Dead Coral Beach and Sunday Mass

In this season, the wind blows hard every day on Sogod Bay. On the beach of dead corals, big sound waves crash non-stop and rock my sleep.

My room is facing the sea, at a nice lady who welcomes tourists for the resort when they are full, just next door. I like being there as much. My terrace is more intimate than the side-by-side rooms at SBSR.

The wind blows on the dead coral beach of Sogod Bay Scuba Resort. (Leyte, Philippines, February 2008)
The wind blows on the dead coral beach of Sogod Bay Scuba Resort. (Leyte, Philippines, February 2008)

On my right, I discern in the mist the blue shadow of Limasawathe island where Magellan landed. It was there that the very first Spanish mass was celebrated in the Philippines, in 1521... First step of the Christianization of the country.

I live right across the street from a chapel, which I didn't notice at the time when I arrived at dawn on Sunday morning. I collapsed on my bed, exhausted, and a few hours later, joyful singing woke me up. It was Sunday mass. I went to see.

In front of the chapel, a big blackboard, with "Welcome visitors 2008" written on it. Inside, karaoke atmosphere, with a guy at the microphone to make the faithful sing on a catchy tune, everybody standing up and arms raised, with lyrics to follow written in the background on a white board.

Those in the back rows turned around with smiles and nods to watch me approach the door. A small gentleman came to shake my hand and offer me entry... But I was hungry. I didn't stay. I waved to everyone like the Queen of England, and headed back to the resort for breakfast.

See all articles on this trip → Philippines: Visayas - February 2008

PS. I will realize my dream of meeting whale sharks during other trips, years after that first trip to the Philippines... First in Mexico in 2014, then in the Philippines in 2018. See below these two posts :
→ Mexican whale sharks have mouths
→ In the Philippines, let the whale shark come to you

  Philippines: Visayas - February 2008

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  1. Content d’avoir des nouvelles, dommage que nous n’avons pas d’accent sur les e, probablement les computers Philippins en sont dépourvus ou difficilement accessibles. Chez nous, pas de nudistes avec ou sans branches. Biz.

    PAP

  2. Eh oui ! Pas d’accent sur ces fichus claviers QWERTY, plus americains que philippins en verite… Evidemment, une fois sur deux je tape un Q a la place du A et vice-versa.

    La connexion sur l’ordi du resort est ultra-lente, j’ai eu un mal fou a envoyer ce premier article. Demain, je pars pour l’ile de Bohol, plus touristique, ou je devrais pouvoir trouver des acces internet high-speed dignes de ce nom…

    Thank you for this little message, it's really fun (sorry, no C cedilla either).

    bizzzz
    😉

  3. 😈 😈 😈 😈 😈 😈 😈 😈 😈 😈 😈 😈 😈 😈 😈 😈 😈
    : Mrgreen: 😐 ➡ ❓ 😉 🙄 😳 😛 😆 😡 8) 😕 😯 😮 🙁 🙂 😀

  4. ❓ M’enfin??? c’est toi qui as demandé à voir dans une autre discussion! 😉
    et pis… elles ne sont pas terribles les photos, j’ai de petites vidéos plus sympas!

  5. @Manta: Ça suffit!!! Pi d’abord, moi aussi j’en ai une, de vidéo de requin-baleine, na. 😛

    [flash http://titbulle.fr/02_videos/videos/20060203whaleshark/whaleshark.FLV w = 400 h = 300 f = {image = http: //petitesbullesdailleurs.fr/smallbugsdailleurs/wp-content/videosimages/whaleshark.jpg&id=Whale Shark}]

    Le truc pathétique, c’est que ça va faire trois ans, maintenant, que je la copie-colle sur mes blogs et sites, cette malheureuse vidéo. Je n’ai pas recroisé un requin-baleine depuis. (Soupir…) 😳

    Well, well, now, I can't wait to see yours!!! 😉

  6. Hi Corinne,

    Dommage pour le requin-baleine, mais j’ai un conseil en or pour toi si t’es toujours intéressée.
    Pour des plongées de rêve avec du gros, du requin, dont requin baleine, et de flore préservée, destinattion nord de l’AFS et Mozambique. En AFS, vers Sodwana bay, tu tomberas pratiquemment tjrs sur de beaux spécimens.
    J’ai nagé avec 4 requin baleine en 3 jours de plongées, dont le plus gros à 13 m…en surface et à 2km/h!! Du rêve, magique.
    Pour le Mozambique, ma destination de cet hiver avec le Zimbabwe, on m’a parlé d’un site fréquenté mais super pour les raies mantas et les baleines…
    Bon n’hésite pas à me contacter, j’ai fait sipadan l’hiver dernier, et pour le moment l’AFS reste un must en terme de préservation.

    Ciao

    Rod

  7. @Rod: Ah là là, oui, je sais bien… J’ai eu affaire à plusieurs dive-masters sud-africains qui m’ont tous dit comme toi: c’est incomparable, paraît-il. J’ai aussi une amie qui a ouvert a dive center in Vilanculos au Mozambique, et qui rencontre régulièrement toutes les grosses bébêtes dont on peut rêver. Il va falloir que j’aille tremper mes palmes dans le secteur, un jour…
    🙄

  8. Hi Corinne.
    Je suis devenue une grande fan de ton blog et quelle surprise de voir que toi aussi tu t’es interessee aux requins baleines que l’on peut appercevoir dans la baie de Sogod.
    We would like to make this trip the first 15 days of January, hoping to see at least one.

    Do you have addresses, advice to give? Finally did you see / see one of these giants during this trip?

    Merci d’avance.

    1. @ mido1w: Merci d’avoir pris le temps de laisser un petit mot ! 🙂 Ce voyage que j’ai fait aux Philippines date de 2008 et je n’y suis pas retournée depuis. Je n’ai donc pas vraiment d’informations fraîches ni de recommandations d’adresses à faire (en cinq années, bien des choses ont dû changer). Et je n’ai pas rencontré de requins-baleines durant ce voyage.

      Il semble que j’étais venue un peu trop tôt dans la baie de Sogod (fin janvier – début février). Je n’en ai hélas pas vu un seul. La saison cette année-là a dû démarrer plus tard. Je ne sais pas trop comment les choses ont évolué depuis, ni si les requins-baleines continuent à fréquenter régulièrement la baie ou pas.

      L’autre endroit où l’on peut voir des requins-baleines aux Philippines et qui est très connu, c’est Donsol. Mais il semble que les sorties en mer pour les touristes aient un peu tourné à l’industrie… Je n’y suis jamais allée, donc je ne peux pas vraiment en parler…

      Good preparations!
      8)

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