Donsol, Sorsogon: Butanding Experience

Donsol: An everlasting Search for Butanding :)

Cristina Fajardo (aka Clue)

Still undecided on what fun activities to engage in this summer? How about this? Kindly give me few minutes of your time and let me share with you the recent adventure which I and my bf had in Donsol, Sorsogon. This may give you some idea on the latest fun activity in town, and who knows? You may also want to try it! 

Location: Dancalan, Donsol, Sorosogon Philippines

Donsol is a small town of Sorsogon, a province in Bicol region, Philippines. It has been known nationwide as the primary habitat of whale sharks. Hence, tourism office has been promoting whale shark interaction in the town, and that is something that I wouldn't want to miss this year. When my boyfriend came here for a visit this March, I thought it would be perfect to bring him to Donsol for the whale sharks. 


Going to Donsol is now made easy. If you're coming from Manila, you have options to take a 12-14 hour bus ride from Cubao straight to Donsol; or if you're not fond of long trips, you may also fly from Manila to Legazpi City for approximately two (2) hours and from there, you may ride a jeepney bound to Daraga - Donsol. For a more comfortable ride, there are air-conditioned vans available in Legazpi Terminal for only 75 php per head. Since the resort where we're going to check - in is located in Dancalan, just beside the Tourism Office, the van driver agreed to bring us straight to the resort for an additional fee of 25 php / head.

Legazpi Terminal

Donsol tourism has been known continent-wide or maybe worldwide. We met a female tourist (Erin) from Australia and just like us, she also came to see the whale sharks. We were on the same van but she stayed in a different resort. As she knew that boat rental for whale shark costs 3500 php, Erin agreed to come with us and divide the rental fee among the three (3) of us. And that was great! At least we're not to pay the entire rental fee. 


From Legazpi City, it takes approximately two (2) hours to reach Donsol, inclusive of stop overs when the driver has to drop off passengers in other towns such as Pilar. It was an enjoyable ride. While on zig-zag portion of the highway, I heard my BF saying it would have been a better trip on a bike so I guess if you own a motorcycle, it would be more fun driving on a zig zag!  

Along Pilar going to Donsol

Here we go! Donsol town proper

Donsol Municipal Hall

I wish I could drive too

Bridge in Donsol

It was almost 11 in the morning when we reached the resort. As Erin, the Australian lady, would do her whale shark interaction the next day, my boyfriend and I decided to just walk around the resort and rest. We stayed at Vitton, the nicest resort in the town according to the blogs which I reviewed few weeks before the actual trip. 

This was where we stayed.

Vitton is really a nice resort by the beach, and what I love the most is the whale shark on its front yard. It's like a welcome statute to tell the guests that "hey, there are whale sharks here! Come on get me!" so for me that's very catchy. 

Vitton was indeed the best choice because of its facilities. There is a free wifi at its resto, a nice swimming pool and good rooms at affordable price. For only 2200, we were able to get a very spacious room with hot and cold shower and a balcony. How's that? Now, as to the wifi, its best radio signal is the restaurant area. So people from other resorts come by for their meals and the free wifi :) Also, if you want massage, the resort offers a massage service. 

The pool area

Some of the rooms

On the photo below, there's a small hut and that serves as the resort's bar which is good for those people who want to drink; while opposite to it is the massage open room. These are all located parallel to the pool area.

Gord at the balcony 

Look! They have a nice beach too!  

Donsol Beach 

Meals are quite expensive in Vitton but when you're hungry, prices may not matter. What's important is a healthy and appetizing food that can feed and satisfy my belly :) 

Gord reading out the available dishes

Gord was excited about the whale shark, just like  me. So after our lunch, we went to the tourism office for registration. The office is just beside Vitton so it's just a hop - away! Registration fee for whale shark interaction varies on nationality. For Filipinos, fee is only 100 php per head while it's 300 pesos for foreigners. 

The tourism staff informed us of an option to share the boat rental with other peeps. The boat accommodates maximum of six (6) passengers. We would be meeting Erin the next day so we just needed three (3) more persons to make a group of six. At first, I thought it would be our responsibility to look for 3 more tourists to join us in the boat. Well, I was wrong cuz it's the tourism office that will arrange it for us but we needed to show up at 7am the next day otherwise if we would come late, there may not be other tourists so we  might end up paying the entire 3500 pesos rental fee. 


Aside from whale shark interaction, the tourism also promotes fire fly watching in Donsol. Gord overheard three (3) Chinese girls talking about it and one lady approached him and asked if he wanted to join. Similar to whale shark interaction, six (6) persons are also needed to complete a group. There was no other joiner so we were only five in the group. It's the hotel that arranged for the fire fly tour for us so when we met the three (3) girls at the hotel reception at 7:00 pm, there's a trike ready to bring us to the port where we're going to meet a tour guide. 

The Boatman

We had Amats as our tour guide He makes fun of his name cuz he said it could mean "drunk" in colloquial term but his name is short for Amado. Since four (4) in the group are foreigners, Amats had to speak in English and he's good at it. 

Our guide while discussing about the colony of file flies

 It was raining when we went out for fire fly watching. Initially I had thought we might not be able to see fire flies but for the nth time, I was wrong again. We passed through the river and went to mangrove plantation, that's where the fire fly colonies are gathered. According to Amats, each group of fire flies constitutes a colony. Wow, that's new to me! I never imagined there would be such term as colony for insects. I thought of a clan, but Amats said it's a colony! So we went to three colonies, and it was really amazing to see an aggregate of fire flies. Just imagine, it was completely dark and all you could see are fire flies forming like a Christmas lights on a tree. Isn't that fascinating?

We were about to approach the port

In as much as I wanted to take photos of the fire flies, I couldn't cuz flashes are not allowed and my cam didn't work well without a flash. According to the guide, camera flash or even a flash light could scare the bugs away, and they don't want it to happen. Of course! Otherwise, their business will be lost!


After a night full of marvelous interaction with the fire flies, Gord and I were both excited for the next day's trip - our most awaited adventure, and that's no less than the whale shark interaction! We woke up at 5am and were at the tourism at quarter to 7:00 AM and oh God, the office was still closed! We were so early!

So to kill the time, we had another coffe. Gord played with the dog.

Gord playing with the dog while waiting for the tourism office to open

Thisi dog reminded me of our Pepay, our old dog

Sweet dog! He's watching my baby sleeping!

I thought the office opens at 7:oo am sharp since the tourism staff informed us to be there by 7:00 am but according to a guy I spoke with, it usually opens at 7:30AM. Well, it's always better to be ahead of time than being late.

Weather looked good in the morning though it was a bit cloudy.

Bystanders

When the tourism office opened up, many people came in for registration, most of them were foreigners. The staff grouped everybody into six pax. After registration, everyone was asked to watch a video and that serves as an orientation about the whale shark, proper distance form the shark during the actual interaction, etc. 

Registration and payment

Whale shark interaction includes an opportunity to swim with the shark! So to ensure we would have a great experience, Gord went to the stalls that rent out snorkeling gears. There are several stores where you can rent such gear but the closest are those beside the tourism office. A complete set costs 300 pesos. Now, since I got a discount for the registration fee at the tourism office, my BF asked for a hundred discount on my gear at the store, and he got it :) Wow, he used his charm!

Gears for rent

Okay. So here is the actual whale shark trip.

We were six (6) in the group: Gord, me, Erin (Australian), two (2) German citizens and one (1) Swiss. We were all excited to see the whale shark and swim wit it! 

The Spotter

The boat has four (4) crews: the boatman or engine operator, the BIO or Butanding Interaction Officer, a spotter and an assistant. The BIO gave us an orientation about how and when to get off the boat when a whale shark is spotted by the spotter. When the BIO started the briefing, he set our expectation that we might not be able to see a whale shark due to an unfavorable weather. And true enough! I'm not sure if it was a jinx :) or that's really what happens when you sail under a cloudy sky. The boat made several turns around the open sea. We went to the north then back to the south, went southwest, then south east, and then northeast back to south, and for full three (3) hours of trying to find a whale shark, we didn't see one. The guide reiterated again that it could be because of the cloudy sky so it's hard to spot a whale shark, and that's a bit frustrating cuz you won't get your money back!







Disappointing as it may seem, Gord managed to have fun and enjoy the sea water. That's a relief cuz I thought he would be so bored.

Seeing him happy, and so I was. I took my camera out of its bag and point and shoot! 

Getting bored! Still no whale shark

Time to pee :) 

There were about 20 boats that sailed off for whale shark interaction during the first batch and all of us weren't lucky to see a whale shark. I'm not sure if there are really numerous whale sharks in Donsol but 20 boats had been out and none had seen one after three hours of searching. So I guess the tourism needs to redefine or rephrase its slogan as for me it really appears like a whale shark hunting rather than an interaction. Nevertheless, it was still a nice experience. Whenever I recall every moment of my stay in Donsol, I realized that there is nothing more rewarding than to spend every second with someone I love the most, and see him laugh.

And so we came back to the shore without the whale shark. 

So here. We came back onshore without seeing the whale shark!

In summary, an escapade in Donsol is still the best summer getaway! A fire fly interaction is truly incredible! And what about this new summer craze that you shouldn't miss too - the whale shark hunting! So, are you in for FISH Hunting this summer? :)) We better call it a hunt rather than a whale shark interaction so as not to frustrate people :) Well, like what Gord said,we'd seen it on a video at the tourism office :D hahaha


Anyway, if you wish to visit Donsol, here are some helpful tips for you:


How to get there:

From Manila
          > Bus at Cubao, Quezon City. There are buses that transport passengers all the way to Donsol, Sorsogon

          > Plane - If you can avail promo flights to Legazpi City, that would be great!


From Sorsogon
          > Jeep or Van to Daraga, Albay and then Jeep from Daraga to Donsol

From Matnog
          > Jeep to Sorsogon City; then Sorsogon to Legazpi or Daraga


Sample Itinerary

Diving and / or Snorkeling is also a must-try summer activity in Donsol. For better experience, don't forget to bring or rent an underwater camera :). 

If you plan to stay in Vitton, you may ask the resort staff for assistance especially when you want to try fire-fly or snorkeling as they can arrange it for you. 


Contact:

Vitton Resort
+63-927-912-6313