4 reasons Why You Should Think Twice Before Visiting Oslob for Whale Sharks

Oslob, a city in Cebu, Philippines, is famous for offering visitors the chance to swim with whale sharks year-round. While there are plenty of discussions about the ethical controversies surrounding this practice in Oslob, today I want to focus on the many other reasons why I believe Oslob is a tourist trap.

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1. The grueling journey to Oslob

Getting to Oslob is a huge pain, and it was annoying to add it to my 2-week Philippines itinerary. The Oslob whale sharks are near the shore only in the morning, so swimming with the whale sharks in Oslob is only possible between 6 AM and 11:30 AM. Therefore, if you’re doing the common day trip from Moalboal, you will need to wake up between 4 and 5 AM.

Many Oslob whale shark snorkeling tours are sold in Moalboal, running at about 60 USD per person.

Since we wanted to dive, those snorkeling tours wouldn’t work for us. The only option we found on our date was to hire a taxi to Oslob in the morning, with a price tag of about 40 USD. Later in the afternoon, we returned to Moalboal by public transport, which was affordable but required a few transfers and lacked comfort and air conditioning.

2. Oslob whale shark snorkeling nightmare

Now, let’s talk about the most common Oslob whale shark tour: snorkeling.

Picture this: you’re excited to swim with the whale sharks, but instead, you’re greeted by a sea of tourists and endless lines. Looking at the people waiting to snorkel made me feel really bad for them. It was honestly heartbreaking to see so many people waiting for their turn (and even watching a class on how to swim with the whale sharks), only to get a rushed and overcrowded experience.

3. Oslob dive shop disasters

For those of you who prefer diving, brace yourselves. To start with, Oslob whale sharks typically stay closer to the surface because they are being fed. This is nothing like encountering whale sharks in the wild just going about their day, as most times you look up at a whale shark, you will see at least a few snorkelers surrounding it!

The dive shops in Oslob are subpar. Our experience included:

1. A leaking tank that significantly delayed our dive
2. Masks that fogged the whole time, making it impossible to see anything
3. A regulator that was not working, and a dive instructor who insisted that we continue the dive using the alternate regulator
4. A dive instructor who forgot to bring weights to the boat, and ended up having to use stones as weights

To make the Oslob day trip worth it, we booked two dives:

1. Shore dive starting at 7 AM to see whale sharks. The pictures speak for themselves as to how crowded this experience was!
2. Boat dive at 1 PM at Sumilon Island. Here, the dive was beautiful but not worth all the hassles we faced with the Oslob dive shops. I do not consider this dive site unique or special in the context of the Philippines, the marine life we encountered on this dive was extremely similar to other Cebu dive sites.

My scuba diving experience with shops in Oslob ranks as the worst I had worldwide. This fact is particularly bad because the other dive shops I visited in the Philippines rank among my favorites!

Therefore, I do not believe that diving in Oslob is worth it, especially in the context of the amazing diving opportunities available in the Philippines.

4. Oslob is a town with not much to do

After the exhausting morning and the disappointing dive, we hoped to explore Oslob. Unfortunately, there was nothing to see or do. Although we found a nice cafe to eat at, the town felt like a ghost town with no other obvious options for places to go. After our dive, we realized that there was nothing interesting to see, so we just hopped on the bus to get back to Moalboal.

If you are thinking about spending one night in Oslob, I recommend you reconsider, as the town does not have much to offer.

A better alternative: swimming with whale sharks elsewhere

Now, I don’t want to sound like a total downer. Swimming with whale sharks can be an incredible experience—just not in Oslob! For example, one of my happiest memories in life is snorkeling with whale sharks in Cancun. The experience was well-organized, ethical, and safe.

There are so many places around the world that offer fun and responsible ways to swim with these magnificent creatures. And guess what? Some of them are even in the Philippines!

Final thoughts

So there you have it, folks. While swimming with whale sharks sounds magical, our experience in Oslob was far from it. Between the grueling travel, overcrowded snorkeling, terrible dive shops, and a town with nothing to offer, we left feeling more stressed than satisfied.