Swimming with whale sharks

The alarm clock rang at four o'clock. Already the second day in a row, because we actually wanted to take this trip yesterday, but it rained heavily all night. Nothing unusual for this time of year, as the rainy season begins here. That's why we turned around and went back to sleep. Today was the day!

Get up, brush your teeth, apply sunscreen, pack your swimming gear in your day backpack and hop on the scooter and off to Oslob. When we set off, it was still dark. It was nice to see the small towns and villages we passed through on our one-hour drive come to life. People were washing themselves outside their huts, the streets were being swept, and the first market stalls were opening. As we drove, it got brighter, but we couldn't see the sunrise because it was raining lightly and the clouds were low.

We arrived in Oslob at 5:30 a.m. Despite the early hour, there was already a lot going on. The parking lot was full of minibuses and there were many tourist groups in line. Although it was busy, everything went smoothly and we only had to wait an hour. Waiting times of three to four hours are not uncommon here. During the wait, the rules of conduct were repeated through loudspeakers at intervals of a few minutes.

Rules:

- Keep a distance of 5 meters from the head and 6 meters from the tail fin.

- Photos are allowed, but without flash.

- Sunscreen must be washed off. There are showers for this (in our case, the rain took care of it 😉).

- Do not touch the animals.

- If the animals are swimming towards you, do not panic, but let them swim past.

- Do not jump from the boat into the water, but slide in.

Finally, number 87 was called, our waiting number, and we could get on the boat 😁. The anticipation was huge! We could already see the whale sharks from the boat. When we were in the water, it even stopped raining. Especially the distance rule could not be maintained in the water because the whale sharks came very close to us. Madlin was even touched by the animals twice. At first, it was an eerie feeling to have such large animals swimming towards you, but this feeling quickly subsided. The whale sharks were up to 13 meters long and weighed up to 12 tons. Despite their size, these animals exude something very peaceful. The many people in the water apparently didn't bother or scare them. In addition, the movements were very calm, so that the touches didn't hurt, but were rather gentle. On the upper side, the whale sharks have an individual pattern of dots and lines. The pattern of each individual animal is so unique that it allows identification, similar to a fingerprint.

Swimming and snorkeling with these giant creatures was an indescribably beautiful and fascinating experience. The most beautiful experience we have had on our trip so far!