Swimming with whale sharks in Puerto Princesa
This is the ethical whale shark trip in the Philippines, and it comes with no promises. Encounters here are natural and explicitly no-feeding — the boats find wild animals in the water southeast of Honda Bay and beyond the outer Pambato reef, rather than provisioning them to a fixed spot the way Oslob does. That difference is the entire argument for booking it here. GetYourGuide sells it from $84 at 4.3★ from 136 reviews over 6.5 hours; local operators quote ₱3,000 group and ₱3,500+ private. The season is April to October, sightings peak within about a week of the full moon, and sightings are not guaranteed.
The ethics are the product
If you have been reading about whale sharks in the Philippines you have been reading about Oslob. This is the opposite operation and that is why it costs more and delivers less often.
At Oslob in Cebu, whale sharks are fed to hold them in a fixed bay for tourist boats, which produces near-guaranteed encounters and a long-running argument about altered migration, behaviour and animal health. Puerto Princesa's product is explicitly no-feeding: boats go out into the water southeast of Honda Bay and beyond the outer Pambato reef and look for animals that are there because they want to be.
The trade is obvious and honest. You are paying $84 or ₱3,000 for a 6.5 hour boat trip with a real chance of seeing nothing. If a guaranteed photograph matters more to you than how it was obtained, book Oslob and be honest with yourself about it. If it does not, this is the version to do.
It is also a small product. 136 reviews at 4.3★ is a fraction of what Honda Bay carries, which tells you both that few people know about it and that few operators run it. Treat it as a seasonal, specialist trip rather than a headline attraction.
When whale sharks are here
The season is April to October, which is also the wet half of the year — so the good months for the animals are the choppy months for the boat. Sightings peak within about a week either side of the full moon.
Sightings peak within about a week of the full moon in any season month. Nothing about this is guaranteed and no operator should tell you otherwise.
Wildlife on the water, compared
Three seasonal boat products run out of this city and they are not the same trip. Only one of them is reliably bookable on a platform.
| Trip | Price | Season | What you get | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whale shark snorkelling GetYourGuide, 4.3★ from 136 reviews | from $84 local ₱3,000 group, ₱3,500+ private | April–October | 6.5 hours, natural no-feeding encounters southeast of Honda Bay. Sightings not guaranteed | WORTH IT |
| Dolphin watching local operators only | ₱2,000 range ₱1,500–2,500 | April–October | 06:30–10:30 in Puerto Princesa Bay for spinner dolphins. Cancelled if seas are bad or too few people join | DEPENDS |
| Honda Bay island hopping the mass-market default | ₱1,500–2,000 | November–May best | 7–8 hours, three sandbar islands, thin coral. 4.0/5 from 2,040 reviews | DEPENDS |
| Port Barton island hopping 3.5 h north | ₱1,200–1,500 booked there day trip from $34 | year-round | Wild green turtles over seagrass and the healthiest accessible coral in reach of this city | WORTH IT |
| Oslob, in Cebu for comparison only | — | year-round | Provisioned, fed animals held in a fixed bay. Near-guaranteed sightings, and the reason this page exists | SKIP |
Dolphin watching is not reliably bookable on any platform — it runs through small local operators and often needs a minimum number of joiners. Ask your hotel two days out rather than assuming you can add it same-day.
What no operator will put in the listing
Four things about this trip are true, uncomfortable and not printed on any booking page.
You may see nothing. There is no feeding, no provisioning and no fixed site. Whale sharks are wild animals in open water and a 6.5 hour boat trip that ends without one is a normal outcome, not a failure of the operator. Go on a day you can afford to lose.
The full moon matters. Sightings peak within about a week either side of it. That is the opposite of the advice on the firefly page, which wants a new moon — so if both are on your list, you cannot optimise for both in a short trip.
It is a snorkelling trip, not a boat tour. You need to be comfortable getting in and out of a bangka in open water away from land, swimming in swell, and staying calm next to something the size of a bus. This is not the wade-in-the-shallows day that Honda Bay is.
The rules are the same everywhere. No touching, no riding, no flash, keep the distance the guide sets, no sun cream that is not reef-safe. An animal that is not being fed will leave if it is crowded, which is precisely the point of doing it this way.
The practical bit
The other seasonal boat, briefly
Dolphin watching runs the same months, costs a third less, and is much harder to actually book.
Spinner dolphins are watched in Puerto Princesa Bay on a 06:30 to 10:30 half day, priced at ₱2,000 per person by local operators with a range of ₱1,500 to ₱2,500 across agencies. Season is the same April to October. Operators follow international watching guidelines and cancel if the sea is rough or too few people join, which happens often — it is a small-operator product rather than a mass one and it is not reliably bookable on any platform.
It earns its place for one specific reason: it is a decent shoulder activity in the habagat months when Honda Bay is choppy and the sandbar day is at its weakest. Manage sighting expectations exactly as hard as for the whale sharks. The full page is here.
Where to book the season
Local operators quote ₱3,000 (~$52) for a group place and ₱3,500+ private, so the platform price carries a real premium — what it buys is a listing you can hold a company to and a cancellation policy in a month when boats get called off.
Whale shark questions, answered
Can you swim with whale sharks in Puerto Princesa?
Yes, between April and October, in the water southeast of Honda Bay and beyond the outer Pambato reef. GetYourGuide sells it from $84 at 4.3★ from 136 reviews over 6.5 hours, and local operators quote ₱3,000 group or ₱3,500+ private.
Is it ethical, unlike Oslob?
Yes, and this is the reason to do it here. Encounters are explicitly no-feeding and no-provisioning — the boats look for wild animals rather than holding them in a bay with food. The cost of that is that sightings are not guaranteed on any 6.5 hour trip.
When is whale shark season in Puerto Princesa?
April to October — 7 months — with sightings peaking within about a week either side of the full moon. That window overlaps the wet season, so June to October brings both the best animal odds and the highest chance of the boat being cancelled for sea conditions.
Are sightings guaranteed?
No, and any operator implying otherwise is not running a no-feeding trip. Coming back from a 6.5 hour boat day without seeing one is a normal outcome. Book it on a day you can afford to lose and treat a sighting as the upside rather than the plan.
How much does the whale shark tour cost?
GetYourGuide from $84 (~₱4,870) per person for 6.5 hours. Local operators quote ₱3,000 for a group place and ₱3,500 or more private. That premium buys a listed cancellation policy, which matters in the June to October half of the season.
Do you need to be a strong swimmer?
You need to be comfortable getting in and out of a boat in open water away from land, and swimming in swell for extended periods. This is not the stand-up-in-the-shallows day that Honda Bay is at ₱1,500–2,000 — it is a snorkelling trip in open sea.
What about dolphin watching?
Spinner dolphins in Puerto Princesa Bay, 06:30 to 10:30, ₱2,000 per person with a range of ₱1,500–2,500, same April to October season. It is run by small local operators, is not reliably bookable on any platform, and cancels if the sea is rough or too few people join.
Are there turtles at Honda Bay?
Occasionally and by luck at Pambato Reef, which is the best coral in the bay at 4.0/5 overall — faint praise. For reliable wild green turtles, the Turtle Spot on the Port Barton island hopping tour is the answer, 3.5 hours north with tours at ₱1,200–1,500 booked there.