Of course, I recommended that she go to the beautiful Sohoton cove. But the most amazing experience that I had in Siargao was deep sea fishing.
I started the day checking and sending out emails before having a quick breakfast. It was during a time when my workaholic self would work every chance I had. Looking at my photo now, I could not help but cringe because I can re-live how incredibly stressed I felt during those times.
The whole CARAGA region was under typhoon signal # 1 the night before and even in the morning so we were not sure if our activity will push through. But it was sunny in the morning so we decided to go.
From our resort, we rode a tricycle going to a beachfront property where the local fishermen and their families lived. When we got there, our boat was ready. It was a small motorized boat with wooden benches on each side and a small roof above them.
Junior, our boat captain was a man in his late fifties. He said he has been doing this for a long time and affluent deep sea fishing enthusiasts would book him for a month to go fishing with them in their yachts.
Not long after we took off, the wind began to get a lot stronger and the waves became higher and higher. We could not take our hands off the handles on the boat for fear of going overboard. Junior and his first mate, on the other hand, were very relaxed and were even snacking on bread while we were too nauseated to move.
There were only a handful of times when we were not traveling on stormy weather because the typhoon season is less busy for us in terms of work. We are used to braving stormy seas but when the waves seemed to reach above 1-storey during this adventure, we just had to ask the captain if we should turn back. He said they are used to even bigger waves. He also told us not to worry because he was the one who made his boat and he is sure it is unsikable. As soon as I heard the word unsinkable, I gripped the handle harder and looked for a life vest because I remembered the movie Titanic.
There were brief moments of calm when I was able to enjoy the view and the deep blue sea but those moments were often short lived.
Amazingly, despite the rough seas, several big fish bit the bait. Once the first mate screams HIT, we would prepare to reel the fish into the boat. This is when I realized how extremely tiring angling is. The humongous waves made it even more challenging.
Fishermen have many tales. I must say I was very much entertained by the stories of our captain and our first mate. They talked about catching a huge shark, about their rich clients who would take them fishing in their yachts and the Japanese clients who were always ready with their knives, their wasabi, lime and soy sauce so they can eat their sashimi straight from the sea. They said that the fish tastes much better, almost sweet, within two hours of being caught from the sea. I thought to myself..."We will have to see about that".
After a few fish, we were ready to call it a day.
We only took two of our catch back to the resort and gave the rest to our boatmen. We had the smaller fish cooked three ways - sweet and sour, battered & fried and curried. The other fish we sold to our resort so that we ended up having to pay next to nothing for our total bill for three nights after deducting the price of the fish.
Fresh fish does taste so much better than the ones bought in the market. Even the texture is different. It is much more firm.
Since I have been to Siargao, I have always longed to go back. At one point, we even planned to settle in this island. I've had so many great adventures in this island that I do not know which one in particular drew it close to our hearts. One thing is for sure though, that my first deep sea fishing adventure will definitely not be my last. I cannot wait for my Summer to experience it and for us to finally try that mouthwatering sashimi.
Monday is almost over. Let's drink to that! :)
