A Day at a Fish Pen

PANGLAO ISLAND BOHOL —-

My friends invited me to go with them to a Fish Pen one weekend and I said yes without hesitation and without any idea of what to expect, what to do or what to bring. 😅

They just told me to not worry about anything. You see, I grew up inland and is more used to seeing farms than fish pens.

That day turned out fun and surprising!

🌞 DEPARTURE from the coast:

We rode on small motor boats with what felt like the whole neighborhood with us. I was probably the only stranger there. 😂 It really felt like a regular community affair. Nobody questioned my presence verbally, but I guess they dismissed me as some distant cousin of a neighbor or something. 😅

🌞 ARRIVAL:

This was my second time on a fish pen but I was still taken aback by how small it is in contrast to our number. 😅

Unsurprisingly, it became crowded in an instant with everybody trying to find a perfect spot to sit down. And if you are looking for shade at that time, you most probably won’t get it. 😆

This fish pen is one of the few around Panglao Island and is usually occupied by milkfish or “bangus” in the local term. This fish pen is owned by the village and was supposed to harvest the fish that day. It did not happen for some reason but that did not stop the fun.

Everybody enjoyed looking at and feeding the school of fish. And others like me enjoyed swimming beside the fish pen. Which some people think is a bad idea because they think it’s not clean. Which is probably true. If you do not think about it though, you won’t really notice the difference. 😂

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🌞 LUNCH!

We then had lunch from some of the food we brought and the fishes they cooked (guess from where)🤔. It was a filling feast smelling the salty water in the middle of the ocean (well not really in the middle)😆. They prepared on that small pen grilled fish or “sinugba” and “kinilaw” which is raw fish in vinegar and spices. yum!

And of course, to locals in an island like this, a day out is never complete without “tuba” or local wine from coconut trees.

🌞 SIDE TRIP:

After some chit-chat and idling, we went to Isola de San Fransisco just beside Virgin Island since the fish pen is near there. We jumped in and took a stroll and of course some photos!