Fishing with Local Fishermen in Kuantan
Our brother-in-law Siva offered us a 6 days stay at his timeshare hotel in Swiss Garden Resort, Kuantan, Pahang. We took this opportunity enthusiastically because both of us have never been to the east coast of Peninsula Malaysia. Little did we know our Kuantan trip was going to be a once in a lifetime experience fishing with the local fishermen!
Shoutout to Swiss Garden Beach Resort, Kuantan
We flew in early to Kuantan on a Sunday morning and waited to check in because there was a big weekend crowd at the Swiss Garden Beach Resort. The manager invited us to a free buffet breakfast while waiting for our room to be ready. The restaurant was overcrowded so we took a table seating outside. Eventually we got our room, dropped the bags and went out to explore. The resort is family friendly with a nice swimming pool overlooking the Balok Beach. We were so excited to see the South China Sea from the Malaysia Peninsula. Our first time was looking at it from the Borneo side when we visited Kuching. There was nobody at the beach – we really like that!
Our room has a beam in the middle of the balcony that obstructed the beautiful view of the ocean. The next morning we asked if we could change room and were pleasantly surprise when the manager upgraded us to a suite! We want to give a shoutout to the manager and to Swiss Garden Beach Resort, Kuantan for the wonderful services.
Balok Beach
Swiss Garden Resort being right on the pristine Balok Beach was simply paradise on earth. A hotel lifeguard warned us to apply insect repellent against sand flies. They were available for free at the towel booth. At low tide we found so many sea shells crawling all over the beach. This was something we have never experienced either. Shane loved practicing his tai-chi at dawn when the sun is rising up from the ocean. There was just something so spiritual about a new sunrise.
Kuantan Fishermen
After two days of sightseeing and eating at seafood restaurants, we decided to simply take it easy and hung out at the beach. This turned out to be the best decision ever. A group of local Kuantan fishermen was getting their sampan (small boat) ready to go out fishing on our early morning walk to the beach. We had a short conversation and were invited to join them. Shane climbed on to the boat while I stayed at the beach to take more photos. The boat sailed the perimeter of the beach casting the net and circled back to shore. Except for the boatman, the rest of the fishermen and Shane jumped overboard and started pulling the net on both ends. It was laborious work needing strong arms to pull the fishes caught in the net to shore. The tons of fishes and prawns caught were astounding! I have videos showing the men at work. It felt strange to have fishes touching my legs!
Videos of Shane catching fishes with Kuantan Fishermen
Community Spirit
One thing I love about Malaysia is our community spirit of helping one another. This is evident amongst the local Kuantan fishermen and families living near the beach area. While the fishermen were busy hauling the catch of the day, some women and children picked stray fishes strewn on the beach for their daily meals. A woman told me some of them collected the fishes to dry them out. One father reminded his young son to collect just enough for their meal that day and leave the rest for others. Boys from the Champa (refugees community) village nearby collected the fishes for their families meals. Nothing was wasted, no money was exchanged. We were humbled to witness this and thankful for this once in a lifetime fishing experience. Shane continued to help the fishermen for the rest of our stay in Kuantan. They offered giant prawns for Shane’s help but we insisted on paying. One of the fishermen cooked the prawns for us and they were amazingly sweet and juicy!
The Damn Sandflies!
I made one bad judgment by not applying insect repellent on the last day of our stay. We planned to say a quick goodbye to the Kuantan fishermen. Instead we got caught up with another big haul and before I knew it Shane was helping and I was busy taking more photos and videos. I found tiny bumps on my legs and face when I took a shower and thought nothing of it.
The next day the bumps were so itchy. Anti itch cream and chamomile lotion didn’t work. My sister suggested using neem leaves so my niece pounded and we applied the paste on every single bite. The damn sandflies had a big buffet feast on me! I was so miserable. We saw a doctor and I begged for an injection to relieve the itch even though I hate needles. He didn’t give me one, instead I have a cream to apply.
Updated May 18, 2021 – It took over 2 weeks for the itch to go away and I had poke scars on my leg for about a year. Lesson learned – use insect repellent if there is a sign advising you to.