Fish Interaction, Barangay Calag-Itan

Wandering Tourist – Fish Interaction, Barangay Calag-Itan

On Easter Sunday, we had a sunrise service at the Fish Interaction facility (Fish Sanctuary) in barangay Calag-Itan. The service started at 5 in the morning so naturally JJ was asleep during the whole the service. After the service we stayed at the facility and enjoyed the morning.  Our group was the first to enjoy the day's activities: watching/feeding the fishes in the sanctuary.

The facility has a decent road approach. It is an old freighter pier with what is left of an old warehouse. On the pier little thatched nipa huts have been built that can be rented for a 100 to 200 pesos (about $2 - $4).

There is another nipa hut on the shore that's privately owned that rents for 200 pesos. And there are also tables lined along the shore that are available for use.

There is a house on a point north of the area. It can be seen from our fish pen and I always wondered what is was (light house or shore house). Flor and I hiked down the beach to check it out. There was a path to the house that followed a water line and electric line. The house is a well built building with an upstairs deck. But the house appeared to be abandoned. It looks like a great place to get away from everything and just hang out for a couple of days. I think if I owned the property I would keep it maintained and rent it out although access is difficult. After we got back to the church group we found out the barangay owned the property and had planned it as a lighthouse. But they probably ran out of funding or lost interest.

We found a tree branch lying by the path that looks like that of a dinosaur tail because it is covered with what looks like "scales" that resembles the turtle scales so we thought we'd share it here:

There is a 10 peso (about 25 cents) entry fee to the pier per person to get to the fish interaction area.  Kids get in free. The fish interaction area is the end of the pier. The water is about 30 feet deep and you can see the bottom from the pier. People are encouraged to feed the fish and there is bread available for ten pesos a pack if you did not bring any. Before the kids arrive you can get in the water and swim with the fish. (Not quite the same as swimming with whale sharks (see previous Oslob post) but it is still very nice.

http://midlifewandering.blogspot.com/2016/02/again-sorry-about-delay.html

We took these pictures 10' above the water line using our cheap camera.  To enjoy these fishes you have to be here early in the morning or late in the day when there are no swimmers.  Bring a GoPro camera or something  better to get the best result.

After the kids arrive and start swimming, most of the fish scatter. The pier is about 10' above the water line. And there is a ledge below the top of the pier that is about 3 feet above the water line. The kids enjoy jumping off the pier and the ledge and splashing around in the water.  JJ had a great time and was jumping off the ledge (I would not let him jump off the pier, not yet).  I was with JJ for a while then let the teenagers take over.  JJ was getting better jumping in and then swimming back to the ledge. Our camera battery died at this point and we did not get any pictures of the kids swimming. I am sure we will go back and will make sure the batteries are good in the camera. It has become my favorite place to swim.

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