Bikes, Buses, Boats, Beaches and Beer, on a Budget - Noddy's (mis)Adventures in Asia

17 ISLANDS MARINE PARK

The boat trip was an awesome day out and it was great to see some really unspoilt islands that were teeming with fish. After climbing on board our rickety little boat we were heading out to our first stop, some snorkeling on a nice patch of coral. About half an hour here and then onto the next stop, some more snorkeling along a beautiful island.

They told us we were stopping for snorkeling and after we had all jumped in the water the skipper tells us ‘Ok you swim, we meet you up there’ pointing to a stretch of sand that seemed to be a fair distance away?!

So that was that, we were left to make our own way back to the boat as they took off up the beach. It was a great snorkel, shallow reef that dropped away sharply and I swam along this section all the way up seeing some serious fish along the way.

Once back at the boat I quickly grabbed my rod while the crew set about cooking a BBQ lunch on the beach. I was just casting soft plastics over the reef and catching a lot of small fish, but didn’t have any bigger lures to get right out into the deep section where I knew there was bigger fish.

I was really rueing not having my usual lures once again but it didn’t really matter, I was still wetting a line on a beautiful tropical island in Indo, possibly the first person to cast a lure there.

Lunch was BBQ fish, vege’s and rice (what else?!) and was ok, I’m not a big fan of eating Barracuda but I do get pretty spoiled when it comes to eating fish. After a very long and relaxed lunch and laze on the beach (for the rest of the group, I fished the whole time) we were off again to the next beautiful island for some more snorkeling.

I had spent enough time in the water and opted to fish again, just relishing the chance to have a cast in foreign waters in such cool surroundings. The crew snoozed on the boat in the shade and I could sense they were having a bit of a laugh about the tourist fishing.

But suddenly I was on… something decent too and it was fairly giving my 4lb setup a workout. It came crashing out of the water, leaping and flipping and I saw what it was, a bloody Longtom! Lol. They are very common back home and good for absolutely nothing, we don’t even use them for bait!

The crew on the boat had watched all this unfold and were excitedly rushing up the beach to see my fish, I was still fighting it and they were all yelling instructions at me. The only thing I could understand was ‘don’t lose it’!

Never fear boys, I got this! I soon had my Longtom on the beach and asked the crew if they wanted it, silly question, of course they did, so it was soon dispatched and thrown under the deck boards to be eaten later for dinner.

But the boat tour wasn’t over yet and we were whisked off to another location, this time near the mangroves to look at fruit bats that nest in huge numbers in the area. I could have easily skipped this part of the trip though, didn’t do much for me.

Then for some reason we seemed to take the longest possible way back to the little harbour, past more islands and fishing boats, although it was nice I really would have preferred to have simply headed home after the last snorkelling spot.

A fantastic day out though and one of the most enjoyable I’d had in Indo, maybe because I got some fishing in, but either way I definitely recommend a visit there, it is vastly untouched and off the usual tourist trail.

A few games of pool, dinner back at our local and another day was done, we were in bed early as we were supposed to catch a bus the next morning at 6am. Or so we thought....

17 Islands Marine Park