Ngapali Beach, Myanmar—during our motorbike exploration we noticed an island just off shore that had rocky coral shoals on one side and beautiful sand beaches on the other—and it was within kayak range. Grabbing our snorkeling gear we hailed a three wheeled tuk-tuk and headed for the fishing village of Mya Pyin where we rented two kayaks and a guide. We paddled around the village’s fishing fleet to get a closer look at the source of the phenomenon we saw last night. At sunset the fishing boats lined the entire mouth of the Bay. They employed a Burbank inspired fishing method that’s legality seems to be hotly debated. Bright powerful lights were hung just above the water which proved to irresistible to fish as evidenced by scores of mats of drying fish we saw in the village this morning. Green lights attract squid and yellow lights attract everything else. Net boats close in behind the dazzled fish. The hovering line of lights looks like an invasion by a sci-fi alien fleet from shore. Ingenious and effective but looking like something from the “Deadliest Catch”. In spite of the bright light fishing the coral shoals proved to have a lot colorful reef fish and we donned our snorkel gear. Snorkeling from a kayak presents two very big challenges—gracefully getting out of the boat and then getting back in. On my exit I nearly swamped my boat and launched my snorkel over the side. I spent my first dive hunting for it rather than chasing fish. Found it in about 12’ of water just barely reachable in a crack in the reef. Getting back in was even less graceful than our exits. After a double swamp maneuver we eventually ended up on top with all our gear and paddles in hand. After that our landing at the beach was a picnic. Warm water, soft sand and sunshine made it tough to paddle away. Pearl Island proved to be a little bit of paradise. Battling a bit of a head wind we dug deep paddling back to the village The village was at a standstill with a “money tree” procession making its way with the community donation to the local monastery. It swept us with it to the monastery along with drummers, musicians, loudspeakers and everyone else in the village. There were no “outsiders” today.
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