Batanes

"Arayu"

In the afternoon we allowed ourselves some time on terra firma, and scouted some of the beautiful nooks and corners of Batan Island, including the fishing village of Diura, which, like so many places in the province, seems like a living history demonstration, with ancient traditional ways of fishing practiced well into this era of outboard motors and long line nets. As we pulled up beside the neatly lined bahay kubos, all with a commanding view of the seas in which they worked, I was beckoned over by a fisherman to join him in working through what I call a 'Batanes Combo Meal', which consisted of the provincial booze of choice, Ginebra gin, and two dishes made with arayu, (dorado or mahi-mahi) a migratory fish prized by fishermen. He told me that during dorado season from March to May, about 40 fishermen in tatayas, or small, three-person fishing boats manned with sails, would head out to sea, fishing for  flying fish and taking them alive to use as bait for the dorados. Dorados do not eat dead bait.

Batanes

Batanes

      He recalled that once his friend had a Dorado hooked on his line after swallowing the flying fish bait, but the Dorado had in turn been eaten by a large shark. After a lengthy struggle, the shark plunged back in the depths, pulling the tataya with him, leaving the fisherman at sea, forced to swim several kilometers to shore. After we left Diura, we headed over to a rocky point that stretched into the sea just south of Basco. Here, Gordon and I tried our luck at popping; casting off into the surf and pools and trying to attract the giant trevallys with the splash of the lure as we draw it back to shore.As we stood on rock outcroppings, clouds covering Mt. Iraya.

Photo and Article Source: Inflight Magazine ( Seair)