We arrived at the nominated destination at 9 AM with ready-for-service drinking, food and fruit in advance. At first glance, the beach was extremely beautiful with a little curved sand bank stretching on the beach like a half of a coracle.
There was a series of line-up of boats on the shore and a nice green wood afar. Hoa Thang beach was really peaceful and calm with regular playful waves breaking on the shore. My friend is a local resident of Hoa Thang commune. He asked us to climb up the hill and took a seat on the canvas in a vacant tent. On the hill, we easily observed all the activities of the fishermen and people here. In a distance, a woman was removing a big and fresh fish from the mesh and putting it into a plastic bucket. I moved closer towards the woman and began a little chat with her.
- “How much does a kilogram of fishes?” I asked, “Ten thousand dong for all kinds of fishes”, she answered.
After that, one of my friends bought some kilograms of fishes from the woman even though we had already taken a lot of squids, sea crabs, and gray mullet with us.
Then, I saw a young man wiping his coracle. This time, I learned more about the characteristics of the fishing/coracle-related trade after a short conversation with him. According to the young man, the trade is quite hard-working because it requires the insiders to put high investment and much effort. Particularly, an investment cost for a coracle is usually from VND 30-50 million. Moreover, the fishermen have to get up at about 1-2 o’clock in the morning to start their fishing journeys. In addition, the fishermen must be very industrious and conduct a variety of jobs at the same time to earn more earnings so that they can cover their livings.
Coming back to our trip, the seafood lunch was ready! We gathered together and enjoyed the baked and deep-fried fishes, squids, especially salamanders, a specialty of Hoa Thang. After lunch, children rushed to the sea to swim and play. Frankly, it was extremely wonderful and interesting to enjoy seafood, view the sea and take the fresh air on the beach.
In short, if visitors want to relax and breathe in the cool sea air, make an outdoor trip on Hoa Thang beach, you can perceive an astonishing impression of a wild nice coast plus fresh seafood at cheap price.
My Thien (Source: Binh Thuan Newspaper)