The weather was like the first time I visited Navotas City’s fish port some years back: the sky overcast, the heavens threatening to rain cats and dogs. Like my previous visit, I was with a group of photographers. And like the first time, too, we were undaunted by the weather. Even with the risk of wet cameras, we went ahead to the largest seafood market in Metro Manila.
A board similar to movie marquees indicated we were almost at the fish port. Instead of movies though, it shows which bays are affected by red tide. I was unfamiliar with the areas listed and simply hoped that the crispy fried fish I happily ate for breakfast were not from one of those areas.
After securing our permits, we were given the go-ahead and assigned a guide to assist and guard us around the port. Security can be a concern when shooting at the port, so care and alertness must be exercised when visiting. I distinctly recall an incident during my first visit. I was taking photos of some of the kids playing around (which won me a nod at the SKWWPW) when my camera was almost taken out of my hand by a vagrant roaming around. There were also a number of pickpocketing incidents in the past, with fish vendors being the prime victims.
After a quick briefing, we all went in and dove into basins after basins of fresh catch. I’m no supermarket or marine specialist, so I really cannot name the multitude of fishes filling pails and plastic containers in the port, even if my life depended on it. I wouldn’t even know I was looking at a galunggong if it wasn’t all fried and crispy.
I chatted with the vendors at the port, asking the names of a weird-looking fish and a strange “shrimp,” which turned out to be not a shrimp. It was a tiger prawn.
“How do I differentiate it from the normal non-tiger ones?”
“The stripes on its back,” the friendly seller told me.
Our group arrived a bit late, so we didn’t catch the initial barrage of seafood being brought into the port during the early hours of the morning. But still, there’s so much to see and photograph, like the bulungan (whispering) sessions, where a group of resellers outbid each other for the freshly arrived bounties by whispering their prices to the seller.
Adjacent to the fish drop-off shed are the waters of Navotas City, which are technically still part of Manila Bay. As you might have guessed, it’s quite polluted. Still, I was relieved to find that it isn’t as full of floating garbage as the first time I visited.
The Navotas fish port may not be a “beautiful place” based on usual travel standards. It is wet, slippery, and usually reeks. It’s not a place where tourists might want to wander in. In fact, it’s not the safest place to walk about. But it’s still interesting to visit such raw places once in a while, to see the other side of the bright, sunny, and green parks. To get down and dirty, or should I say fishy? To come in smelling of expensive perfumes and come out smelling like the sea. It ain’t such a bad experience at all.
Navotas Fish Port
Address: Lapu-Lapu Avenue, North Bay Boulevard, Navotas City
Open hours: Open 24 hours
GPS coordinates: 14° 38′ 31.69″, 120° 57′ 3.97″
Permit: I’m not sure if one can simply walk in and take photos inside. We were a big group, about 15 people strong, so permits were probably worked out in advance. Be sure to check beforehand.
This was originally published in Lakad Pilipinas.
