Seafood is not only just for eating; it’s also fun to watch and play with. Lamma Island in Hong Kong is a place to do both!
The Fisherfolks’ Village is the place to come close and personal with the lovely marine creatures, much like a zoo. It also hosts an exhibition on the life of fishing communities. The Village is built from fish farming pontoons just off Sok Kwu Wan of Lamma Island and looks deceptively small. It’s not hard to spend 2 to 3 hours in the Village, including a one-hour guided tour on the exhibits and the marine creatures.
The tour guide first showed my friends and me the variety of tools for catching fishes, like the cages that were designed based on the characteristic behaviour or movements of each species. The most ingenious of those was a fishing board in the shape of a black bream, and the way to use it was to dangle it in the water so that a school of breams would join its company when the boat was travelling. Apparently it was possible to net hundreds of breams in one go!
After the fishing tools, it was time to see the animals! The tour guide took us to an enclosure and fed a school of hungry fishes, which made a real splash fighting for fodder as if they had never eaten before. The squids in another enclosure fought for food with another means, by prodding their suckers out to capture the prey. Others like the puffer fish, sea urchin, flying gurnard (more commonly known as ‘aeroplane fish’ in the local fishing community), a pretty fury crab and the heavily armoured horseshoe crab took their turns to meet us out of the water. Only these animals will know whether they like to be out of the water and be treated like toys.
Towards the end of the tour, we boarded an antique fishing vessel and walked through every part of it to appreciate what a seafaring lifestyle would have been like. We then returned to land, in time for dinner. What a waste it would have been not to visit one of the many seafood restaurants at Sok Kwu Wan. The restaurants all had impressive displays of their seafood in the tanks, where we were able to choose the best and freshest. The tanks were another spectacle of themselves; I had the luck to see live geoducks squirting water and live abalone crawling! I felt so excited already even before the meal began. What a sensation Lamma Island has given me with the marine life!
海上鮮其實不祇好吃，而且好玩！在南丫島，要吃、要「玩」海鮮都可以。
要跟可愛的海洋生活接觸，便不可不到漁民文化村。漁民文化村由索罟灣對開的漁排改建，地方看來細小，但要溜達兩、三小時也不難，單是文化村的導遊，便花了一個鐘頭向我和朋友介紹村內的展品及有趣的海洋生物。
導遊先向我們展示林林總總的捕漁工具，包括因應各種魚不同習性而設計的籠，還有捕黑鱲魚專用的鱲魚板，原理就是當板在水中被拖曳時，其他黑鱲魚便會成群跟隨，然後漁民便可一網打盡，上數百尾也不足為奇！
看過漁具後，各種海鮮陸續亮相，先有一聞飼料便雀躍的大魚，爭着吃東西時弄得整個漁排都沸揚，也有一見到小魚便伸長嘴巴吸吮的墨魚，之後雞泡魚（河豚）、海膽、飛機魚（角鬚紋）、毛蟹和身披鐵甲的鱟魚（馬蹄蟹）也逐一從水中上來「與民同樂」，究竟離開水中讓我們輪流把玩及拍照真的樂不樂，則祇有牠們自己知道了。
我們還登上了一艘舊式漁船，從頭到尾鑽遍全船，看看水上的家究竟是甚麼樣子。其後返岸，剛是漁火初上之時，晚飯時間又到，一場跑到南丫島，自然要來個海鮮餐，點菜前還可到店內的魚缸，挑當晚最生猛、肥美的品種，我看到噴水的象拔蚌和活的鮑魚，未吃都已雀躍！從沒想到，海鮮能給我吃以外，其他新奇、興奮的感覺，在南丫島的一天便感受到了！
Date of Visit: 5 April, 2007 參觀日期：2007年4月5日
Sok Kwu Wan (left) and its fishing pontoons (right), where the Fisherfolks' Village is located.
索罟灣一景（左）及離岸不遠的漁排跟漁民文化村（右）
The Tin Hau Temple of Sok Kwu Wan, a place of worship for the blessing of the fishing community and Lamma Island
索罟灣的天后廟
An overall view of the Fisherfolks' Village
漁民文化村一景
Try your hand at fishing here!
釣大魚的好地方
But don't go fishing without these handy tools!
不過沒有這些漁具，甚麼也釣不成！
Hungry squids!
貪嘴的墨魚
Lovely marine creatures!
Top left: a puffer fish that can inflate to the size of a football when agitated.
Top right: the flying gurnard that looks like an aeroplane
Bottom left: do crabs like to wear nail polish?
Bottom right: the sea urchin warns others to stay away!'
可愛的海洋生物！
左上：一經挑釁便膨脹至足球大小的河豚
右上：貌似飛機的飛機魚
左下：毛蟹也愛塗指甲油？
右下：海膽向人示警！
The two sides of the horseshoe crab
鱟魚之兩面
The bedrooms (top) and the kitchen (left) on a traditional fishing vessel.
舊式漁船上的睡房（上）及灶房（右）
All ready for another wedding
漁民結婚時用的服飾及餐具
The traditional dragon boats (left) and fishing vessel (right), still a prominent symbol of Hong Kong.
傳統的龍船（左）及帆船（右），後者仍是香港的一個著名標誌
Lively patrons and animals at the seafood restaurants at Sok Kwu Wan.
索罟灣的海鮮酒家，保証席無虛設、海鮮生猛！
The Fisherfolks’ Village is the place to come close and personal with the lovely marine creatures, much like a zoo. It also hosts an exhibition on the life of fishing communities. The Village is built from fish farming pontoons just off Sok Kwu Wan of Lamma Island and looks deceptively small. It’s not hard to spend 2 to 3 hours in the Village, including a one-hour guided tour on the exhibits and the marine creatures.
The tour guide first showed my friends and me the variety of tools for catching fishes, like the cages that were designed based on the characteristic behaviour or movements of each species. The most ingenious of those was a fishing board in the shape of a black bream, and the way to use it was to dangle it in the water so that a school of breams would join its company when the boat was travelling. Apparently it was possible to net hundreds of breams in one go!
After the fishing tools, it was time to see the animals! The tour guide took us to an enclosure and fed a school of hungry fishes, which made a real splash fighting for fodder as if they had never eaten before. The squids in another enclosure fought for food with another means, by prodding their suckers out to capture the prey. Others like the puffer fish, sea urchin, flying gurnard (more commonly known as ‘aeroplane fish’ in the local fishing community), a pretty fury crab and the heavily armoured horseshoe crab took their turns to meet us out of the water. Only these animals will know whether they like to be out of the water and be treated like toys.
Towards the end of the tour, we boarded an antique fishing vessel and walked through every part of it to appreciate what a seafaring lifestyle would have been like. We then returned to land, in time for dinner. What a waste it would have been not to visit one of the many seafood restaurants at Sok Kwu Wan. The restaurants all had impressive displays of their seafood in the tanks, where we were able to choose the best and freshest. The tanks were another spectacle of themselves; I had the luck to see live geoducks squirting water and live abalone crawling! I felt so excited already even before the meal began. What a sensation Lamma Island has given me with the marine life!
海上鮮其實不祇好吃，而且好玩！在南丫島，要吃、要「玩」海鮮都可以。
要跟可愛的海洋生活接觸，便不可不到漁民文化村。漁民文化村由索罟灣對開的漁排改建，地方看來細小，但要溜達兩、三小時也不難，單是文化村的導遊，便花了一個鐘頭向我和朋友介紹村內的展品及有趣的海洋生物。
導遊先向我們展示林林總總的捕漁工具，包括因應各種魚不同習性而設計的籠，還有捕黑鱲魚專用的鱲魚板，原理就是當板在水中被拖曳時，其他黑鱲魚便會成群跟隨，然後漁民便可一網打盡，上數百尾也不足為奇！
看過漁具後，各種海鮮陸續亮相，先有一聞飼料便雀躍的大魚，爭着吃東西時弄得整個漁排都沸揚，也有一見到小魚便伸長嘴巴吸吮的墨魚，之後雞泡魚（河豚）、海膽、飛機魚（角鬚紋）、毛蟹和身披鐵甲的鱟魚（馬蹄蟹）也逐一從水中上來「與民同樂」，究竟離開水中讓我們輪流把玩及拍照真的樂不樂，則祇有牠們自己知道了。
我們還登上了一艘舊式漁船，從頭到尾鑽遍全船，看看水上的家究竟是甚麼樣子。其後返岸，剛是漁火初上之時，晚飯時間又到，一場跑到南丫島，自然要來個海鮮餐，點菜前還可到店內的魚缸，挑當晚最生猛、肥美的品種，我看到噴水的象拔蚌和活的鮑魚，未吃都已雀躍！從沒想到，海鮮能給我吃以外，其他新奇、興奮的感覺，在南丫島的一天便感受到了！
Date of Visit: 5 April, 2007 參觀日期：2007年4月5日
Sok Kwu Wan (left) and its fishing pontoons (right), where the Fisherfolks' Village is located.
索罟灣一景（左）及離岸不遠的漁排跟漁民文化村（右）
The Tin Hau Temple of Sok Kwu Wan, a place of worship for the blessing of the fishing community and Lamma Island
索罟灣的天后廟
An overall view of the Fisherfolks' Village
漁民文化村一景
Try your hand at fishing here!
釣大魚的好地方
But don't go fishing without these handy tools!
不過沒有這些漁具，甚麼也釣不成！
Hungry squids!
貪嘴的墨魚
Lovely marine creatures!
Top left: a puffer fish that can inflate to the size of a football when agitated.
Top right: the flying gurnard that looks like an aeroplane
Bottom left: do crabs like to wear nail polish?
Bottom right: the sea urchin warns others to stay away!'
可愛的海洋生物！
左上：一經挑釁便膨脹至足球大小的河豚
右上：貌似飛機的飛機魚
左下：毛蟹也愛塗指甲油？
右下：海膽向人示警！
The two sides of the horseshoe crab
鱟魚之兩面
The bedrooms (top) and the kitchen (left) on a traditional fishing vessel.
舊式漁船上的睡房（上）及灶房（右）
All ready for another wedding
漁民結婚時用的服飾及餐具
The traditional dragon boats (left) and fishing vessel (right), still a prominent symbol of Hong Kong.
傳統的龍船（左）及帆船（右），後者仍是香港的一個著名標誌
Lively patrons and animals at the seafood restaurants at Sok Kwu Wan.
索罟灣的海鮮酒家，保証席無虛設、海鮮生猛！
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