Five Fingers, a fishing spot in Alkhobar, is vibrantly alive on Thursday nights with the dark waves glimmering in the moonlight as expats and citizens alike throng the area to catch fish using fishing rods.

“These expats and Saudis prepare their fishing tools excitedly, as if they were children again. They include Filipinos, Egyptians, Palestinians, Indians, Bengalis and a few Pakistanis,” said Eduardo Rodriguez, a spare parts manager at the Arab Equipment Est.

Explaining why the place is called Five Fingers, he said, “It’s shaped like the palm of a hand with the fingers spread out.” Rodriguez is also a community leader and a member of the Eastern Lawn Tennis Association (ELTA).

He added that Saudis could be seen happily mingling with the expats for the sheer joy of catching fish and not for consumption or to make money.

Rodriguez said that most of the expats are Filipinos who fish in groups of four or five and then divide the catch among themselves later.

“The Filipinos catch fish either to eat it later or just for the enjoyment of it to drive away the feeling of homesickness,” he said. However, some bring their families with them to enjoy the beach with their kids, he added.

Rommel S. Aguiluz, who works as an auto technician in Dammam but lives in Alkhobar said, “It has become customary for us to go fishing at Five Fingers on Thursday nights over the years and often we stay there the whole night.”

“Being together there binds us in a common bond, as brothers together,” he added.

Using a small gas stove they have brought with them, they cook some of their catch on the beach. The fish includes hamoor and red snapper, among others. They then have a picnic enjoying the desert night air and the sea.

“It’s like a picnic if our companions bring their families along. There’s incessant laughter, swapping of jokes, and poking pleasant fun at each other. During such moments, you wish that this would go on forever,” he said.

John Alexis Nagar, executive secretary at Bawan Steel in Alkhobar, added that Five Fingers is a great place for family bonding as well. “Doing things together like catching fish brings the family together,” he said.

Reminiscing on days gone by, he emotionally added, “We are often taken back to the time when we were young children in the Philippines and our parents brought us with them whenever they went out to sea at night. They would cook part of the catch which we ate on the beach itself,” he said.

The Five Fingers is a great spot to catch fish and entertain ourselves, he added.

“At the crack of dawn, with the distant starts still twinkling above us, we clean the place, put the waste into paper bags and ensure there is no litter left. Then we pick our way toward our cars with the gulls already flying in the horizon near the early waders at the beach and head for home,” he said.