Heading out of Viking bay looking towards the ocean you go right and there's mint shallow reed beds there and the most dangerous thing there will be megalodon and manta and there easily avoidable. Once you get yourself an angler head out towards the swamp. Not to deep off the edge just keep an eye out for leeches. There's also black pearl nodes there that you cannot harvest with angler but if you get off you can pick by hand.
In the rivers between the southern desert islands is still the most accessible, relatively safe spot.
Those islands are one of the best spots for most things, imo.
Even basilos spawn in those rivers