The Sama-Bajau peoples are maritime populations living on various islands in several Southeast Asia nations and are known for their traditions of sea-nomadic lifestyles and coral reef fishing. However, some Sama-Bajau people have settled on islands in “non-coral-reef” zones. This study aims to examine the outer sea fishing practices and spatial cognition of these non-nomadic Sama-Bajau people in the Banggai Islands, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. After intensive participatory observation and interviews, it was found that the main fishing method of the study population was angling in outer sea and not net fishing in coral reefs, in contrast to the results reported in previous studies on the Sama-Bajau people. The sample in this study classified sea space into 12 categories based on submarine topography; however, fishing spots were chosen depending on specific characteristics of each point regardless of space categories. When identifying fishing spots, fishers considered not only submarine topography, but also the shape of islands as observed from the spot, stars visible at the time of identification, and other related details. By comparing these findings with those of previous studies, it was concluded that the populations in the non-coral-reef zones have developed “spot-based understanding”, while those in the coral reef zones have developed “surface-based understanding”. This difference can be understood as a result of adaptation of the Sama-Bajau peoples to varying geographic conditions.