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Head over to the beaches near Hateno Village, and you can come across a small shipwreck against the rocks. Among the wreckage, you'll also come across a message in a bottle, and should you go and read it, you'll find out there's a lost soul stuck in a cave who hoped this bottle would come across someone who'll come and save him. That someone will be you.
The path can be tricky as you'll be crossing a long distance, and this is through the ocean, so if you still don't have the best handle on using Ultrahand to build yourself a boat, then this is the perfect chance to finally do so.
Updated By Wyatt Grondin on June 13th, 2023: The quest giver for A Bottled Cry For Help will make another appearance in a permanent location after the event of the quest, and his location has been included due to the service he can provide the player.
Building The Raft
First things first. Use Ultrahand to find large planks of wood, a Zonai fan, and a steering stick. When crossing a short passage of water in Tears Of The Kingdom, you could usually get away with just the fan, but even then, you were likely to veer off-course. But this is a long journey, so do not forget the steering stick, as you will not make it there without the ability to steer the raft.
Following The Brightbloom Flowers
What you'll also learn from reading the note is this lost soul had a seemingly endless supply of Brightbloom flowers. If you've been exploring the depths, you'll know these little suckers are brighter than a firefly, and even in the middle of the day, they'll be a great beacon to where you're going.
Just in front of the raft in the image above is one of the flowers. This one was just bobbing in the water by itself, which is common for the trail. Sometimes you'll get lucky, and a couple of flowers will have grown on a piece of debris, which are easier to spot from a distance. So, keep your eyes peeled and do not deviate from the rough path, the flowers are obvious, but it will still be way too easy to get lost if you attempt to guess where the next one will be.
On top of that, Octoroks and Lizalfos will be swimming around. With the Octoroks, you don't have much of a choice and will need to fight back with your bow or a lucky timing of your Recall ability to shoot their projectiles back. They die in one hit, so be quick. The Lizalfos you can just outrun unless you run out of Zonai charge.
Speaking of your charge, stop at every little island that's in your path. Conveniently, the islands on this path will contain more wood and fans and even a battery or two. The battery, if you've never used one, gives a non-stop charge to Zonai devices while attached. It will break after a set amount of time, so grab each one you come across, as it might not last the entire trip.
Speaking of, just where you are going is simple.
Mapla Point Cave
For those of you wanting to cut to the chase, your destination is Mapla Point Cave at coordinates 4552, -2267, and 0000. You could even try going there first just on the off-chance this end marker spawns without needing to read the message but do know that method was not tested.
Either way, you'll want the same path as the cave opening is partially underwater, so you can only enter from the ocean. There's no secret other way in, so you'd have to get crafty if you try and go from a different angle.
You'll find the remains of another shipwreck in the cave, so go ahead and raid any of the supplies you feel you need. Your next goal is the boulder blocking this passage near the back. You can use Ultrahand to move it, just like in the image above, but if you have a spare sturdy weapon, you should instead consider Fusing it. Boulders are even more durable than ruins in terms of Fusing them with a weapon and will break nearly every Ore deposit with one hit. If you have open weapon slots, pick up the oar from the wreckage, as it's a two-handed weapon. It won't be too great against enemies, but again, Fusing with a boulder is best for Ore deposits, so it's recommended to just use up the slot.
On the other side of the boulder is Chumin, the sender of the message in a bottle. He'll be so happy that he's been rescued that he'll reward you with a silver Rupee, which is worth a hundred Rupees. Don't worry about bringing him back; just removing the boulder was enough for him to finally escape. As for how you'll get out of here, if you don't want to get back in the raft of fast travel, you can use Ascend for a quick exit.
Chumin After Rescuing Him
Once Chumin has been rescued, he will head over to the road that leads to the Hateno Ancient Lab. He'll start selling fish, crabs, Hateno cheese, and brightbloom seeds. Despite claiming to be selling his wares all over, he doesn't move from this spot, which makes him the perfect merchant for farming any crab you'll need for an armor upgrade.