Daily Archives: November 18, 2010

Curacao, Vacations

Cas Abao

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Cas AbaoToday we decided to go to Playa Porto Marie, a beach that was Pam’s favorite last year when we were in Curacao. Naturally, we missed the turn off – it’s marked for St. Willibordrus, so I guess we can be forgiven for that! We found a great beach called Cas Abao.

Peacock flounder They have a small fee, just like Jan Thiel – three bucks a person. We got a beach lounger like before. There was a nice busy little restaurant, a souvenir shop, a dive shop – all things you usually see on a beach here in Curacao.

The snorkeling was simply phenomenal. I never thought we’d find a place like Caracas Bay, then we found Jan Thiel. And here Cas Abao – at least on a par with Jan Thiel, but perhaps better on this day, because the water was so crystal clear.

ConeyWe saw some fish we had never seen before, one which we’ve tentatively identified as a Coney. It’s a beautiful fish, black with tiny gold polka dots on it, with flowing pectoral fins. We saw one taunting a golden moray eel. I’m uploading a movie of it doing that!

Spotted EelGold moray eelWe saw lots of eels, four different kinds, but at least ten in total. It seemed they were all over the place. Pam said to me, “let’s go in” and then another moray would show up, and we’d stick around for a picture or two. “Ok time to go in…” Another moray!

Barjack We were the last people out of the ocean. When we left the beach, there was only one other car in the lot! We shut the joint down! It was quite an amazing sunset too. We would have stayed a while longer, but the bugs chased us away! The bugs have been the worst ever this year. I’m guessing it’s from all the rain.

Redband parrotfishWe had dinner at the Wine Cellar. If you ever come to Curacao, or your cruise ship stops at Willemstad, you simply must come here. It’s a family run business, and truly impeccable in every detail. It’s strictly indoors, and air conditioned, and with all the bugs, that’s a good thing! The service is truly personable and professional. The food is amazing. I had a pumpkin and sweet potato soup with curry, and it was so good, I have no words to describe it. I told Pam that if this was a Gordon Ramsay blind taste test, I would not have been able to pick out one item, but it was truly a taste sensation. Pam started with the mushroom soup (her favorite) and it was creamy and delicious with big chunks of mushrooms.

Sunset, Cas Abao For the entree, I had an Argentinean steak, and it was better than El Gaucho’s by a mile, which I would never have dreamed. Pam had a giant shrimp dish and it was spicy and herby and very good as well. Tiramisu for desert was not necessary, but really a special rendition done with amaretto. Truly a memorable meal.

Curacao, Vacations

Jan Thiel Bay

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Blue parrotfishTuesday we went to a beach we had not visited the last time we were here on Curacao. Jan Thiel Bay is a large bay, with ten acres of coral reef and underwater park. It’s close to the condo, so it was a nice easy drive – only about 15 minutes or so. There is a small charge of three dollars to get in to the beach. White spotted FilefishThis included supervised parking – always a good thing in the Caribbean – and it included beach loungers for both of us. There are a couple of restaurants, a dive shop, souvenir shop, showers, bathrooms, etc. In other words, everything you need out of the water…

PlumaIn the water, well that was an even better story! The range of fish and coral here is truly stunning. Sharptail eelWe saw every kind of fish we have ever seen in all of our dives put together, in this one site! We saw four kinds of moray eel, more trumpetfish than you can shake a stick at, damsel fish, angel fish, butterfly fish, scorpion fish, crabs, lobsters, lionfish… the list goes on and on.

Stoplight parrotfish And the parrot fish! So many in so many colors – the stoplight parrotfish were so beautiful and large! We even saw a blue parrot fish! Previously, we have seen blue parrot fish at only one other location, and that was on DePalm Island on Aruba. This was a huge guy too, easily as big as the biggest we saw on Aruba. A very pretty fish indeed.

The only drawback to Curacao has been the weather. Curacao has gotten more rain this year than any other year. And there are rain showers every day. They don’t last long, but they have impacted Yellowtail damselfish -juvenilethe clarity of the water. Usually you can see for up to two hundred feet in Curacao. But the visibility is only fifty feet or so, even less close to the shore. It’s made taking pictures really hit and miss, which is too bad, because there are really some amazing things to see here.

School of tangsI’m going to add another movie of blue tangs, doctorfish and surgeonfish. I know I just posted one, but this school was twice as large as the other one! Thing is, you can’t really tell, but the last half of this video shows a brilliant green stoplight parrotfish. It will give you an idea of how large they are compared to the tangs and even the juvenile parrotfish. The orangey/brown/white colored fish you also see in the video grows into the brilliant green fish.

Lionfish Sunset at Jan Thiel We saw a lionfish, which is too bad! We don’t want to see this voracious predator. It is not native to the Caribbean and it has moved remarkably fast, destroying the other fish as it goes. It probably came into the Caribbean from someone in Florida dumping their aquarium fish. All the dive shops are asking you to mark the area, and report all sightings so they can go destroy them. Makes me want to get a spear gun to take ’em out! Rambo and Pambo of the ocean!