We got into Aruba safe and sound. Our flight out of Seattle was a bit late in leaving, but since we had a three hour layover in New York, was no big deal. The flight out of NY left on time, and both flights were PACKED and I do mean PACKED! They were asking people to check some carry on luggage, since the overhead bins were too full, but of course, not many did. Boggles the mind how much they allow people to bring aboard the cabin!

Pam’s leg was quite swollen, after being stuffed on those planes, especially the one into Aruba. It was an older Boeing, and very cramped. Definitely thought it was supposed to be an Airbus, since I try to book only the Airbus now, but must have gotten switched. We arrived in Aruba on time, and rented a smallish car! Pretty funny really. Makes a Smart Car look BIG!

We got in the ocean for the first time today (Sunday). We drove up to Arashi Beach, on the north end of the island, but the waves looked a little heavy, so we went slightly south to Boca Catalina. They have improved access to the nice sandy entrance, by putting in some pretty good stairs. Pam was a little nervous about how things would go, but she came through like a trooper. She thoroughly enjoyed being in the water, and getting out was easy and painless. We were a little worried how that would go, since sometimes a big wave can whack you hard, but we managed it very well.

In the water was surprising! We saw an octopus almost immediately! I first saw him on top of a pile of coral/rocks and wondered what the heck is that! Getting a bit closer we saw it was an octopus, and he quickly got off the top and slithered down a crack. We saw scrawled filefish, orange filefish, polka dot filefish and regular brown filefish! And we saw LOTS of each – it’s quite unusual to see so many – the polka dot one is one I’ve seen VERY rarely.

There were tons of BIG barjacks. Usually they cruise through the area, in groups of three, and quickly swim off… not today. They hung around, in quite shallow water, and a triggerfish was swimming with them! Then we saw a school of little barjacks, 30 or more in a school – never seen that at all.

There were lots of French Angels, and we saw juvenile ones too, and a couple of Queen Angels too. There was one moray eel, who moved across the bottom so quickly I was astonished. I knew they could go fast when they wanted, but never dreamed they could move THAT fast! There were a bunch of coneys, and they swam around with a French Angel too.

We saw puffer fish, flounder, lots of grouper – most grouper I’ve seen in one dive actually… So all in all, a pretty amazing first day in the ocean.

We ate at home today – bought groceries at Super Foods – so no restaurant review. They had a big tent out front, making and selling freshly cooked beignets, dusted with sugar. They were AWESOME! They had huge cookers and they were just popping them out! People were lining up for ’em.