Category Archives: Aruba

Visits to the island of Aruba

Saturday leavings

December 15, 2012 Maurice Leave a comment

Today was Mike’s last day, of a too short vacation. It’s a real shame he had trouble getting here. He kind of got gypped with the weather too, with a couple bad snorkeling days. Ah well… Mangel Halto made up for a lot of deficiencies in the holiday! It was so calm today, that we could easily have done it again!

Mike’s flight was at 6 PM, but we had to switch to our new resort, La Cabana, by 11 AM, so the day was pretty much a write-off. We looked for a t-shirt for Mike – he wanted one with a Balashi logo, but no one had his size. Unreal! It wasn’t a total waste though, as I managed to find an Hawaiian shirt that is not in my collection!

Pam and I dropped Mike at the airport, and headed straight to the ocean. It was super super calm, and the visibility was awesome. We stayed in the water til sunset. It was fun to be in the water when it’s that calm, since you don’t need to use your flippers much, and the fish seemed a lot more relaxed as a result. Some fish who are super shy didn’t mind us hovering over them, and Pam took some really great shots.

This grouper just lazed about the sand, hardly moving. Usually they take off the minute they see us, but today was special. Pam took a really nice video of him just hanging about the bottom, not running to hide.

And here is a movie of a Queen Angelfish bumping the same grouper around a bit… quite funny. The queen angelfish is a very active fish, flitting from one rock to another. I love the super colorful body on this fish – it easily catches the eye when you’re snorkeling!

Just a couple words about our new resort – we’ve never stayed here before, but it’s very near the Paradise Beach resort where we stayed last year. It’s right on Palm Beach, a long white sand beach, that is perfect for swimming and relaxing. The room is ok, a little small, but we have a nice view over the ocean from our fourth floor balcony. The bed is only a queen, but comfortable. WIFI is $35 for the week, using Setar, the same guys the Paradise Beach used. It’s a super fast system, and far superior to what we had at Caribbean Palm Village. Well worth the money. It also has a very nice lobby, really posh, with a huge stained glass window. There is a casino just off the lobby, so I know where I’ll find Pam. 🙂

Aruba, Vacations

Mangel Halto, finally!

December 14, 2012 Maurice 2 Comments

Friday dawned with next to no wind, so we quickly loaded up the car and headed south to Mangel Halto. It’s a wonderful snorkel site, but only when the wind is calm, and today was absolutely dynamite! It’s a lovely location, right near a group of mangrove trees. We entered the ocean right off of a pier, so it was super easy to get in. We easily managed to get to the “good stuff” and beyond!

We actually got outside the reef, where the ocean was crystal clear, and calm. It required a bit of hard swimming to get over the shallow reef water, but once opposite the shallows, we were rewarded with some of the best coral and reef fish we’ve ever seen, anywhere, any island!

The coral rivals that near the Royal Sea Aquarium, with the large elkhorn formations, but I think the Mangel Halto coral is more diverse. Lots of different types to see and explore, that’s for sure! Lots of different colors, shapes, and sizes. The ones that sort of wave in the water are very cool, and lots of little fish hang around them, hiding from the predators.

One of the coolest fish is called the Midnight Parrotfish. He’s a dark blue/black fish with bright blue markings around his face. We saw not one, not two, but FOUR of these beauties. They are kind of shy, and take off when you point the camera at them. This one was kind of far away, hence the fuzzy nature of the shot, but it gives you an idea how lovely he looks.

We saw a big ocean triggerfish, first one this year on Aruba. He was out near the dropoff, and the pictures are not as clear out there. We saw lots of big porgys too. They would lead us a merry chase. We’d try to get a shot, and they’d quickly turn, so we have a lot of great shots of their bums! This one got caught too close to us, and we managed to nail him.

Pam took a great movie of some Caribbean Reef Squid. They were really close to her, and didn’t seem too shy about her taking the movie. They are certainly fun to watch, waving, and oscillating, varying their color at will. Very neat indeed. This movie was taken with the Olympus Tough camera.

For dinner we went to El Gaucho’s. It’s an Argentine steakhouse that we’ve gone to every time we’re here. Everything was terrific, as usual. The hostess, the waiters, the food – all first rate.

Aruba, Vacations

Wednesday and Thursday

December 13, 2012 Maurice 1 Comment

The weather has been quite windy the last couple of days, so snorkeling has been less than stellar. The water has had pretty big waves, and the visibility has not been great. It’s kind of disappointing for Mike, with his abbreviated vacation as it is, the not so great conditions are almost not fair!

Wednesday was rainy to start, and we never really got going to do anything. We spent a while in the water at Malmok Beach, but it was pretty cloudy for most pictures. We ate dinner in, so it was a pretty quiet day. We wandered around the Paseo Harencia, the local mall that’s open late for tourists, but surprise! We didn’t buy anything – no watches, no jewelry, no masks! Amazing.

Thursday we decided to check out the museum housed in Fort Zoutman in downtown Oranjestad. It’s a smallish museum, but quite interesting. They have displays of early Aruban life, when the Arawark Indians lived here. They follow it up with the Spanish conquest and elimination of the native population, through the slave cultures of both the Spanish and Dutch. There are displays of early tools, fishing implements, and music instruments. It’s a nice way to pass an hour or two.
We decided to try Mangel Halto again, the tricky snorkel site, but it was very rough. So, on down to Baby Beach, and it was just as rough. On the way back, we took Mike the “back” route through to Casabari rock, sometimes called Aruba’s Stonehenge. It seems to have been some sort of meeting place, perhaps a religious site. It’s origins are really unknown, but it’s very old.

We snorkeled a bit more at Malmok Beach, but the water clarity was not great great. We did see a turtle, but basically it was just a swim in the ocean!

For dinner, we went back to Barney’s for their All You Can Eat Rib dinner. We were here a few days ago, and the hostess, bartender, and waitresses all welcomed us back! It was nice to be recognized. Service was again impeccable. And the first serving of ribs was impressive and large! It was served with vegetables, coleslaw, and fries. None of us could order any more ribs! The one plate was enough.

As we were leaving, the hostess (and partner to the bartender/owner) came over and shook our hand, and said, “Thanks very much for coming back. I hope everything was good.” A very nice touch.

Aruba, Vacations

On the Wall

December 11, 2012 Maurice 2 Comments

Today (Tuesday) the three of us went over to Boca Catalina, and swam south, towards Oranjestad, and the area we call the Wall, rather than north towards the Lighthouse, and Malmok Beach like we usually do. It’s a rather long swim to the Wall, but it was a different swim. We saw a turtle within five minutes of hitting the water, so it seemed a good sign.

There was lots to see, of course, the most unusual being the flying gurnard. It looks like a sand diver, but it has “wings” which it spreads when it wants to take off in a hurry. There were quite a lot of them in this one particular area. It was fun diving down trying to get them to spread their wings so we could get a shot.

We saw an eel, a type we hadn’t seen before. He was rather small, only about a foot, but he had perfectly shaped yellow polka dots on him. We were not able to identify it with our fish bible! I’ve talked of the Wall before, so I won’t bore you with talking of the bait ball, and it’s amazing contortions. There seemed to be a lot more birds today. I guess word is getting out that lunch is plentiful!

There were a number of porcupine fish. We never get tired of checking this guy out. He’s like a balloon under the water, with a big smile. I watched him by these rocks, and he kept his eye on me. The waves kind of push you around a little, and because he’s so buoyant he gets sloshed about too. As he was watching me, a wave washed in, and it made him crack his head on the rock! First time I’ve ever seen a fish get bonked!

Another interesting fish we got a shot of was the black margate. He’s a pretty shy fish, and we rarely get a decent shot of him, but today he seemed to be more interested in checking us out. Not a bad shot of him…

Aruba, Vacations

Everywhere Monday

December 10, 2012 Maurice Leave a comment

Monday we got started late, since some guy from Vancouver slept late… real late. Pam decided to have a suntan day laying by the pool, so Mike and I headed to Mangel Halto. It’s a pretty tricky snorkel, since it’s basically in the open ocean. You want to do it when the current is nice and calm. Well today was not that day! We arrived to the beach to find it very rough so we decided to give Baby Beach a go.

We jumped in but the current was really bad here too! We spent maybe twenty minutes in the water and decided to head north again. Mike has never snorkeled “the wall” before, and it’s a spot Pam doesn’t really like to go, so we jumped in. It was really terrific.

I’ve already talked about the amazing bait ball and the enormous number of fish that make it up, so I won’t belabor that point. Suffice to say, it’s a remarkable thing! We got a couple decent shots of some big barjacks and ceros that kind of patrol up and down the edges. There were lots of coronet fish too. And a good sized barracuda. I messed with the image of the barracuda a bit, kind of making a “painterly” effect – not sure that’s effective, but it’s different anyway.

We stayed in water quite a long time. There was lots to see, and it never gets old watching the movement of the big bait ball. There are three large ceros that lead a big group of big barjacks up and down the outside of the fish which is really quite neat to see. I’ve never seen a cero that large before. Now we’ve seen big barjacks, bigger than here, but I don’t think I’ve seen such a large grouping of barjacks this size before!

For dinner we continued the hunt for good ribs. We headed over to Iguana Joe’s. It’s in the highrise hotel area, so a little more touristy. The service is quick…. it’s a high traffic area so they try to get you in and out in a hurry. We all had ribs. Mike and Pam had the “original ribs” and I had the dry rub ribs. The ribs were very meaty, and tender. They liked the sauce a lot. You had your choice of sides – all nice, but nothing spectacular. It was a decent meal. But I just had the impression you could have the same experience just about anywhere, not just on Aruba. But, it was nice to sit outside in the warm weather and watch all the people go by.

Aruba, Vacations

Weekend blues

December 9, 2012 Maurice Leave a comment

Mike was supposed to arrive on Saturday, but he got delayed in LA and consequently missed his connecting flight to Aruba. He had to spend the night in Virginia, then make his way to New York, then to Aruba. He managed to finally arrive on Sunday late in the day, about 2:30 pm. But at least he’s here!

We got his stuff to the condo, fed him a sandwich and a beer, then we all changed, and headed right over to Boca Catalina. As we got into the water and swam for a bit, I mentioned that the other day, we’d spotted a turtle right around where we were. No sooner had I finished saying that, Mike said, hey look a turtle! It was the smaller green turtle, and we followed him for a while, until two women started tailing him. One reached out and made a grab for him, and he showed us how fast a turtle can go in the water!

We spotted a lot of lobster today – enough for dinner! (No no, we didn’t take the lobster for dinner!) They like to hang out under rocks during the day, so it’s tough to get decent shots of them. I think this one turned out ok.

Later on, we saw another turtle, the little hawksbill, but he took off like a shot. Not sure what spooked him, but man, when those little guys want to go, they can just fly! It’s amazing how fast they can go.

We saw lots of eels, a couple of octopus, lots of French Angels, some porcupine fish, a lionfish… it was a pretty full spectrum of fish. Saw pretty much everything you can see in these waters except maybe the barracuda.

For dinner, we tried a new place quite close to our condo called Barney’s. It’s a rib joint, but we got there too late! The ribs were sold out. I had what was called Ron’s Favorite, which was shrimp in a garlic sauce, served with stir fried vegetables, and au gratin potatoes. It was very nice, although I could have done with a bit less garlic. Pam had the Dutch combo, two skewers of chicken, served with salad, coleslaw and fries, with a peanut sauce. It was very good too, and an amazing deal at $11.50. Mike had the beeftips served in a mushroom gravy with Dutch potatoes and veggies. I don’t think he thought it was great, but he enjoyed it.

We all had appetizers – Pam the rib soup, Mike the leek soup, I had firecracker shrimp – all were very good. BUT – we ate WAY too much food. Certainly did NOT need the appetizers. The service was very nice. They had a piano player, so it was a pretty nice place for dinner. No problem recommending this place at all. In fact we are heading back there Thursday night for the all you can eat ribs special!

Not a bad first day in Aruba for Mike.

Aruba, Vacations

Friday fun

December 7, 2012 Maurice 3 Comments

The wind was still strong today, so we were a little worried about what the viewing would be like. We went back to our favorite hang out, Boca Catalina. We saw a couple large iguanas sunning themselves and managed to get one to pose for a picture. We had a pretty easy entry to the water; the waves were a bit high, but no bother!

The visibility was really good, not cloudy at all. We saw lots of fun stuff. One of the coolest fish today was the coronet fish. He’s a big long fish, with a kind of whippy tail. Sort of looks like a trumpetfish, but the tail is different. He can change from light green to brilliant blue.

There were just tons of eels today. Not sure why, but seemed there was one under every rock! For the last several years, there has been this rather large porcupine fish under this ledge at Malmok Beach. We had not seen him this year – until today! It was good to see him back in his hiding spot. We were worried that the lionfish had forced him out of his home.

We even got to get a pretty decent shot of a soapfish. This fish is extremely shy, and always slips under a rock the second he sees a snorkeler. If you try and take his picture, he scoots away… we’ve got tons of shots of the back of him! But today we managed to get him in the open and snap a decent one.
We went over to the Palm Beach mall and strolled around to see what’s new. One of our favorite restaurants, the Casa Tua Mediterranee, is located here, but it has closed! That’s too bad – it was a great place to eat. Pam found a friend here at the mall… they had a little dance together.

Sunset was nice. We parked on Eagle Beach and watched it go down. Just as the sun was disappearing a sailboat drifted by… a pretty cool ending to a pretty darn nice day! I’ve included a picture of our pool and hot tub, and stuck an arrow on it, locating our apartment. We’ve stayed in this one before – it’s a great location – ground floor, with a little patio, steps to the pool and hot tub!