Category Archives: Aruba

Visits to the island of Aruba

Arashi Beach

January 11, 2012 Maurice Leave a comment

Mike and I started the morning by swimming out to the wreck. It was very calm, and the visibility was very good. But you know something? There just isn’t that much to see, besides the wreck! The fish were all the usual suspects, and this is the first time I’ve been there where there were no barracuda. It’s tough to get in here, as the entry is very rocky and a bit of a pain to get in. It’s very shallow for quite a ways, so Pam didn’t come in with us. We only stayed a short while, then got out.

Then, we hopped into the ocean at Arashi Beach. The waves at Arashi have been quite high lately, but they were very calm today, so we jumped at the chance to try out this beach. It was a pretty darn good swim! Lots of fish to see, of course, but some neat stuff to see as well.

One of the neat things we saw was an ocean trigger fish. They are quite large, over 3.5 feet high and about as long. They look really neat swimming through the water, and always leave the area whenever a snorkeler comes near. The picture we have is quite grainy, because it is taken from such a distance away, but it gives you an idea of them.

We saw a couple of ceros who circled around below us several times. This is not a fish who worries about snorkelers! They are hunters for sure, and rove the ocean looking for tasty morsels. They are similar to a barjack, but much sleeker looking. It’s pretty rare to sight them, but in the deeper water, we’ve seem them a couple of times.

Then we saw a rather large octopus, who was an active swimmer! He didn’t just sort of hide under a rock like a lot of them do… this guy was out in the open and wanted to stay there! I’ve ended this post with a nice movie of him – check out the color morphing, and his brief little swim at the end of the movie.

Aruba, Vacations

Birthday in Aruba

January 10, 2012 Maurice 5 Comments

Well, today I turned 55, so I guess I’m officially old. But on the bright side, I do get some discounts now! We swam at Baby Beach, and it was awesome. The water was super clear, and the wave action was minimal, and we really got to see a lot. It was a great swim. We spent a great deal of time on the north end of the cove, where most people do NOT go… It’s got amazing coral formations, and just tons of fish. It’s really a different take on Baby Beach. Most times we have been there, we’ve focused on the channel, and it’s huge current and large coral formations. But this other end of the bay, is really cool.

We got back to the time share about three, had a quick bite to eat, then Mike and I headed over to Malmok for a quick look-see. The visibility was just awesome here too. Saw a couple of new fish, and a couple of old favorites – including a rather large green moray eel.

We had dinner at El Gaucho’s, an Argentine steak place. We come here most times we are in Aruba. They really know how to cook a steak! Pam had made reservations, and told them that it was my birthday. When they took us to our table, there were a couple of balloons floating on the table!

El Gaucho’s is how a steak joint should be! I started with an appetizer of Argentine soup, a beefy vegetable soup in a spicy broth, and it was really delicious. I had the 12 oz tenderloin (you can order a 16 oz, or a 22 oz if you like…) and while I like my steak medium-well done, this steak was done to perfection, juicy and amazing. They serve it with your choice of three side dishes. The have a roving guitar duo, and they stopped at our table, played Happy Birthday, then asked us if we wanted something sung for us – so Mike got them to do Guantanamera.

When desert came, a white and dark chocolate mousse cake, they had put a candle in it, and the duo came back for one more chorus of Happy Birthday! Pretty swell day, all in all!

Aruba, Vacations

Couple of bird movies

January 7, 2012 Maurice 5 Comments

Here are a couple of brief bird movies… the first is of the troupial – it’s a wonderfully colored bird, that has a distinctive voice… it’s too bad this bird is busy munching on a piece of bread, because it is really quite a nice song that he has. It is a type of oriole, and you see them pretty much all over the island. This was taken at Boca Catalina, and four of them were flitting from one divi divi tree to the next.

This second movie is of a pelican. Now, just how close do you think you can get to a pelican? The answer is pretty darned close! Check out how close Pam gets before he takes off!

This was taken while we were in the ocean just off of Boca Catalina beach.

Aruba, Vacations

In the ocean

January 6, 2012 Maurice Leave a comment

We’ve just been relaxing the last few days. We have a nice breakfast, then head to the ocean. We usually spend three or four hours snorkeling around, seeing what’s what. The water has become clearer the last few days. It’s been sunny and warm, and the wind has been nice and light, so there have been no big waves to stir up the silt.

We’ve seen lots of really cool stuff, and it’s really been fun. The only thing we wish we’d see is turtles… We’ve seen everything else under the sun, and even stuff we’ve never seen, but we’ve been skunked on turtle sightings, except for one brief flash. Tomorrow we move to a two-bedroom unit and Mike arrives for one week. Hard to believe we’ve been here for three weeks already!

Aruba is a LOT busier over the Christmas/New Year’s holiday season than we ever imagined. The popular night time areas are just packed! It’s been a challenge even getting a parking spot! Our hotel pools and hot tubs are far busier than we’re used to as well. It’s been fun though, lots of people to talk to, lots of action.

Anyway, we’re doing great, enjoying the sun and water. Hope your weather is not too bad…

Here is a little movie of tons of little fish up near Arashi Beach.

Now here is a similar movie, but filmed by Pam with her new Nikon – it’s not very good at doing underwater still shots, unless the light is VERY good, and you are in relatively shallow water. But the film mode is pretty decent – I think this is a nice movie, better, than the Panasonic actually.

Aruba, Vacations

New Year, New Hope

January 3, 2012 Maurice 1 Comment

Hope you all had a great New Year! Pam and I are hoping that 2012 will be MUCH better than 2011. It would be hard to be worse of course! It was a challenging year, to say the least. Hopefully the health issues are behind us, and Pam can continue to recover from her many surgeries!

We decided to go to one of the local casinos for the New Year, and it was a crazy experience! Seemed half the island was there. They had party hats, and noise makers for everyone. They put out hundreds of glasses of free champagne for a midnight toast. They had free give aways all night, and at 1 am they had a mad-crazy balloon drop. Hundreds of balloons dropped from the ceiling, and inside of the balloons were 300 prizes! Just crazy stuff!

The fireworks were as advertised – just crazy and went on til the wee hours of the morning. I’ve included a short film here of one of the local homes that put on a display. If you look on YouTube you’ll see there are dozens of videos of Aruba’s fireworks… the Ling and Sons (a local grocery store) was particularly amazing.

We’ve seen some great stuff in the ocean the last few days… we saw a big bluespotted cornetfish, at least five feet long, who had absolutely no fear of us. Usually they are quite shy, moving off when we approach. But this guy, maybe because he was so big, just didn’t seem to care. I even dove down right into his face to snap a couple of pictures, and he stayed there, perfectly calm. They are a cool fish, and we’ve seen a few here, but this guy was the biggest, and the most fearless.

We’ve seen a number of octopus (octopi?) and one that was particularly large. We tried to get him to move, but again, no fear! I even touched him with my swimming fin, and he refused to move… he just moved his tentacle and eye-balled us!

We briefly (and I mean BRIEFLY) saw our first turtle – he was off in the distance, and when we swam toward him, he took off like a shot… really miss the turtles. Swimming with them is so cool and relaxing. Not sure why they are skittish and not hanging about…

Aruba, Vacations

End of the year

December 31, 2011 Maurice 5 Comments

We’re approaching New Year’s eve here, and the fireworks are going off at a rapid clip! There are fireworks shops set up at every corner, and people are buying them up like crazy. You’ll see fireworks being shot off at random times, any time of the day, and they have been going off for several days. One of the locals said that it sounds like a war zone on New Year’s eve, so be prepared! And Pam is – she has brought a pair of ear plugs!

I haven’t been doing a daily update, since most days are pretty routine – breakfast at home, jump in the ocean for a few hours, home for some lunch, a dip in the pool and soak in the hot tub, then dinner. We haven’t eaten out much, just twice since we’ve been here. I have uploaded a few pictures everyday, so you might want to check out the gallery to see what we’ve put up.

The 28th we went to Casa Tua Mediterranee – a very nice Moroccan/Greek style restaurant. It is located in the new Palm Beach Mall, which is just a short drive from our timeshare. It’s on the second floor, so we were able to sit outside, and people watch. The food was very good. We started with some Greek Keftedes, meatballs in a fresh tomato sauce. Very tasty. Also some Tunisian Meat Brecka, which are philo pastry stuffed with spicy beef. Tasty, but needed more than two!

For the entree, Pam had the Chicken and Lemon Tajine – a tajine is a typical Moroccan lidded cooking vessel. It was very good, but Pam objected to the many olives! I had the Couscous Casa Tua, also served in a tajine. It was a tasty dish of beef and lamb, with plenty of vegetables, slow cooked in a wonderful broth. Both our dishes were served with couscous. We were too full for dessert! The total bill including three glasses of beer and one strawberry daquiri was $61 dollars. Very nice value.

They also had a bellydancer, who performed nearly continuously throughout the meal in various locations around the restaurant. She had a small space inside to perform, but then would come out to the balcony and perform at each table. She was very good, and rather attractive!

Snorkeling the last few days has been fun, as usual. We’ve seen octopus, lionfish, barracuda, and many other fish of course. About the only thing we have not seen is a turtle. Used to be we’d see them at Malmok all the time, but we’ve never been here over Christmas. And I have to say, the place is PACKED! Lots of boats, just full of snorkelers. It sure has been busy.

The stores too, have been busy. Getting into the grocery stores has been crazy some days! The parking lots are full, and we’ve had to create our own parking spots, just sort of pull over and abandon it! We gassed up today, and they will close at 5:59 PM – not 6:00 o’clock – 5:59!

Anyway – Happy NEW YEAR everyone! Hope you have a great time!

Aruba, Vacations

Baby Beach

December 26, 2011 Maurice 2 Comments

We avoided the Boxing Day sales by heading to Baby Beach! Hope you didn’t get crushed in the rush!

Baby Beach has been evolving every year, and this year is no different. They have been adding palapas all along the cove, and there are two snack shacks, and a souvenir vendor who also sells fish food, and snorkel gear. The water itself was different too!

They call it “Baby Beach” because it is a protected cove, with very shallow water, over a white sandy bottom. It’s very easy to get into the water, and the shallow portion goes out quite a ways. It’s always a crowded beach, with lots of families. Once you’ve moved out into the deeper water, there is a channel that opens to the ocean, and that channel is full of fish. The picture here is of the numerous types of fish that inhabit the channel. The current is very strong there, and you have to be a pretty good swimmer to battle up the current.

Once you are past the first narrows, there are awsome coral formations, inhabited by large black durgons, and huge parrot fish, and lots of other fish too of course. It’s difficult to get good pictures there, because the waves come crashing over the coral, and send everyone for a ride. The crashing waves stir up the water, and make it impossible to get a decent shot.

When you head back into the protected cove, and swim to the opposite end of where you enter the water, there are terrific coral formations, too. We had not really swam to that end before, so were quite surprised by the range of coral formations! We met this rather large fish, about thirty inches or maybe even three feet, who we think is a yellowtail snapper. He was totally fascinated by us.
He followed us for the next half hour or more! It was really quite hysterical. He’d follow us, and when we turned to look at him, he’d nip behind a chunk of rock or coral.

Back at the timeshare, we had a drink at Happy Hour – called a Hurricane. It’s made with a pina colada mix, rum, blue curacao and grenadine – looks very colorful and it’s very good! Couple of those, and time for a nap in the sun!