Mangel Halto is the best shore snorkel in Aruba, bar none. The coral is more plentiful, and healthy and alive and just plain wonderful. The drawback is that it can be quite rough, with strong current. We only go there when the weather is very calm. We’ve been trying to get out there a couple of times, but today (Monday) was the first great day for it.

For those people coming to the blog looking for directions to Mangel Halto, here is a quick and easy guide. Head south, following the signs to the airport and/or San Nicolas. Go past the airport, and look for a stop light. There is a sign that mentions Depalm Tours/Depalm Island. Turn right there at the lights. Go down to the T-Junction. Take a left and follow the road until you come to the bridge across the lagoon. The next right after the bridge is signed for Marina Pirata, a restaurant. Take that right and you’re on the beach road that leads to Mangel Halto. Follow that road for about a kilometer or so, and you’ll see the stone sign for Mangel Halto. Park there, walk down the wooden steps and through the mangrove. Enter the water via the mangrove and head out toward the yellow buoy. That is the channel leading to the coral reef. That channel can be quite quick, but once you’re through, it’s absolutely wonderful!

Today (December 23) we were lucky and the weather was very nice. Super calm and the water had very little wave action. It was a terrific snorkel. We even saw an ocean triggerfish,  a very shy fish, that normally is out near the drop off. Here she was right in the center of the reef.
We also saw a tons of brightly colored parrotfish, a turtle, barracuda, lots of blue chromis and plenty of eels. It was tough to get out of the water, but even with the calm water, my stamina is not great. Still, a wonderful day at Mangel Halto.

Here is a cool movie of an octopus. You don’t often see an octopus using his jets like this… normally we just see him crawling along the bottom, or hiding on the rocks.