Tag Archives: Caracasbaii

Ascension Day

May 10, 2013 Maurice Leave a comment

Well who knew? Today we had decided we’d tour around downtown, maybe do a little shopping. Imagine our surprise when NOTHING was open – not even bars and restaurants! It was an official holiday called Ascension Day, and everyone was at the beach! Except us of course, we were looking for a store to go into! How about this picture of a boat on Santa Barbara bay? Not a great parking job!

So, we went with plan B and jumped in the ocean at Caracasbaii again. It was fun, lots to see, good visibility. One of the highlights for me was this porcupine fish – they are pretty shy fish, and this guy, he’s “hiding” behind this little piece of coral, keeping one eye on us! Made me laugh.

Sometimes when you dive down to see a fish, you get a surprise, seeing something you had not seen from the surface. This lobster was a surprise sighting. He was under the wreck, looking good enough for some butter!
With no restaurants open, it’s a good thing we had bought some stuff for dinner yesterday. Naturally, all the grocery stores were closed too. One of the cool things about Curacao (well most Caribbean islands) is the mixture of European, African and Asian cuisine. So we had a nice “Dutch-African” meal of chicken, red cabbage, snow peas, and a spicy dahl. We’ve also discovered a place quite near us that serves Keshi Yena, so we’re going to give them a try on Friday, our last full day here in Curacao.

We’ve had a nice time here, but it’s not been the balm I hoped it would be… still thinking a lot of Max. There are a lot of stray dogs here, and Pam always buys a box of dog biscuits. As we’re driving along, if we see a dog on the side of the road we pull over and feed them a few biscuits.

Curacao, Vacations

Sunday relaxing

May 6, 2013 Maurice Leave a comment

Sunday is always a very relaxed day in the Caribbean, even more so than most days. It’s a time for families to head to the beach and play in the water. So we did too! It was a beautifully calm, warm, slightly overcast day. We went to a beach very close to the resort called Caracasbaii. It’s a beach we really like, and it’s even more beautiful! There seemed to be even more fish, and the coral seemed larger and more prolific.
One of the things we saw was amazing amounts of tiny fish – there were huge schools of blue tangs, nothing unusual about that, except the whole school would easily fit in your cereal bowl! They were no bigger than a dime! There were little tiny puffer fish, the size of the fingernail on your smallest finger.

I have to say though, that I simply don’t remember so much coral being in such amazing shape at this bay. It was simply remarkable. It was really great to see. So often we are thinking the opposite – that over use has hurt the coral, but for some reason, it was really lush and wonderful.

We came back to the Royal Sea Aquarium to re-charge our batteries, grab a bit of lunch and then swim over to the southern point of the Sea Aquarium’s island. It was a perfectly flat day, and wonderful day to see that section of the island. You don’t want rough water when you’re out there, and wow, was it calm. The proliferation of small fish continued. As we were coasting up the channel, a huge ball of fish came swimming rapidly right at us. I opened my arms to get in the middle of them, they moved to the left as one, and a half dozen BIG barjacks were chasing them!

We saw the biggest queen angelfish we’ve ever seen. It had to have been twice the size of any we’ve seen in the past. It was truly a Queen Sized Fish! Unfortunately, my photography in the afternoon was absolutely abysmal. Hardly one shot is worth posting! Which is too bad, because we had an absolutely amazing day out there. We saw a huge octopus too. He was much much larger than any we’ve seen in the wild before!

It was certainly a remarkable swim. Near the end, as we approached the beach, Pam spotted this little bird, crouched between two big slabs of rock. There is a tiny little crevice, and it seems he’s set up his home there! Too cute.

And how about this fellow crouched above the hot tub? I thought he might have had to much too drink and the world was spinning for him and he had to hold on for dear life! I got a big laugh out of that…

We had a nice dinner at Il forno’s, and then headed over to the Zuckertown mall for a nice gelato. We sat out on the patio and just enjoyed the lovely evening. It was a nice warm ending to a great day of swimming.

Curacao, Vacations

Back at Caracasbaii

November 29, 2012 Maurice 5 Comments

Thursday we returned to Caracasbaii – we had intended on swimming at the Seaquarium, but the wind was a bit high and because the snorkeling site is in the open ocean, often the waves are just too pushy! The water at Caracasbaii was very warm, very calm, and extremely clear! I’m not sure we’ve ever seen it so clear.

We snorkeled around the wreck as usual, and saw plenty of fish, but a short trek towards the new condo development was a new experience for us. And it sure was a lot of fun! The water is fairly shallow and we got to see some fun fish. One of Pam’s favorite fish is the spotted drum. Usually when we see them, they are hiding under rocks, so we never manage to get a clear shot of them. But this time, one fellow was just drifting along, swimming his song. Here is a movie Pam took of this black and white beauty.

We saw a couple of moray eels – a chain and a golden. We haven’t seen as many eels this time. Usually we spot lots of them, but maybe we were too busy looking at other fish to spot them. I think this is the first chain moray we’ve seen.

Another cool fish we’ve seen a lot of, is the scrawled filefish. It’s a very long fish, usually over two feet, but very flat, much like a flounder. It can change color from a deep green, to a bright blue, to light white. It’s very cool, and always catches your eye because of the length.

This last movie is of a lionfish. We haven’t seen any of them, until today, so that’s a good sign. This voracious predator looks lovely, but is totally deadly to the fish in the Caribbean. Pam took this hovering over the wreck. At the end of the movie, the lionfish suddenly darts forward – the speed of this fish is so deceptive. You simply don’t think it can zip along that fast, yet, when it needs to go, it can go!

The last picture is of a spindly little spider crab. They are about a foot across, but look as a delicate as a feather. Usually they scramble around the rocks, near sea urchins, looking for protection I imagine. This guy was hanging around one of the big pilons in the middle of the bay. Kind of a strange looking beast, eh? See the tiny little blue claws? Not much for eating!

Curacao, Vacations

Monday at Caracasbaii

November 26, 2012 Maurice Leave a comment

Sunday was a strange day. We had a nice long sleep and woke about half past nine. We had a nice cup of coffee, a leisurely breakfast, then got our stuff together for a swim. By the time we got to the car, there were a few drops of rain. By the time we got to Caracasbaii, visibility was about ten feet! The monsoon was on! And it kept up pretty much all day. There was a brief respite about one, but it quickly came down again. So the first day was a big write off.

Monday morning we got to Caracasbaii early and had a wonderful swim. The water was warm and delightful. Sometimes after a bad rain, the water is cloudy but it was crystal clear. We’ve been in this bay before so we know what to expect, and basically got what we expected! The one fish that really stood out for us was a trumpetfish. We’ve seen lots of trumpetfish, all over the Caribbean. But this guy was the King of Trumpetfish! He was sooo big we called him The Beast!

There are a couple of wrecks here, now teeming with corral, and surrounded by lots of fish, small to large. From the mighty tiny Juvenile tang, in yellow with a band of his future blue color rimming his body, to the porkfish with his bright yellow and black banding, to flounder skittering along the ocean floor, to larger needlefish, houndfish and trumpetfish, this site has it all.

If you look at the big picture of the beach, I’ve added a big black arrow to indicate where the wrecks are located. They are very close to shore, and you can easily reach down and touch them, but NO TOUCHING! I think one used to be a tug, but maybe not. There are a number of other parts to the ships, like the anchor chain, the motor etc strewn across the area. It’s a great first dive, with lots to see, in an easily accessible beach, within a ten minute drive of our hotel.

We had a nice lunch at “Papa’s” a beach side restaurant, where there was a local family celebrating their anniversary. There was live music, speeches, dancing and song. It was really great. The food was outstanding, too.

Like always, we have a gallery set up of all the pictures from the trip. I don’t reference all the pictures in each story, so take a look at the Curacao 2012 gallery to see all the pictures.

This is a short movie of some fish around the wrecks. It gives you an idea of the variety of life around it. Hope you like it.

Curacao, Vacations

Back to Caracasbaii

October 28, 2011 Maurice 3 Comments

It’s getting to be old hat, but we jumped back into Caracasbaii again today. The ocean was too rough to head out to the Royal Sea Aquarium, so this has kind of been our “go-to” beach. The water was not that choppy, but definitely gave us some motion. We checked out the wreck, and spotted our first lion fish, hiding under a chunk of metal. Try as we might, we could not get a decent shot of him! All of them turned out blurry, or “white.” If you move the camera too quickly after pressing the button, you get this white streak. And since we had to dive down to get the pic, we just didn’t get one.

We swam toward the fort, a considerable distance and discovered a whole different look. There are a number of large pylons, 10 feet by 10 feet by 10 feet by 10 feet and towering at least a hundred feet. There were tons of fish around them, and we saw triggerfish (our first on this vacation) a large barracuda, French angels, flounders, and eels. There was a long swim across beautiful white sand, and we spotted this rather unusual fish. I’d never seen him before. Not sure what he is. They were situated around the the open sand, about six to eight feet from others of their kind. It was a tad strange.

We stayed in the water a long, long time… probably too long. But it was going to be our last long snorkel, if not our last period, so we just didn’t want to get out.

For dinner we decided to go to the Argentinean steakhouse El Gauchos which is on a hilltop overlooking the city. They have a shuttle from the hotel, so it was nice to just hop in and let them do the driving. The road up to the restaurant is not great, and I’m glad it wasn’t me driving! Prices are about you’d expect for a steakhouse, but include a salad bar, and a fresh daily soup.

Pam and I have had dinner here before and totally enjoyed it. This time, not so much. My steak was not good. I order their “Famous El Gaucho” and it was rather pedestrian. They do not serve it with a potato or vegetable, so we ordered the “grilled vegetables” which turned out to be steamed, in some kind of sauce. Not very good.

Our first waiter was a nice fellow, but difficult to understand. Half way through the meal, he was replaced by a woman, who for some reason had a chip on her shoulder. I said to Mike, what did we say that offended her?? It made the rest of the meal very uncomfortable. Desert was something called Pyramide, a cake of some sort, served with ice cream and whip cream. It was nice. Mike had the tiramisu, but it was merely ok, and he said he’d had better on this vacation. I would not return to El Gauchos based on this experience. From the poor food, to the horrific service, it was simply too much money, too much effort.
This movie is of a flounder, that I saw as I was about to get out of the water. It was in about 8 inches of water, and I think it gives a pretty cool view of his eyes swiveling, and his cool color, and how it changes as he moves across the bottom.

Curacao, Vacations

Grote Knip, Playa Lagun, Caracasbaii

October 26, 2011 Maurice 2 Comments

Today, Wednesday, we headed up to Westpunt, and tried out Grote Knip. It’s a lovely beach, apparently used quite often for postcards of Curacao. It is a long beach, with beautiful white sand. There are palapas and tables and it’s very popular with locals. There is a large parking lot, so you know it gets busy on the weekends! There were not many people when we were there, only about ten.

It looked like there would be very good snorkeling along the sides, although in the middle we knew there would little to see, since most fish don’t hang around the white sand. The water looked very inviting indeed! It’s easy to get in, as the sand slopes gently down in the water. The water was a bit “cloudy” from the sandy bottom. Heading to the left, I saw a rather large barracuda riding shotgun on a school of fish. The visibility was not great, and the snorkeling was mediocre.

This is a great beach for swimming.

I’ve had a couple of people wonder how you say “Curacao” so I’ll try to explain it phonetically. Most Europeans say it “Cure-A-Sow” and that’s acceptable. Far better than the women at the New Jersey airport who announced our flight to “Crack-Cow”. The second “c” is never hard, always like an “s’. However, the locals spell their island Korsou and they say the name of their island Cur-sew. It’s done quickly with no rolling of the “r”. So there you go. If you want to appear like an in-the-know local, go with the two syllable version Cur-sew, but if you want to be spotted as a tourist, or a European, say it in the three syllable version “Cure-A-Sow”. (Note the local way is Cur – like a dog…. the Euro way is Cure like in medicine.)

We headed back towards Willemstad, the capital city, and stopped at Playa Lagun. It’s a small cove, with an easy entrance to the water. We saw some neat fish, but most of the best fish viewing is down too far for snorkelers. The visibility was fine, just that the fish were 20-30 feet down for the most part. When we entered the water, we headed to the right and saw some fun things – the usual suspects.

We had a brief lunch then headed to Caracasbaii, where we’ve been before and can expect lots of fun things. It didn’t disappoint. The wreck is so easy to swim to, and there is always plenty of action to see.

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We had dinner at the Rib Factory. It’s a small eatery, that is full of locals, for lunch and dinner. It does a booming take out service as well. They have a small deck that has ten tables or so, and a few more inside, with air conditioning. We sat out on the deck in warm evening air. I had the chicken fajitas – not a big rib fan – and they were excellent. Mike had the ribs and he said they were very good. Fall off the bone tender, with a great sauce – you could choose from three different kinds. Service was fun and good. Prices were reasonable. Would definitely eat here again.

This is a brief movie of Grote Knip, the first beach we visited today.

Curacao, Vacations

Caracasbaii and Royal Sea Aquarium

October 25, 2011 Maurice 6 Comments

Today we headed just south of our hotel and snorkeled at Caracasbaii. Pam and I have snorkeled here before, and it’s kind of cool. There is a submerged tugboat, and it’s a very close to shore. You can park within five feet of the beach, and just walk right into the water. It’s a nice sandy entry, very level. The ocean was calm and warm, and really clear – the visibility was astonishing! As soon as our faces hit the water, we saw a flying gurnard, only the second one I’ve ever seen in the wild. Quite a cool sight!

The wreck is not very deep and it is covered with coral, Christmas tree worms, and fish! We saw a couple of moray eels hiding near the top, close enough you could reach down and touch him. The Hull is filled with lots of schooling fish.

We saw all the usual suspects, parrot fish, chubbs, sergeant majors, trumpetfish, filefish, wrasses, morays… And being so shallow you can can really see everything up close! It’s really a great place to snorkel. I’d say it is on a par with the Royal Sea Aquarium, but for different reasons.

The bluehead wrasse is a quick, darting fish, that is difficult to photograph. Seems every time you point the camera at him he darts quickly away. I’ve included this photo because somehow I managed to nail him! Shocking!

We saw several morays, but this gold colored fellow was only about 3 feet from the surface of the water. He kept his eye on us, and would retreat into his little cave if we got too close with the camera.

Another fish we have trouble getting a picture of is this red colored guy. I’m not sure what is name is, but he’s very shy, and usually hides under rock, shelves or pieces of wreck. He only came out into “the light” because he was chasing another fish and I happened to be there with the camera turned on.

I have purchased an underwater housing for the camera this year and I’m quite disappointed with it. It bulky, cumbersome and heavy. It’s awkward to use the zoom button, and every operation requires both hands. It’s impossible to dive down, and use one hand to take a picture, so I’m not getting the shots I want. I would not recommend you get this housing if you’re a snorkeler. It’s also impossible to use any of the special feature buttons, like macro mode. And turning on the film mode, is hit or miss at best.

For the afternoon swim we headed back to the Royal Sea Aquarium. It was just terrific again. The highlight was seeing the largest green moray eel I’ve ever seen! Mike said he was big as a house, but I think he exaggerated, he was as big as a small apartment! The pictures we took of him do not do him justice, but I’ve added a movie at the end of the post… pretty impressive beasty.

We saw another queen angel, and she was very large too! We’ve seen some impressive examples of this fish so far, but this beauty is the best so far.

We spotted a porcupine fish, another shy fish. They hide in small caves, under ledges, or wherever they think you can’t see them. It’s difficult to get a good shot, because you always have to dive down to get the shot, and as I mentioned, this housing has made those shots even more problematic for me. But here is a funny one of him – it looks like we’ve photoshopped some white teeth on to him, but no, this is really the shot!