Tag Archives: lionfish

Weekend switcheroo

Lora parrotToday we switched residences, from the Divi Resort to a private residence, in Belnem, on the southern part of the island. It has a dock right out to the ocean and our living room has a thirty foot sliding glass wall to give us the most spectacular view of the Caribbean ocean! We will get a few pics of the place up later.

Here is a little movie of some guys sharing the front yard with us.

Neat morayWe picked Mike up at the airport – his flight was slightly late – and we swung home for a quick dip in the ocean. We saw some cool stuff – a biggish moray who was very active was one neat thing.

Soap fishAnd we saw this fish called a soap fish – a most shy fish, who takes off quickly when we approach. But here he is checking out what the moray is doing.

We also saw our first lionfish! BOOO!

Celebrity cruise ship I’ve mentioned a couple of times that cruise ships have descended on us several times. Here is a picture of two ships in the harbor at the same time. The Celebrity ship in the foreground is much larger than the ship in the back.

Interesting signNow let me ask you a question: would you use this dock?

Lionfish Louis

Walking along the beachWe explored the far east of the island today. We visited a number of small towns, including Punta Gorda. It is a village that is almost exclusively Garifuna. The Garifuna are an Afro-Carib people who were forcibly relocated to Roatan from St Lucia by the British, because they actively resisted British rule.

Take picturesIt’s a quaint little town, with little or nothing for tourists, expect a dance show, which only occurs when there is a cruise ship in the harbor, apparently. No ship, no show.

Lionfish Louis

Pam at Lionfish LouisSo we checked out Lionfish Louis…. a beautiful piece of property barely fifteen minutes from where we are staying. The water was beautiful and warm, but not great for snorkeling. The beach was long and sandy, with a couple small islands to snorkel around. There was a long dock with just a TON of fish under it. Almost like they wanted out of the sun!

Thirsty traveller The horse featured in the picture just sort of wandered onto the beach, took a drink of the sea water, and casually wandered away. Not sure who he belongs to, or anything.

Here is a brief movie of the horse taking a drink from the sea. Unreal eh?

Winding down

Iguana, ArubaThursday dawned with a wonderfully calm ocean, and perfect, beautiful blue skies. It’s going to be tough heading back to the normally cloudy Vancouver! We’ve been pretty lucky, weather wise this month away. Most days have been pretty darn good. Two or three were spoiled by rain, but overall, we really can’t complain about the warmth, the blue skies and the calm oceans. Pam took another great macro shot, this one features one of the locals, sunning himself on the rocks above the hot tub at La Cabana.

Couple of snorkelers We took to the ocean around noon. And it was really great. Super clear water, and amazingly calm. Check out this self portrait! It’s how we’ve faced the world for basically three or four hours every day for the last month. Is it any wonder the fish are nervous when I peek under a rock at them?

We saw an amazingly huge barracuda today. Usually they don’t want to hang around snorkelers, and casually swim away when you try to approach. This one wandered off when we tried to get close, then came back a few minutes later. I swam after him to get a shot, and he slowed, turned and stopped. Big ass BarracudaHe remained stationary for a good ten minutes or more. We were taking pictures, filming him and a group of snorkelers from one of the ships started coming around. We said, “Hey, check out this big barracuda” – I’m always amazed how people miss seeing these fish that are so large! I said to one woman, “See the barracuda?” She looked at me, “Who me?” she says. I said, “Yes, look!” and pointed. Well, she looked, shrieked “HOLY SH**!!” and started swimming away as fast as she could move!

Hawksbill turtle, ArubaWe saw quite a few turtles again, starting at the turtle grass just off of Boca Catalina. As we swam north to Arashi Beach, we spotted our friend the hawksbill. He’s a great looking turtle, and let me approach him closer than he has in the past. I guess he’s starting to recognize me! haha

Grouper in ArubaI like this shot Pam took of a grouper next to some coral. They are a shy fish, usually trying to hide from the camera. Pam used to like to eat grouper, but she won’t anymore. She thinks they are too cute to eat!

French Angelfish, ArubaAruban waters have an awful lot of French Angels, and Pam is always distracted by them! They are larger than a lot of the fish, and are easily spotted. As you swim along, your eye is just naturally drawn to them. Here is a brief movie of three of them swimming along together.

Lionfish at Malmok Here’s a picture of another lionfish. They are such nice fish to look at, but such a pain! I wish there was some way we could do more as snorkelers to eliminate them when we find them. There has to be something we can do, other than take pictures of them! Some restaurants are starting to serve them, just not enough. With very few natural predators in Caribbean water , they are starting to decimate local fish populations.

One last day tomorrow in Aruba, then it’s the long flight home.