Tag Archives: Mangel Halto

Merry Christmas at Mangel Halto

December 25, 2013 Maurice Leave a comment

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope Santa brought you everything you wished for, and then some! He sure did here in Aruba! Today was dead calm, so we decided to go back to Mangel Halto. Because it is the best coral reef on the island, it’s where you want to be if the weather permits, and Santa delivered.

When we got to Mangel Halto, the water was the calmest I’ve seen any Aruban water. Completely flat, with next to no movement! Unreal – so we suited up and jumped in. We literally did not have to swim; a small kick of the fins was more than enough to move around. We got to explore the reef like never before.

Lots of fish to see and watch. The best thing we saw is one that has eluded us everywhere we’ve been. We saw a seahorse! Yep, first time ever, in any water. Very very cool. They look so frail, easily blown by the barest shimmer of a wave. That will be a highlight of this trip, and something Pam will talk about over and over, I’m sure!

There were some octopus we saw in the very shallow part of the reef and it was cool to see him use his jet propulsion close up like that.

We saw a fish called a butter hamlet, something we rarely see. This might be only the second or third time we’ve seen a hamlet, but the first time for this type. It’s always cool to see new fish, even after hundreds of snorkeling trips!

We decided to eat out tonight – give the cook a break, and all that. We went to the Chinese place called New Wei Tai and it was pretty good. Service was good, even though the place had a very large party going on. A nice way to end the evening.

Aruba, Vacations

Mangel Halto

December 24, 2013 Maurice 1 Comment

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.

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

Finally!

January 12, 2012 Maurice 3 Comments

Today we headed south to Mangel Halto, a place we’ve only been once before. You walk down a ramp into a grove of mangrove trees. Birds chirp all around you, and there are a couple of openings through the dense mangroves that allow you to walk along sandy, shallow water until you hit the open ocean.

The water is shallow for quite a ways, then you hit the
coral. And what a coral forest it is! It’s a wonderful spot, filled with every kind of coral you can imagine, and it goes on for miles! It’s really quite a remarkable swim. The only downside is that the current is tremendously strong, and you must constantly swim against it.

The visibility was very good, and there were lots of fish to see, but it was just so much work to stay in place! Constantly battling the current really tired us out quickly, so we were not able to stay out there very long. We saw some cool stuff, but man, I’m not sure I’d come back here unless it was dead calm!

We came home for a quick bite to eat, then Mike and I headed over to one of our favorite, go-to locations, Malmok beach. Pam was too tuckered out from the swim at Mangel Halto. She’s been doing really great with swimming, and walking. Her physio coach is going to be impressed with her improvement! Even some of the ladies around the time share have commented on how much her walking has improved.

The ocean at Malmok was really clear, with great visibility. We saw some cool stuff, then we finally hit the jackpot! Yup, we got to swim with a turtle! First swim with a turtle this month! Mike had never been in the wild with a turtle before so it was pretty special.

He wasn’t a really big one, but hey, it’s the biggest one Mike’s seen! He cruised straight out into the open ocean, and we followed. After a while, we realized we were probably a kilometre or two off shore! It was indeed a tough swim back, especially after all the effort we’d expended in Mangel Halto earlier in the day. But it was worth it!

There is something special about swimming with a turtle. They move through the water with real ease, flicking one front paddle or the other. If you get too close, or he feels threatened, he kicks it into overdrive with both paddles flashing, and he can leave you far behind in a hurry!

We saw some palometas, a pretty cool looking fish, which we have seen many times. But these ones were so big! They were easily thirty per cent larger than any we’ve seen. The pic doesn’t really show how big there are, but you can see they have some orange color on their underside, which we’d never noticed on other palometas before.