Tag Archives: movie

Just turtles!

December 19, 2012 Maurice Leave a comment

This trip has certainly been highlighted by the number of turtles we have seen! It’s been a rare day we haven’t seen several turtles. Tuesday and Wednesday were no exception with another half dozen or so sightings each day. The turtle grass we’ve recently discovered off of Boca Catalina had another four or five. Big ones and little ones, greens and hawksbills. It’s amazing how big some of them can get! The greens are usually between 250 and 450 pounds, and a couple we’ve seen have been on the high side.

While swimming toward Malmok Beach, there is a small reef. One green turtle was tucked under a chunk of coral, in fairly shallow water. When we started taking pictures, he started to swim around, quite unconcerned with us. He went for a long, lazy swim, towards Malmok, then circled back toward Boca Catalina in a big circle. The amazing thing was, there was no one in the ocean with us! Eventually we swam by a Dutch family of four, who had never seen a turtle. They were delighted when Pam told them we were following a turtle. The turtle took us on another big circle of both beaches. Eventually, other snorkelers joined in, and it was quite funny to see the turtle leading a pack of his own!

At Arashi Beach we came across a hawksbill in really shallow water too. I was swimming between two rocks whose peaks actually go above the water line, and coming toward me was this hawksbill! He took a gander at my ugly mug and turned and swam away! We followed him for a time, but he swam straight out to sea in almost a straight line. He wasn’t interested in leading the snorkelers on a conga line.

We saw some interesting stuff in close to shore at Arashi Beach. There were lots of little guys that have been tough to photograph because they dart in and out of the coral so quickly.

But today, once again the ocean was very calm and we were able to remain stationary over a single point for a long time, so we were able to get some of the more elusive guys, like the brilliant blue speckled juvenile yellowtail damselfish.

In the ocean, we often see fish cleaning other fish. The long needlefish getting cleaned by a juvenile french angel is one we see quite a lot, but they will not let us approach close enough to get a clear shot. Today we were able to see a smallish blue tang getting cleaned by a tiny French Angel. He was barely bigger than your thumbnail! The movie is fairly brief, so give it a look. It’s quite interesting.

Pam got a great shot of the mutton snapper. It even shows the blue streaks near his eyes.

We spent some time in the Glitz casino here at La Cabana. It’s a small intimate casino, with slots, almost all penny slots. There are a few gaming tables, that were quite busy. The drinks are free, and I’ve never been in a casino where the girls are so attentive! Not even Vegas keeps your glass as full as these gals! We had some pretty good success on Tuesday, so we didn’t mind going again on Wednesday.

Aruba, Vacations

Turtle Tuesday – a day early!

December 17, 2012 Maurice Leave a comment

Today was another calm, lovely day in Aruba. We slept in again, and got to the ocean around noonish. We checked to see if the green moray was in his home, and he was, but he didn’t come out at all, hiding under his shelf of rock.

We decided to go and see if we could see some more of the flying gurnards, and instead we saw the first of many turtles. That’s right, we saw an amazing six turtles today! It was absolutely unbelievable. We saw two really enormous turtles, one with a strange shell, with a ridge down the middle, and a concave shell, sloping away from the central ridge.

We did see lots of flying gurnards too, but this is easily the biggest we’ve ever seen. It had to be twice the size of the ones we saw yesterday. I’d say his wingspan was well over two feet. He was located a lot further south too, way down by the bait ball. The movie shows him under the fish first, then coming out from under (you’ll love this Karen!)

Another cool thing we saw was a strange bird hanging out with the pelicans along ridge overlooking Hadicurari. Not sure what the name is, but he was totally unconcerned about us. Maybe a cormorant? I dunno. The closer we got, the less it bothered him! The pelicans all hopped away, but he just stood there, kind of daring us to do something. So I splashed him with water! That finally got him to move.

While swimming along the wall, we saw lots of great fish of course. Pam got a great shot of the Night Sergeant, a fish who hangs around rocks, and like to get pushed around by crashing waves. He’s hard to get a shot of, because the water is usually so turbulent. But today was pretty calm, and she nailed him. Here is a video of a spotted moray eel, climbing up the wall. The video came out pretty nicely, so we decided to include it here.

We went to dinner at JH Yees, billed as an Asian fusion restaurant. It combined Japanese sushi and tempura with Chinese Szechuan and Mandarin dishes. The restaurant is on the second floor of a group of building close to the high rise hotels. It has a nice interior, highlighted with replicas of the Chinese warriors discovered in a tomb. There was a modern twist with unique architectural highlights, private rooms separated with curtains, and outdoor area and a unique central courtyard. Service was very nice, attentive and prompt, provided by Chiko, our Philippino waiter.

We started with Peking Dumplings ($6.25) for four plump juicy dumplings with a spicy pork filling. We split two mains, Orange Chicken ($19.95) and Szechuan Beef ($20.95). The white chicken chunks were deep fried, with a nice orange sauce, and served with fresh orange slices. Pam liked the flavour, but thought the chicken was a little dry. The beef was served with fresh vegetables, and was tasty. Singapore Noodles ($17.95) rounded out the dinner. They were very nice, tasty with lots of pork, shrimp and vegetables in a spicy sauce. I liked it a lot, but it could have had a few more noodles! With two Balashi, a Coke and 15% service charge, the total was $87.65. It was about on a par for what we’ve paid for Chinese food in other Aruban spots, but the ambiance was very very nice. I’d go there again.

Aruba, Vacations

Easy Sunday

December 16, 2012 Maurice Leave a comment

We slept in, after a hard week of partying with Mike. haha We didn’t get mobile until nearly noon. It was another day with very calm winds, and lots of sunshine. We took to the water at Boca Catalina and just puttered around. The water was so calm again, and the fish were all relaxed.

I went to a spot where we normally can find a Queen Triggerfish, and instead we found a rather large green moray making himself at home! I had quite the surprise to dive down to take a picture of a highhat and have the menacing jaws and about two feet of a green moray pop out from under a ledge, weaving back and forth, as if to protect his space! He was certainly a big one, in the six to seven feet length in total.

Today though, was octopus and squid day – seemed every few feet we saw one or the other. We saw a group of squid that was easily the largest group we’ve ever seen. It went on as far as the eye could see! And visibility was great!

Spotting octopus is not easy. They can blend in so amazingly well, it’s easy to simply swim right over them. Sometimes they look so much like coral, you can’t tell the difference, unless they move. Check out the picture of him: you can hardly tell he’s there, unless you look very closely right near where his tentacles are attached to the rock.

I’ve got two movies to show today featuring the same octopus. He was really active, hopping from rock to rock, cycling through colors, and just amazing us.

This next video could have been a thing of beauty, but it’s certainly worth watching even though it’s not perfect. It shows him virtually hidden, then when I zoom in on him, he’s goes a deep black, with yellow “feet,” hops off a rock, hops onto another, walking a little, then compressing himself into a tiny hole!

This picture is especially for Mike… all these Sgt Majors kept coming around, and we’re certain they were upset you never said “See you next year!” Seemed like there were more than ever today.

Pam has been experimenting with different modes on her new camera, an Olympus Tough. We’ve had them in the past, and really liked them. We got her an expensive Nikon last year, but the pictures just never turned out very well. It’s funny, sometimes paying more doesn’t necessarily get you better results. Check out this picture of a gold moray eel, you can literally see the flecks of gold dappling his body. A prize winning shot!

The sunset picture is taken from the balcony of our unit at La Cabana. We’re on the fourth floor, the top floor, the penthouse as Pam calls it. We sat on the balcony having a drink, getting a little sun, watching it drop into the ocean. Some sailboats came by as it was going down… very nice. I’m adding a little movie of some sailboats drifting past the setting sun. You can hear the music in the background – a live band in the poolside bar of La Cabana.

Aruba, Vacations

Saturday leavings

December 15, 2012 Maurice Leave a comment

Today was Mike’s last day, of a too short vacation. It’s a real shame he had trouble getting here. He kind of got gypped with the weather too, with a couple bad snorkeling days. Ah well… Mangel Halto made up for a lot of deficiencies in the holiday! It was so calm today, that we could easily have done it again!

Mike’s flight was at 6 PM, but we had to switch to our new resort, La Cabana, by 11 AM, so the day was pretty much a write-off. We looked for a t-shirt for Mike – he wanted one with a Balashi logo, but no one had his size. Unreal! It wasn’t a total waste though, as I managed to find an Hawaiian shirt that is not in my collection!

Pam and I dropped Mike at the airport, and headed straight to the ocean. It was super super calm, and the visibility was awesome. We stayed in the water til sunset. It was fun to be in the water when it’s that calm, since you don’t need to use your flippers much, and the fish seemed a lot more relaxed as a result. Some fish who are super shy didn’t mind us hovering over them, and Pam took some really great shots.

This grouper just lazed about the sand, hardly moving. Usually they take off the minute they see us, but today was special. Pam took a really nice video of him just hanging about the bottom, not running to hide.

And here is a movie of a Queen Angelfish bumping the same grouper around a bit… quite funny. The queen angelfish is a very active fish, flitting from one rock to another. I love the super colorful body on this fish – it easily catches the eye when you’re snorkeling!

Just a couple words about our new resort – we’ve never stayed here before, but it’s very near the Paradise Beach resort where we stayed last year. It’s right on Palm Beach, a long white sand beach, that is perfect for swimming and relaxing. The room is ok, a little small, but we have a nice view over the ocean from our fourth floor balcony. The bed is only a queen, but comfortable. WIFI is $35 for the week, using Setar, the same guys the Paradise Beach used. It’s a super fast system, and far superior to what we had at Caribbean Palm Village. Well worth the money. It also has a very nice lobby, really posh, with a huge stained glass window. There is a casino just off the lobby, so I know where I’ll find Pam. 🙂

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

Friday fun

December 7, 2012 Maurice 3 Comments

The wind was still strong today, so we were a little worried about what the viewing would be like. We went back to our favorite hang out, Boca Catalina. We saw a couple large iguanas sunning themselves and managed to get one to pose for a picture. We had a pretty easy entry to the water; the waves were a bit high, but no bother!

The visibility was really good, not cloudy at all. We saw lots of fun stuff. One of the coolest fish today was the coronet fish. He’s a big long fish, with a kind of whippy tail. Sort of looks like a trumpetfish, but the tail is different. He can change from light green to brilliant blue.

There were just tons of eels today. Not sure why, but seemed there was one under every rock! For the last several years, there has been this rather large porcupine fish under this ledge at Malmok Beach. We had not seen him this year – until today! It was good to see him back in his hiding spot. We were worried that the lionfish had forced him out of his home.

We even got to get a pretty decent shot of a soapfish. This fish is extremely shy, and always slips under a rock the second he sees a snorkeler. If you try and take his picture, he scoots away… we’ve got tons of shots of the back of him! But today we managed to get him in the open and snap a decent one.
We went over to the Palm Beach mall and strolled around to see what’s new. One of our favorite restaurants, the Casa Tua Mediterranee, is located here, but it has closed! That’s too bad – it was a great place to eat. Pam found a friend here at the mall… they had a little dance together.

Sunset was nice. We parked on Eagle Beach and watched it go down. Just as the sun was disappearing a sailboat drifted by… a pretty cool ending to a pretty darn nice day! I’ve included a picture of our pool and hot tub, and stuck an arrow on it, locating our apartment. We’ve stayed in this one before – it’s a great location – ground floor, with a little patio, steps to the pool and hot tub!

Aruba, Vacations

Snorkeling the wall

December 6, 2012 Maurice 2 Comments

Yesterday was a bit windy, so Pam didn’t want to head in the ocean. I decided to try the wall, a section of beach where there is very little easy access to ocean. It’s guarded by an army of pelicans, which can be quite vicious, you know!

I was rewarded with a spectacular display by the fish! I don’t even know what to call it. I’ll just let his movie say it all. (ADDING THIS NEXT DAY – I should mention that this group of fish went on and on, for well over a kilometer. We’ve seen bait balls like this before, just never this big!)

I’m also adding this brief movie from yesterday that Pam took of a stoplight parrotfish munching on some coral. It’s a fairly large fish, in the two foot range. If you have your sound on, you can even hear him crunching the coral.