Tag Archives: octopus

Some thoughts on Bonaire

December 21, 2015 Maurice Leave a comment

I have been surprised by how few people there are here. When we’ve been in the Caribbean for Christmas in the past, it’s been very busy. This year I’d call it dead! One day there was only ONE person laying on “the point,” a normally very busy section of the resort that has bar service. Is it the economy? Fear of ISIS, as one restauranteur insisted? I don’t really know, but it is concerning.

In the casinos, most of the people used to be visitors, having a bit of fun on a night out. There is precious little night life here on Bonaire (one of the things we like and dislike) and the casinos are a nice diversion. The other night, we were in the casino, and there was only one other vacationer – all the rest were locals. Used to be us tourists injecting the cash! That can’t bode well can it?

But what keeps people coming back, of course, are the diving and snorkeling opportunities. If there is no dock, entry into the ocean is often very difficult here, due to the mostly rocky coastline. But somehow Bonaire has allowed it’s best coastline to be gobbled up by individuals who restrict access to the sea, as if it is their private playground. On Bari Beach, some one has constructed a rock wall barrier right on the beach to block people from using the only sandy entry point to the bay. They have even put up No Trespassing signs!

It is unconscionable that this is allowed to go on. For the most part, Bonaireans don’t seem to care that this is the case. And people like Pam and I are wondering why bother coming back? If you’re going to go the route of Aruba and lose your soul for the all mighty dollar, then you deserve your fate. And maybe empty hotels, bars, and beaches will impress upon them the need to change. But I’m not holding my breath…

Do I want something for free? Not at all! Do I mind paying to enter the ocean if someone has constructed a dock? Absolutely NOT – I’ll gladly help pay for any infrastructure.

We pay fees at a lot of the bays in Curacao – Jan Thiel, Blue Bay, and others have parking fees, as well as beach chair fees. Not a problem. You’ve created something for which you should be paid.

Places like Captain Don’s resort say they have a fee for snorkelers to use their facilities, but every time we try to pay it, they tell us to go ahead and jump in. As a result, we grab our lunch in their restaurant after our snorkel – it is a win-win situation. They get way more of our money, and we get an easy entry into the ocean.

Here’s a brief movie just to put the focus back on the ocean, which is why we come here!

About Bailey, Bonaire, Vacations

Some thoughts on Bonaire

December 21, 2015 Maurice Leave a comment

Do I want something for free? Not at all! Do I mind paying to enter the ocean if someone has constructed a dock? Absolutely NOT – I’ll gladly help pay for any infrastructure.

We pay fees at a lot of the bays in Curacao – Jan Thiel, Blue Bay, and others have parking fees, as well as beach chair fees. Not a problem. You’ve created something for which you should be paid.

Here’s a brief movie just to put the focus back on the ocean, which is why we come here!

Bonaire

Ocean vs Dock entry

December 21, 2015 Maurice Leave a comment

I have been surprised by how few people there are here in Bonaire this year. When we’ve been in the Caribbean for Christmas in the past, it’s been Continue reading Ocean vs Dock entry →

Bonaire, Vacations

Just an octopus

December 15, 2015 Maurice 2 Comments

We relaxed around the Divi Flamingo resort today. We didn’t drive anywhere, do anything or really Continue reading Just an octopus →

Aruba, Vacations

Mike retreats to the cold

December 26, 2013 Maurice Leave a comment

Mike flew home in time for the Boxing Day sales, and we retreated to Malmok Beach. The water was absolutely glorious. It’s unreal how clear the ocean was today. We’ve had fairly cloudy water, not exactly awful, but not great. Well, today was great.

We’re going to remember this trip for two things really – turtles and octopus (and of course the seahorse). We have had amazing sightings of both octopus and turtles. Today, it was the octopus again. One fellow moved like we’ve never seen before. Super active, jet propulsing around like never before, shifting colors like never before. Just unbelievable. One time he changed into the striped colors of a black and silver coney!

Tomorrow is our last day, and we are feeling rather subdued. It’s been a great three weeks. We were not in the ocean near as much as usual, since I’ve just been unable to handle the physical stress, but it’s been fun nevertheless.

Pam has picked up a heck of a tan as a result of more “pool time” (our saying for relaxing in a chair on the deck of the swimming pool, with a cool drink on a table.)

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.

Bonaire, Vacations

Monday on Bonaire

May 14, 2013 Maurice Leave a comment

I am writing this while sitting on our screened porch, watching the palm trees wave at the ocean. A pretty nice view! The wireless connection here is very good. I’m uploading a very large video and it’s really quick. Can’t complain one little bit about the connection here!

We did some shopping for groceries, and we’d been told to prepare for sticker shock. But, the prices were very good, much better than I ever figured it would be. For dinner we had varkensschnitzel – a pork cutlet already in a tasty bound breading, with carrots, red cabbage, and cookies for desert. The total we spent was under six dollars. That’s cheap compared to the eighty dollars we spent on dinner Sunday night in a restaurant!

We also spent some time in the ocean on Monday just in front of the Divi resort. It was pretty darn nice. The visibility was very good, and the coral is in very nice shape. There was lots to see, and lots of places to explore. Like Sunday, it was hard to focus on one thing, because you didn’t want to miss anything going on just over there – or over there!

The most fun we thing we saw was an octopus out and about. Usually they are hiding in a little hole, and all you see is an eye, or a tentacle. This guy was out and moving around the rocks and coral. I’ve included three shots of him, in three completely different colors. It’s all the same octopus, just different times of our interaction with him. He can color himself to match the surrounding rock and coral. Pretty cool.

I had just said to Pam that I hadn’t seen any “needlefish” or houndfish around here. They are a pretty common fish, staying within five or six inches of the surface. Well I had barely said it, when we saw this incredible grouping of them, all in one huge school of several hundred of them. This was easily the largest school of them we’ve ever seen!

Towards the end of our swim, we saw a pair of French Angels and they wanted to hang with us. It was pretty funny. Every way we turned there they were! Maybe they figured we’d feed them, but we have not seen anyone here in Bonaire feed the fish, a practice I think is wrong. Bonaire is really in the forefront of protecting the ocean, its inhabitants and the coral.

This little guy in this picture is called a blenny – in particular, a red-lipped blenny. Can you guess why?? This is a fish Pam really likes. They are not very big, about three inches tops. But they have really big eyelashes – no clue why a fish needs eyelashes!

I’m adding two movies of the octopus we encountered. Kinda fun stuff. Just a quick note about the movies – I upload them to YouTube in full High Definition and they can be viewed in full screen mode, too. But, sometimes YouTube doesn’t put the highest quality mode available to you, the end user. So at the bottom of the movie, on the right side, there is a little icon that looks like a gear, or a spiky wheel. Clicking that will allow you to change the mode to full HD – it’s definitely worth it!

This last movie is just a short look at a peacock flounder as he swims across the ocean bottom. I think the way he kinda just floats and moves looks like a magic carpet!

The internet is so impressive here, I uploaded one more little movie. This is of a group of white parrotfish. It’s not often you see them in such a long school; definitely you see them together, just not in a long school like this. Anyway – it’s a short movie.