We are always drawn to Captain Don’s Habitat. It’s just a short drive Continue reading Captain Don’s Habitat
Captain Don’s Habitat
Tag Archives: parrotfish
Captain Don's Habitat
We are always drawn to Captain Don’s Habitat. It’s just a short drive north of Kralendijk, lots of free parking, and an easy entry. Everything you can ask for in a snorkel spot.
The featured picture (at the top of the post) shows the gatekeeper, a large iguana who hangs around the pool area near the restaurant. He knows a good thing when he sees it!
One of the (many) things that makes Captain Don’s a great place to get in the ocean is the tarpons that hang around just under the restaurant. They are very large fish, with a protruding jaw that makes them seem quite nasty. But as you can see in the movie, they are quite shy, simply moving away if you get too close.
I told Pam I wasn’t going to take another picture of a Queen Angelfish, and as you can see, I’ve been true to my word. I was taking a picture of the snapper (no, really, I was) and the Queen Angel just photobombed the shot!
The visibility was quite good, but sometimes it was quite bad too. Weird that… so here is a shot of some bonefish. I dove down to take it, and they are not a fish that hangs around when you get close – they are a nervous fish.
This shot of a parrotfish is just so colorful, I felt it needed to be included! Yeah, yeah we’ve put up a million shots of this fish, but one more is ok right? I think it’s a great shot.
Thursday on De Palm Island again
Today, we went back to De Palm Island, so Mike could see the blue parrotfish. For me though, the real highlight was seeing the Midnight Parrotfish; that has been the highlight of the fish experiences so far. It’s a magnificent looking creature. He’s the only one we’ve seen of his species. Poor guy has to be lonely!
There were also some trunkfish, 
of a size we had never seen before. After checking in our book, we found that they were the max size for this fish. They were SOOOOoooo cool. I’m totally fascinated by them. I must have about 300 pictures of them alone! hah
We also saw the absolute biggest French Angelfish we’ve seen down here. I didn’t even realize they grew that big! Most we’ve seen were half that size. 
When we were in the Caymans, we bought a photo of the french angel, but never saw one there. We saw some juveniles, but no adults. Down here in Aruba, we see them every time we’re in the ocean.
Pam finally got to see her Red Lipped Blennie – they’re a really skittish fish, and tough to get a picture of… as soon as you point the camera at them, they’re gone. I’ve got some great pictures of rocks trying to photograph them! hah
Pam and Pete were the brave ones of the crowd and did the Sea Trek helmet walking, where they had a helmet on their heads that had oxygen pumped into it as they descended 25 feet into the ocean. You have to stop every few feet to pop your ears because of the pressure changes on the way down but you don’t have to do it on the way up. The fish were the usual fish you get to see around these waters but Pam did get to touch a sea feather and see it pop back in it’s little hole. It was a pretty fun experience.
We had dinner at the Petit Cafe, overlooking Oranjestaad’s harbor. It was a nice setting. It’s so cool to eat outside at 8 pm, in the nice warm 80 degree weather. I tried a new drink called the Nutty Monkey – very good! An adult slurpy with banana and coconut booze.
Unfortunately the food was poor, the worst we’ve had. I had the “Treasures of the Sea” – lobster, shrimp, and mahi-mahi. I ask you, when was the last time you NEEDED a steak knife to cut a lobster tail? 4 small shrimp, badly overcooked, a small lobster tail – and i mean small – two bites – and a little piece of mahi-mahi, with a scoop of rice and KFC-style coleslaw – 36.50 US dollars – a total ripoff.
Ah well – at least the beer was cold.