Tag Archives: rainbow parrotfish

Buddy's Dive site

Group of ConeysTuesday we headed to Buddy’s Dive site. It’s the place that was so nice to us the first night here so we figured we’d check out the water. The entry was super easy via a set of metal stairs right into some nice warm water. The coral close to shore was a little beat up, but out near the drop off it was as spectacular as ever.
Big ass tarpon
The site was infested with very large fish. We saw a number of tarpons, easily six feet or more. One was just lazily hanging around under a dock, surrounded by rather large snappers. But he simply dwarfed them… I’ve got a brief movie of him here, but it really doesn’t show just how large it was.

Maurice divesHe was pretty lazy, just casually drifting along. If we approached really closely, he slowly moved off. But never hurried like some of the other fish do when you get too close.

Big shy barracudaThere were some large barracuda too, one guy just hanging around under a boat! If I approached him, he just moved to the other side of the boat. Quite a shy guy.

SnookUnder another dock we found a couple of large snooks. This is only the second time we’ve ever seen a snook, so it was pretty cool. They are a strange looking fish, with a sloping forehead and what looks like a large vein running down their center. He was a good size, well over three feet.

Rainbow parrotfishWe saw another large rainbow parrotfish, but not quite as large as the ones we saw at Black Durgon beach, but still a fairly large fish. In the movie I’ve put here, you can see another parrotfish quite close to him, and that fish is fourteen to sixteen inches, so that will give you some idea of how large the rainbow is.

 

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Buddy’s Dive site

Group of ConeysTuesday we headed to Buddy’s Dive site. It’s the place that was so nice to us the first night here so we figured we’d check out the water. The entry was super easy via a set of metal stairs right into some nice warm water. The coral close to shore was a little beat up, but out near the drop off it was as spectacular as ever.

Big ass tarpon The site was infested with very large fish. We saw a number of tarpons, easily six feet or more. One was just lazily hanging around under a dock, surrounded by rather large snappers. But he simply dwarfed them… I’ve got a brief movie of him here, but it really doesn’t show just how large it was.

Maurice divesHe was pretty lazy, just casually drifting along. If we approached really closely, he slowly moved off. But never hurried like some of the other fish do when you get too close.

Big shy barracudaThere were some large barracuda too, one guy just hanging around under a boat! If I approached him, he just moved to the other side of the boat. Quite a shy guy.

Snook Under another dock we found a couple of large snooks. This is only the second time we’ve ever seen a snook, so it was pretty cool. They are a strange looking fish, with a sloping forehead and what looks like a large vein running down their center. He was a good size, well over three feet.

Rainbow parrotfishWe saw another large rainbow parrotfish, but not quite as large as the ones we saw at Black Durgon beach, but still a fairly large fish. In the movie I’ve put here, you can see another parrotfish quite close to him, and that fish is fourteen to sixteen inches, so that will give you some idea of how large the rainbow is.

 

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Bonaire

Smooth trunkfishSaturday was our last day in Curacao, and we had a short ten minute flight to Bonaire. But our flight out of Curacao was delayed for nearly two hours! The flight is laughably short – no sooner has the plane reached cruising altitude, than it is heading in for a landing. Bonaire is much larger than Aruba, but has only about 14,000 people. The entire island is considered a natural park, for the purposes of protecting the magnificent reef system surrounding it.

Rainbow Parrotfish We had arranged an apartment before we left of course, and were told that the apartment would be left open, with the keys inside. We found the apartment, with only a little difficulty but naturally the door was locked. The manager of the complex was on holiday, but we had four phone numbers for a contact person. He answered none of them! We sent emails. Nothing. It was getting late, the sun had set, and we had no place to stay. We found a place called Buddy Dive Resort who were amazingly helpful. One of the women working the desk new our contact person, so she told us to go have dinner, and they’d track him down. Well, dinner was wonderful! They had Keshi Yena on the menu, and it was pretty good. (Not the best I’ve had, but pretty good!)

Black margateAs we were finishing up, Patricia, the young woman who knew our contact came up to us with the keys to our place! She had seen him drive by, and chased him down. Now I ask you – how many places have you been to that would go that far for you, and you’re not even staying there? Wonderful introduction to the friendly people of Bonaire.

Rainbow Parrotfish We got into our place, and it was um, a disappointment. It was not what we expected. It was not a place where we could be comfortable. But we had to stay there at least that night, but we started looking on the internet right away for another place. The internet was the only thing good about the place! So we spent half of Sunday finding another place. We’re settled into the new place, the Divi Flamingo Resort, and we did get a swim in the ocean!

Bonaire has the reputation as one of the best places to dive and snorkel in the Caribbean, if not the world. And it certainly lived up to its reputation. We jumped in at Black Durgon beach. The water was clear and pristine, with an abundance of coral and fish. It was difficult to know where to look, it literally teemed with wonders to behold. Most of the fish had no fear – it was a rare fish that took off at our approach. Even fish that are notoriously shy, like the porcupine fish just hung around! Very cool…

Rainbow Parrotfish The most amazing thing we saw was a school of six HUGE rainbow parrotfish. They were easily the largest fish we’ve ever seen in the ocean. Say five feet or more, three feet high, four hundred pounds? MASSIVE. And they were in the most shallow water you could believe. Amazing.

Anyway – just a short post to let you know we’re alive and well. We’re heading into the ocean here at the resort. The island is so beautiful and rugged – it’s going to be difficult to squeeze everything in with just five days to go. But we’re going to give it a go. There is a small island off the coast called Klein Bonaire, and it’s supposed to have the most amazing snorkeling, with turtles and some manta rays. So we’re definitely planning on hiring a boat to get there.

Blue Bay Beach

Blue Bay Beach, Curacao.Monday we hit Blue Bay Beach, somewhere we’d never been to before. It’s in a large private complex, and you go through a security gate, down a long road, and finally reach the bay. It’s a smallish cove, with a dive shop, restaurant, bar, a small beach wear shop, even a massage tent! There were lots of lounge chairs, so we knew there would a charge. It was a pricey eight bucks each. But my oh my, was it worth it! This snorkel was the nicest, most amazing we’ve ever had on Curacao.

Coral at Blue Bay Beach, Curacao The coral was lush, rich, healthy and magnificent. I’m not sure we’ve seen this variety of coral in one spot. Porcupine fishJust simply amazing fan coral, fire coral, tube coral in towering purple brilliance, brain coral, huge elkhorn coral – it just went on and on. We got in the water, went to the “right” side and couldn’t stop swimming – we kept saying, we’ll go just a little bit more, then we’d see even more amazing formations ahead and we just kept swimming. Rainbow parrotfishWe saw absolutely everything the ocean has to offer, short of a turtle. We saw a big green moray eel, a rainbow parrotfish with her crazy orange and blue face, there were Spanish hogfish like crazy, a porcupine fish hiding in a big elkhorn coral, even an octopus got in the act today.

Mini filefishThere were filefish – scrawled, dotted, you name it they were there! What a place. There was very little current, and the water was amazingly clear. There is a wide shelf close to the cliffs rising from the water, then a long sloping drop off filled with coral and fish. This is a beach that will be on our must have list any time we come back here to Curacao!

Queen Parrotfish After we’d been in the ocean for close to three hours, we had lunch in the restaurant there. Not your standard beach fare of burgers and fries either! I had a chicken satay served with a wonderful coleslaw and shrimp chips, with a really tasty peanut sauce. Pam had a chicken stirfry with two kinds of bell peppers, bean sprouts and a tangy sauce. And the service was really lovely by a nice Dutch lady. When Pam asked her to bring a bowl filled with water so she could soak her camera, the waitress didn’t bat an eye. She brought the bowl, and watched as Pam plunged the camera in. She said to Pam, “first time ever I saw someone do that to their camera!” (You do it to get the salt off the housing before changing batteries, or taking out the memory card.)

Here is a two minute movie of various coral formations and some of the fish we saw. But do take a second and hit the gallery for Curacao 2013 to see all the other pictures we uploaded that are not referenced in the post.

If you ever come to Curacao, and snorkel at Blue Bay Beach (well ANY BEACH for that matter) do be respectful of the coral and don’t stand on it, or touch it, or break off pieces to take as a souvenir. Avoid any contact with it whatsoever – it is very fragile, and easily destroyed. And certain kinds of coral can cause considerable irritation to your skin. So just take your pictures, and leave it for the next snorkeler or diver to enjoy!