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: tarpons
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.
Our anniversary
Today (August 12) is our 36th wedding anniversary so we had a nice relaxing day. We slept in, had a late lunch then headed to place called Black Durgon Beach, but the owner of the inn would not let us use his dock. That’s the first cranky Bonairian we’ve encountered. (Beaches are all public in Bonaire, but using someone’s dock requires permission.)
Not to be deterred we went down a few doors to Captain Don’s place, and they welcomed us with open arms. The water was super clear and we saw just tons of stuff. Highlights included several large tarpons, a couple of turtles, various eels, and some ginormous rainbow parrotfish which were well over four feet long.
We had dinner at the Patagonia, an Argentinian steakhouse. To say it was fantastic is to understate the experience. The restaurant itself is impeccable, clean crisp and welcoming. There was light jazz playing at a quiet level, quite nice. The waiter was impeccable. The food was divine. The experience was wonderful. We could not have planned a better dinner!
We had a three course, dinner special. Soup or salad, steak with caremelized onions, fresh veggies, superb mashed potatoes, and a tiramisu Pam said was the best she ever had. Total price was 79 dollars, including two beer and pop. When the owner discovered it was our anniversary, he treated us to a complimentary after dinner aperitif. Very cool.
Here is a brief movie, using several clips from various movies we took of some fish we saw today.
Our anniversary
Today (August 12) is our 36th wedding anniversary so we had a nice relaxing day. We slept in, had a late lunch then headed to place called Black Durgon Beach, but the owner of the inn would not let us use his dock. That’s the first cranky Bonairian we’ve encountered. (Beaches are all public in Bonaire, but using someone’s dock requires permission.)
Not to be deterred we went down a few doors to Captain Don’s place, and they welcomed us with open arms. The water was super clear and we saw just tons of stuff. Highlights included several large tarpons, a couple of turtles, various eels, and some ginormous rainbow parrotfish which were well over four feet long.
We had dinner at the Patagonia, an Argentinian steakhouse. To say it was fantastic is to understate the experience. The restaurant itself is impeccable, clean crisp and welcoming. There was light jazz playing at a quiet level, quite nice. The waiter was impeccable. The food was divine. The experience was wonderful. We could not have planned a better dinner!
We had a three course, dinner special. Soup or salad, steak with caremelized onions, fresh veggies, superb mashed potatoes, and a tiramisu Pam said was the best she ever had. Total price was 79 dollars, including two beer and pop. When the owner discovered it was our anniversary, he treated us to a complimentary after dinner aperitif. Very cool.
Here is a brief movie, using several clips from various movies we took of some fish we saw today.
Feeding Frenzy!
Lots and lots of fishes! This is a feeding frenzy folks! Pam brought some fish food into the water and they went crazy for it! Not sure it’s the best thing to be doing, feeding fish? Might attract some big nasty fish, who knows?
We chose a site right at the cruise ship harbor in downtown Georgetown called Eden Rock for our last dive, and man, are we glad we got in here. 
The entry to the water was easy, with stairs cut into the rock. As soon as you hit the water, you see these HUGE fish called Tarpons.
The next couple of pictures are more of the same feeding frenzy. It’s kind of amazing to be totally surrounded by all these feeding fish, with HUGE tarpons just looking on.
Check out the last couple of pictures on this page for the tarpons – they are about 5-7 feet long and about 200+ pounds – quite intimidating! The waiter at the restaurant right beside Eden Rock, cleans his fish, then throws the debris in the ocean. The TARPONS jump right out of the water to grab the pieces! Unreal!
We saw some other great fish, too. Tim spotted this blue peacock flounder. It was so cool to see him move. He kinda glides along like a flying carpet.
Here is a movie of the dive with the tarpons, off Eden Rock. Some fairly large fish here!