Grand Cayman
Horace Plotkin, Stingray City with Moby Dick
Stingray City with Moby Dick
Horace Plotkin
I was looking forward to this stop as we had planned to do something I’d never
done before, ‘Swimming with the Stingrays’. We’ve been to Cayman Islands a
couple of times before and taken land excursions so this time would be a little
different.
After tendering in, we were
offered what we wanted for US$40 each (Moby Dick) and within 5 minutes we were
on an old school bus heading for another boat dock where we boarded the 'Eastern
Skies' and headed out to sea. There were about 18 of us in total so it wasn’t
too large a crowd and after 45 minutes or so we arrived at the sandbar, out by a
reef. The water was crystal clear, not too cold and varied in depth from 3 to 5
feet. I don’t swim much but I was quite comfortable and the stingrays were
amazing, they are so accustomed to people, we fed them, had our pictures taken
with them, stroked their underside, fell over them and some even kissed them.
Back in the boat, we had 15
minutes ‘til we manoeuvred to the snorkeling area where we stayed for about half
an hour. About 15 minutes into snorkeling time a little guy about 100 yards out
indicated that he was having trouble staying above the water, I was very
impressed with the reaction of the crew, within a few seconds of the call, the
captain had dived in the water and was a quarter way out, he was passed by the
other crew guy who reached the kid first, while this was happening, the other
crew member on the boat was preparing additional lifesaving equipment for use,
anyway they all got back on board and the kid was ok.