Thursday - April 18, 2024 Arrive 7:00AM - Depart 4:00PM (Daily Diary Synopsis)
We arrived early and watched this flat piece of land get closer and closer.
We are going in the nice warm water and visit the sting rays.
What a marvelous day!
Did You Know? - Grand Cayman is the largest of the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. George Town, its capital, is home to the Cayman Islands National Museum, dedicated to Caymanian heritage.
Grand Cayman encompasses 76% of the territory's entire land mass. The island is approximately 22 miles (35 km) long with its widest point being 8 miles (13 km) wide.
The elevation ranges from sea level at the beaches to 60 feet (18 m) above sea level on the North Side's Mastic Trail. Unlike many other Caribbean islands, Grand Cayman is for the most part, flat. This allows for more space to build as the island's population grows.
We were not alone!
The city uses its own boats to transfer people back and forth.
Almost two hundred at a time.
The Grand Cayman Cruise Port is a tender port, and there are three terminals: South, North, or Royal Watler Terminals.
How to feel small!
See you old friend.
Needs a little paint touch up.
Some people are just plain weird.
Mary has the tickets.
Did You Know? - The tap water across all three Cayman Islands is clean, wholesome and very much safe to drink! All of the tap water we get on-Island is desalinated seawater produced using reverse osmosis. The process begins with the extraction of raw feed water from wells drilled deep into the limestone bedrock beneath Cayman.
The shops were quite busy with tourists
.
Royal Watler is the name of the cruise terminal!
Off we go!
They drive on the wrong side of the street!
They said you might get wet, they were not kidding.
Did You Know? - Stingray City is a series of shallow sandbars found in the North Sound of Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. It is a tourist attraction, where southern stingrays are found in abundance and visitors can pet and interact with the animals.
The sandbar is straight ahead.
Did You Know? - A sandbar is a ridge of sand built up by currents especially in a river or in coastal waters.
We had some company.
We finally got a spot and anchored to the bottom.
We got off the back of the ship and down a four foot ladder.
We had friends almost immediately.
Goochy goochy goo!
Did You Know? - The southern stingray is a whip-tail stingray found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Western Atlantic Ocean from New Jersey to southern Brazil. It has a flat, diamond-shaped disc, with a mud brown, olive, and grey dorsal surface and white underbelly.
The sucker had teeth.
Did You Know? - A southern stingray terrifies visitors at the touch pool within the Georgia Aquarium's Georgia Explorer exhibit
In many parts of the Caribbean such as Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands and Antigua, the southern stingray swims with divers and snorkelers, and are hand fed at locations such as Stingray City and the Sandbar.
They can be hand fed at a location called Gibbs Cay. Some have become tame enough to be cradled in visitors' arms and feed with pieces of cut up fish.
This docile and food-reward driven behavior has led to many locals comparing the hand-fed and belly-rubbed stingray to an over-fed household canine.
There are concerns that this feeding, and the high levels of interaction with humans, may be having some negative impacts on their behavior and ecology
He or she seemed friendly.
Kiss what??
Sure. I'll do it!
Smoooooooch!
That damned thing was French!
He wanted to get in on the action!
Go away, we are busy!
The camera person was doing the best she could as the waves were 3-4 feet high at times.
The water was probably 93-95 degrees.
The water was clear as a bell.
Time to head back!
Looking for a Great White?
Enjoying the ride and drying off.
Checkout the shirt.
M-m-m-m-m-m-m
Heading back to the dock.
The island is so very clean and full of English folks.
One come in and one goes out.
The Mayor says "Hello!"
Snacks await!
Yummy!
This was dinner tonight!
Mary attempts to levitate my martini!
"What do you mean, attempt?"
"Look, it is 1/4 off the table!"
We were done for the night... off to our room!
(We need to get these for the next trip!!)
