Grand Cayman Adventure: Day 3.

What a day!  We woke up pretty early because we had a reservation to go to Stingray City for the 10 a.m. tour.  We had a fairly easy time getting there and I even mastered the roundabouts and using my blinker!  Neither Mike nor I had even thought about there being rush hour traffic so it was good that we left a little bit early than we had planned to.  We arrived with plenty of time, checked in, and headed over to Eats Cafe to kill some time before the shuttle bus arrived.  

At 9:30 we boarded the shuttle with our snorkeling gear, towels, sunscreen and water in hand.  Then it was time to board the boat.  We opted to sit on the top deck so that we could take in the views and it was gorgeous!  The water was all sorts of teals, turquoises and blues, and there were lots of huge houses along the water that we had a fun time looking at while we rode past.  We met a couple from Georgia, and a woman from New Orleans who now lives in Holland.  After a 25 minute boat ride we arrived at the sandbar where the domesticated stingrays hang out.  I was a little nervous about getting in the water near animals who can sting you, but saw one of the tour leaders holding a stingray at complete ease, so I figured I’d be okay. 

^^ A photo in the van on the way to the boat.

^^ Waiting at the dock, and excited about swimming with stingrays!

^^ One of the few photos I have of both of us :( I wish we had someone follow us around so we could be in more pictures together (and with prettier backgrounds than this, hah!).  Turned out pretty well, I think.

^^ We passed some enormous houses on our way out to the sandbar.

^^ On the water on our trip to see the stingrays!  The water was so blue and clear.   

^^Anchoring at the sandbar.  Let's pretend my camera was not freaking out with the humidity and that the lens was fully open...   

As Mike commented to me later on, he had never seen the water on the sandbar so choppy.  It was hard to stand still because the waves pushed you in one direction and then another and then another.  We had been told to shuffle our feet instead of walking and stepping, but the choppiness made this harder to do.  The stingrays felt like wet mushrooms.  Kind of slimy, and relatively smooth.  The older stingrays had slightly more bumpy skin, and they really did swim against you and bump into you.  It definitely took me a few minutes to get used to that, and even still I was very aware of where the stingrays are.  An interesting fact that the tour guide shared is that the male stingrays are significantly smaller than the females.  The males only get to be about one foot long, whereas the females can get much larger—we saw females that were over three feet long.  Each person had the opportunity to hold a stingray, give it a kiss and get a back rub from the stingray.  It was way cool! 

Next we headed to the first of two snorkeling sites.  This one was well known for the coral, and was gorgeous! I had some slight trouble with my snorkel because every once in a while the snorkel wouldn’t let me get a breath in, which made me panic a little.  Good thing I’m a solid swimmer!  

The second dive spot was really amazing, and I was able to borrow Mike’s mask and snorkel since he wasn’t feeling great and decided to sit that one out.  Using his equipment, I was able to truly enjoy this stop, and saw many schools of fish and a huge (wild) stingray.  So amazing! 

Mike and I headed back to our hotel and had some much needed lunch and some snacks.  We went out to snorkel a little bit in front of our hotel, and then read on the beach for a while.  Tukka was our dinner restaurant of choice and it certainly did not disappoint!  The ambiance was very unique—there were two trees that were covered with flip flops and shoes.  I dug it.  From the front, the restaurant looked like a dive bar that might even be a little sketchy, but the deck was right on the water.  I can imagine that the views during sunrise, sunset or the daytime are incredible.  I had a wonderful pina colada, and Mike had a Corona.  We ordered some coconut shrimp with two different sauces—mango and chili.  Mike had two skewers packed with surf and turf—beef, chicken, lobster and shrimp—garlic mashed potatoes and green beens.  He ate every last piece…meaning that it was awesome.  I had guava salmon over pasta alfredo with peas.  It was delicious but incredibly filling so I came home with lots of leftovers—score!!