I'd Love to be the Mayor of Stingray City
Written: Nov 23 '00 (Updated Apr 02 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Stingray City offers a unique, fun and easy diving experience.
Cons: Once is enough to say you have done it.
The Bottom Line: You are the center of attention as friendly Stingrays swim up to you and eat out of your hand. Relax, they're harmless and very accustomed to people.
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| diverpam's Full Review: Cayman Islands |
What a fun diving adventure awaits you at Stingray City. It's definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It's something everyone should do once. Even if you don't dive, you can snorkel there.
What is Stingray City?
Stingray City came about several years ago as the result of fisherman stopping at a narrow, sandy spot to clean their catch and toss the "innards" overboard. The stingrays soon learned they could have an easy snack by hanging around the area. Now snorkelers and divers abound in this area. The rays are quite tame and act like pets.
What about the dive?
The dive itself couldn't be easier. Basically, it's a 15-foot rest stop where you get to sit on the sandy bottom and play with the stingrays.
We were given careful instruction on the about how to act around the stingrays. That would come to us if we had food, or even if we held out a hand pretending to have food.
We were told to be firm, yet gentle with them. If we got tired of them we could just gently push them away. We were advised to keep our hands to our sides so they wouldn't think we had food.
The dive started by all the divers forming a circle. Then the dive master sat in the middle to watch. As we sat with food in our hands, it didn't take the stingrays long to find us.
Soon we were being swarmed. The graceful rays would swoop in, suck the food out of our hands, then circle around for more.
The Little Ones Are the Males, Not the Babies
I felt sorry for the little ones, thinking they were babies, so I tried to feed them. It wasn't until later that I later the little ones were male and the big ones were female. I did get a laugh out of that.
It was quite a sight to see them swooping in so eager for their food. Some of the divers, including me, got knocked over by an enthusiastic ray. It was hard to keep from laughing underwater at the sight we all made.
Weren't You Scared?
At one point a very large ray swam over me and sucked the top of my head. It felt like having a giant Hoover attached to me head momentarily. I wasn't scared, instead I had to laugh at that one and got a mouthful of saltwater as my reward.
As I began to tire of their antics I started to push them away. They were like giant puppies, but I finally got tired of playing. The stingrays are very soft and smooth and beautiful to watch.
What Else Did You See?
After about 30 minutes we left the rays and explored a nearby reef. There we searched for the large eel who inhabited the area. We were unable to find him, but we did see a large Peacock Flounder burrowing into the sand, as well as lots of colorful fish.
Oh, yes, and we saw plenty of the homo sapien snorkelus species, as well.
After returning to the hotel we got to experience that fun afternoon again on video. It was hilarious!
Would You Recommend It?
Absolutely!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
diverpam
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Member: Pam
Location: Collierville, TN
Reviews written: 263
Trusted by: 351 members
About Me:
~~~~So many oceans...so little time!~~~~
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