Cayman Trip - Day 5: Sailboats and Stingrays

Now we are on Tuesday. It was again a beautiful morning. We took it slow; breakfast and then getting ready to go to the beach. We went over to Rum Point again. Such a pretty beach! Most of the family left before Matt and I got ready – they had little kids that REALLY wanted to go play (and they had been up a lot longer than we had). They arrived early enough to get us all some beach chairs before the boat arrived from the other side of the island with all the cruise ship passengers in it. It was crowded by the time we got there – all the happy tourists with their Blue Carnival towels spread out. The beach chairs filled up, but there was still plenty of room in the water for swimming and playing. We did some swimming, and some more snorkeling. Good times were being had by all.
I knew we wanted to go out to Stingray City sometime on this trip, and I had read that the tour group off of Rum Point had a boat that went out at 2:00 and got back after 4. This means that no cruise ship passengers would be on the boat, and that very few cruise ship passengers would be out at Stingray City. That sounded good to me, because I had read that it gets crazy crowded out there sometimes. What Stingray City is, is a sandbar out in the ocean where there are a TON of stingrays. They have gotten used to people, with all the boats going out there and feeding them, and they will just swim right up to you. But I will get back to that. Anyway – we booked the 2:00 tour and we were set to go.

Snorkeling was pretty cool this day. We saw some barracuda. They are huge and will scare you if you are not paying attention. We also saw some little jellyfish. These were way different from the ones in our lagoon, they were little transparent ones that floated near the surface of the water. Most of us saw them, but no one got stung, so we figured they were safe.

We played on the beach for a while longer, then headed home to the blue house for lunch and a little more relaxation before it was time to get on our catamaran and head out. We ate and relaxed. I started to notice that the clock was moving and I thought it was time to start getting ready. The group was so happy where they were that we were slow going. Finally, at what I think was about quarter to 2 (but it could have been 10 or 5 to, I don’t know) Matt, Val and I ran out the door and down to the pier hoping we would make the boat and that we would be able to hold it for everyone else. We got there before 2 (sure we did) and let them know the others were coming. We found ourselves a nice seat in the front of the boat on the cargo nets and set out to relax. I kept my eye out for the rest of the family, and when we saw them coming up the beach we told the tour guides that they were coming. Luckily we didn’t leave without them, but as soon as they were on the boat we set off.

It was a nice ride, they put the sails up and we went under wind power for about 5 minutes (if that long) and then the engine was back on. Our first stop was a snorkel trip out by the reef. They had gear on board to use, but we all brought our own. They also had little life vests available, but we were too cool to need those. I questioned my coolness when I first took that giant stride off the boat and realized I didn’t have the vest to hold me up. But I am rather buoyant, so I floated back up and I was able to put my mask on and swim around. (I had to laugh when I would pop up to find people I could hear someone yelling from the boat “Hi Manna” that was Dax. So cute!)

There was some really good snorkeling around the reef. Some people saw a nurse shark, but I missed it. I think there was a lion fish too, but I didn’t see that either (or the ray) but it was still really awesome. Such good coral and pretty fish.

We had to get back on the boat and then we were off to Stingray city!


The kids were able to get off the boat here. We all climbed down the ladder and out onto the sand bar. It was a little too deep for the kids to stand, so we had to hold them, but it was still really shallow considering it was in the middle of the ocean. Right away the stingrays came because one of the guides was feeding them. They showed us the right way to catch and hold the ray – making sure it was in the water the whole time. Basically you just get in front of it and let it swim up a ramp made by your arms. Then you just stay in front of it and it will sit there for you. The guide caught one and we all touched it. I was surprised by how soft it was, not rubbery, just nice. Then it was time to catch one for ourselves. In the end I think both Chrystie and Preston had a chance to hold one. Matt took some really good underwater pictures of the rays. It was a good time that was over too soon and we were loaded back on the boat and they hurried home.

We had to clear off the beach pretty quickly once we got back because they were having a wedding on the beach. Let me tell you what – when Matt and I get married again it is going to be there! It was so pretty. They had chairs right on the sand and lights in the trees. So amazing.

Quickly going home and cleaning up, we decided to go eat at the Kaibo restaurant. We had to drive there, it was probably a mile and a half or so away. Not too bad. We arrived, parked (which I hear is hard from the wrong side of the car) and found a place to sit. They brought us menus, but then we found out we were only supposed to use them for drinks, because it was BBQ night. Yep, all you can eat BBQ for $25. I don’t remember if that was US or Cayman dollars, but either way it sounded pricy, so we thanked them and left. They tried to convince us to stay by mentioning the 2 for 1 mudslides, but with a bunch of non-drinkers, that just didn’t mean anything.

So we set off in search of somewhere else to eat. There were not a lot of restaurants on our end of the island, so we drove to the only other one we knew about that was close – the Over the Edge. Unfortunately everyone else on that side of the island wanted to eat that night too, because there was nowhere to sit. Now too hungry to wait, we drive back home and make ourselves a yummy dinner. And now we know you need to make reservations if you want to eat anywhere.

Coming Soon - Day 6: Sunburn and Coconut water