Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Where there are stingrays, there are sharks....


That is what my nephew said when we told him we were so excited to go to Grand Cayman Island and swim with the stingrays. He was very upset and told my mom she couldn't go unless she wore "a shield" because, where there are stingrays...there are sharks! (thanks Nemo!)

So off we went. Hello carribbean life! The humidity hits you like a wall when you step out of the plane (onto the tarmack, by the way), but it was fantastic!!! We stayed on the east end of the island, away from the cruise ships and stuff.
Life cannot be bad when you are on the beach 10-12 hours a day. Love it! reading. tanning. snorkeling.


And yes we did go to Stingray City and feed the stingrays. Wow! I must admit that it is a tad unsettling seeing this 3-4 foot wide dark spot coming at you, but we got used to it. They were very friendly and their bodies and undersides were so soft. It was awesome! What a cool experience.

That guy looks kinda big...

they were definitely not shy (especially when they smell squid!)

We took a catamaran out there. Gorgeous ride/sail!


Don't worry Alli.... I'll save you!


We snorkeled a couple days. Who needs to scuba when you can see all this in shallow water! Saw cool fish, spotted rays, even a nasty moray eel (eek!), and a group of squid... cool to watch them swim!



My Dad found a cool event. I don't know what it is offically called, but I'll call it Turbo Snorkeling. We had these motors that helped do the work for us. Not too shabby! And no... the picture below is not of aliens.



Believe it or not, there was one bad spot in the week. Hell. That's right we went to Hell! Who would name a town that? Apparently the Grand Caymanians! It was hot, but not unbearable, and the power was out while we were there. How appropriate! And now I can say " I have been to Hell and back to be here today...." Nice!



We stopped at this cute beach for a photo opportunity. The colors and everything were so great! They had these gazebo-like covered seats. We had to take pictures. We realized as we got closer that they were made for giants! Do you see how far off the ground my parents feet are? Seriously....made for super tall people!


The swing picture was cute in theory, but when we all sat down, my behind was almost on the ground! Hurry Dad... take the picture!


What a wonderful relaxing vacation! I would definitely go to an island like this again!

3 comments:

Grayson Family said...

That sounds like so much fun. I wish I could have gone with you........ and all your family. I love the pictures. Benches for the really tall and swings for the really short. And Hell! What more can you ask for?

melis said...

That looks like so much fun! I love sting ray bay! What a perfect vacation!

Michelle said...

What beautiful pictures, beautiful place, and beautiful people! So glad you had a good time, and that you didn't have any shark encounters!