A Mother's Day to Remember!

A very happy belated Mother's Day to all the moms out there!  I hope you all had a magical day on Sunday.  I certainly had one to remember!  It was pretty windy on Sunday in the Caymans, but we knew that if we wanted to get to "Stingray City", we had to go on Sunday, because Monday was slated for repair work on the main sail. We took the dinghy out across North Sound, and boy, was it a rough ride!  We were unfortunately, (once again!) going right into the wind with lots of bashing and pounding!  But it was worth it...

Stingray City was inadvertently created in the early 1900's when fishermen, returning to port, anchored in the (usually) calm waters of Grand Cayman's North Sound, which is protected by a reef.  The fishermen cleaned their catch here, and threw unused bait overboard.  Southern Stingrays, who hunt by sense of smell, quickly discovered these new feeding grounds, and have continued to come back here to dine!  These days, they dine primarily on squid provided by divers and snorkelers.

One of our visitors

When we finally reached the sandbar, we immediately spotted the gentle giants in the crystal clear water!  They came right over, hoping for something to eat...unfortunately we did not have anything for them, but they still allowed us to swim with them.  Due to the weather, there were very few people out there, which was great, but then a boat arrived, and they did have food for them, and then the stingrays were no longer interested in us!

So close you can (and we did!) touch them!

We had a wonderful time with them, were able to touch them, and swim with them, and snorkel out there on the beautiful sandbar.  The dinghy ride back was quick and painless, and we were back on the boat in the early afternoon.  After some recuperation time, we took our little rental car and explored the West End of the island, and stopped at a another beautiful little beachfront restaurant called "Alfresco" where I was treated to a Mother's Day dinner.  I must say....I can't complain!!

Click below for video:

Video of Stingray City

Ben and Mom...Hang Ten

Gaby touching one of the Stingrays

Team Cool Runnings