When we woke up the morning of the Cayman Island day, this was our view
We ordered room service for breakfast since we had to be ready so early (well, for us). The first tender was at 7:30 and we weren’t even close to making it. I had not been good about reading our paperwork. On the last cruise I studied everything and practically memorized the navigators. This time I’ve been on a need to know basic with the information. I have really surprised myself by being this way since I am such a planner. Anyway, this relates to the story because I didn’t know we had to meet in the Theatre to get to tender. It was probably written somewhere. By the time a tender boat came and picked us up, we were already fifteen minutes late for the Sting Ray Adventure we were doing with Moby Dick Tours. The paperwork said to meet at 7:45 with a leaving time of 8:30. I thought it was weird that we had to be there 45 minutes early. I hoped they would let us go but we made a back up plan to go to 7-Mile Beach if we were too late.
Tendering
We arrived at the Moby Dick booth at 8:20 and they said, “Perfect timing. We are leaving in ten minutes.” So they say you have to be there 45 minutes early for people like me who can’t show up on time. Shortly after this, we boarded an air-conditioned bus and rode through Georgetown and some other parts of the Cayman Islands. I kind of hoped the bus driver would give some information about the sites we were seeing but he didn’t. He had about five signs up in the bus that said, “TIPS ACCEPTED.” I was thinking he would probably get better tips if he gave us some facts about the island or said anything at all
Oh well. The bus ride was 10-15 minutes long. We then arrived at the site where the Moby Dick boat was waiting for us.
We met these characters
I think Moby Dick Tours is completely underrated here on the Disboards. I really have mostly read about the other tour groups around here. These guys are the number #1 stingray tour on Trip Advisor and they have been voted best of Cayman Islands for the last two years. They are a hidden gem.
I was thoroughly entertained on the way to our snorkeling stop. Mr. England taught us a few things about stingrays while Mr. Italy narrated.
DS not impressed
We listened to some music as we took in the beautiful sights. The boat’s thermometer read 93 degrees and there was ZERO wind. The guys told us that they had not had a wind free day in two months. LUCKY
What a perfect day to swim in the ocean!
Mangroves
DS got sunscreen in his eye from laying his head on my shoulder so we spend about five minutes grabbing water from the cooler and flushing his eyes. We had to continuously remind him not to rub his eyes because he had sunscreen on his hands too. I was cursing myself in my head for buying the cheap sunscreen and not going with the tear free Waterbabies stuff
I thought DH and I would have to take turns snorkeling or not snorkel at all but...
The water was so calm thanks to the lack of wind and I saw they had nice toddler sized life vests. DH and I got our snorkel gear on. I jumped in the water with DS first. He floated very nicely
After I got comfortable holding DS, I did some snorkeling while I held him in my right arm. He really enjoyed himself. I tried to get him to wear the snorkeling gear but he refused. He was much happier just floating around with me. DH took DS for a while so I could swim further out.
There wasn’t a huge amount to see here but I but find some “Dori” fish (like Finding Nemo) and a lot of coral. My first snorkeling experience was at Trunk Bay in St. John, which had beautiful coral formations. I didn’t realize how beautiful it was until I snorkeled at some other spots. After about thirty minutes, a whistle sounded on the boat to indicate we should return.
We took a short boat ride to our next destination: Stingray City.
Even though the crew kept telling us how tame and loving the stingrays were, I was a little apprehensive. I tried not to let DS notice so he wouldn’t get scared. Our group brought some squid into the water with us so the stingrays visited immediately. They feel like big mushrooms when they glide across your legs.
I looked back at the boat and I was surprised to see most of the kids ages 3-7 were sitting on the boat with various looks of terror on their faces. About half of them were crying. I guess they knew about Steve Erwin. DS never heard of him.
I got braver when I discovered for myself these really were gentle creatures. Mr. Cayman picked one up like a big floppy pizza.
DS and I petted one and then kissed it for seven years of good luck.
I had to feed one so I could feel the “vacuum cleaner feeling” they were talking about. You are supposed to hold the squid in your fist like an ice cream cone top. Right away one came up and slurped the squid out of my hand. It makes a weird noise when it slurps too. It was audible above the water. DH refused to feed or kiss the stingrays. I think he was scared of them
We interacted with the rays for about forty minutes until all the squid was gone. The ride back in the boat was awesome because it was such a nice day. They put on some music again while we cruised back to the starting point. I commented to DH that I thought the weather was probably the nicest I could recall in the history of my life. DH agreed.
Half way through the bus ride back, they stopped at Seven Mile Beach for those who wanted to but we decided to skip it. DS had already fallen asleep, we were hungry, and we wanted to eat the free food on the Mickey Boat. I would have liked to buy some rum cake to take back but, once again, it sucked to carry DS around in the heat. It would have to wait for another trip. The tender boat was waiting for us when we arrived.
Back on the boat, we ordered some room service and relaxed for a bit while DS finished up his nap.
Up next: An unexpected visit from Alice in Wonderland and my disappointing night.
I got up that morning, ran the Jogging track, then had Palo Brunch at 11 a.m.!! How funny! We were literally so close and had no idea!
and he kept holding his belly and crying. DH and I took DS back to the cabin and, for about twenty minutes, strongly encouraged him to take care of business. Somehow DH convinced DS to go on the potty, which was awesome because he hasnt done that before. DS actually named the poop, Hot Dog Pooper. Sorry, I couldnt resist telling that story.
because I felt like we were going very fast and this was the loud night. The engine kind of rumbled the room the entire night.
