Stingray City(Gordon England) “I can’t wait to reach Grand Cayman tomorrow,” I said as my wife, Annie, and I sipped on rum drinks at a tiki bar overlooking the bay in Falmouth, Jamaica.
“Is that where we are going diving?” Annie asked.
“Oh yeah. We’ll go to Stingray City and dive with the rays.”
“What do you mean we? I’ll watch you swim with rays all you want. I’ve seen pictures of those stingrays bigger than me. Are you crazy? Their three-foot stinger would kill me for sure.”
“Have faith. The natives wouldn’t take us somewhere dangerous. That would be bad for business.”

We were on a cruise ship traveling a Western Caribbean route. On the previous day, we had explored a waterfall in Ocho Rios in Jamaica. Fortunately, we completed a fifty-foot-high climb over a gradual slope through small rapids without falling. Fifteen of us from the cruise boat climbed the slippery falls by holding on to each other and shuffling in a human chain. Going down was much easier than climbing up.
“Another round of drinks,” I told our bartender.
“Good move,” said Annie. “We have another hour before we go back to the ship.”
After replenishing our drinks, I said, “Let’s move to that hammock under the palm tree.”
“Good idea.”
We swung in the hammock until boarding time, ending another perfect day on a tropical island.

The following day, we left our ship early on a tender boat, sailing from our ship anchored offshore near George Town Harbour. I wanted plenty of time to explore Grand Cayman and snorkel in its warm water. I took my own dive gear rather than renting worn masks and snorkels used by who knows yesterday. Leaving the tender, I was impressed with a modernized terminal area receiving passengers from several cruise ships. Much of low-lying George Town had been severely damaged during Hurricane Emily in 2005. Recent reconstruction had created the most modernized buildings and infrastructure of any port I had seen in the Western Caribbean. One of the first tourist attractions I noticed on the seaside was a new Margaritaville Restaurant on stilts, elevating it to second-story height for storm protection. I looked forward to visiting Jimmy Buffet’s restaurant when we returned.

I hired a guide who led a group of us to his dive boat floating on crystal clear water. The first mate cast lines away from our vessel. Our deeply tanned and grizzled captain with a British accent circled the island, then took us across a shallow, sandy bay. Once again, I was traveling across tropical waters, inhaling warm salt air blowing through my hair.
“That must be Stingray City,” I said to Annie as I pointed toward a dozen boats assembled in a small area several miles from shore.
“Yes,” said the mate. “That be Stingray City.”
Our captain anchored on a four-foot-deep sandbar, in between two other boats anchored as part of a large circle where many tourists filled the water to look at giant stingrays. Large dark shapes swam between many tourists wading in gin clear water. Those had to be stingrays, almost as large as manta rays.
Annie stayed back when our passengers lined up to step off the dive platform.
“Are you coming?” I asked her.
“You go first. I’ll watch from here.”
“Okay. I’ll give you a report.”

I jumped into the sea and waded through chest-deep water to a group of people where a guide gave a lecture.
“Welcome to Stingray City, home to our pets year-round. No be afraid of them. They be friendly this time of year. Just move slowly, and they come to you for food. Don’t feed them; we do dat a couple of times a day. Gently pet da rays. Some of you be worried about da stingers. This ray in front of us is old female. She have no stinger, so you be safe. She likes to be petted and held. I stay here to watch while you have fun.”

I watched people pet the older, six-foot diameter ray with ease. Then I stepped forward for my turn. With minor hesitation, I reached toward the inch-thick creature and gently grabbed her silky skin just below the waterline. My minor concern disappeared when she did not react. When she raised part of her body above water, I turned around to let her rest a sizeable pectoral fin on my back. Oh, that was cool. If I wasn’t there, I would not believe a ray would be so friendly. Now I felt adventurous, so I turned around and slowly kissed the ray’s body. A large grin stayed on my face for several minutes after I stopped.

I watched dozens of smaller, black rays slowly swim among tourists. A few rays came within petting distance of me but most kept their distance. No wonder this was called Stingray City.
I returned to our boat and talked to Annie.
“Do you see how friendly these stingrays are?” I asked.
“Yes, but they’re so big.”
“They are as calm as our cat. Did you see me kiss one?”
“Yes,” Annie said with hesitation.
“Come on in. They won’t hurt you.”
“Well.”
“I’ll be right beside you. Nothing’s going to happen.”
“Okay. Just one time. You’ll be there, right?”
“Yes, I’ll be with you all the way,” I promised.
I helped Annie descend the dive ladder into clear, warm water.
I held her hand and said, “Now walk over here,” as I led her to the female ray.
“Oh Gordon. Are you sure?”
“It’s okay. Now stand still and wait for her to come to you.”
Annie squeezed my hand tight.
“Here she is. Reach out and touch her.”
Annie bravely made a quick pet, then turned away.
“I want to go back to our boat.”
I laughed and said, “You did well.”
I escorted Annie back to our charter boat, then returned to the rays with my mask and snorkel. The giant, peaceful creatures paid no attention to me as I dove among them to take once-in-a-lifetime stingray photographs in crystal clear, aqua water.

When our crew returned to the boat, the captain took us to a protected reef for diving. Annie reluctantly donned her mask and snorkel to join me in the turquoise water. We swam on the surface, holding onto a long, floating line tied to the dive platform. I dove fifteen feet down to a beautiful reef with multicolored coral. Sargent Majors, orange Triggerfish, and blue Queen Angelfish swarmed the reef in staggering schools larger than I had seen elsewhere in the Caribbean. This Cayman reef was an outstanding example of how mother nature thrives in isolated and protected conditions. Though Annie did not descend to the reef, I was pleased to see her float above it until I finished diving. We returned to our dive boat and enjoyed a quiet, beautiful ocean until we had to leave.

Back on Grand Cayman, we made our way to Margaritaville and ordered obligatory cheeseburgers and Margaritas. Listening to Jimmy Buffet music completed the ingredients to put us in a tropical state of mind.
“What do you think of this island?” I asked Annie.
We always compared a Caribbean Island to The Bahamas, where we had lived for a few years. We looked beyond tourist attractions and thought about what it would be like to live there from day to day.
“It is clean and new,” she said. “The water is gorgeous, and locals are friendly.”
Unlike some islands where Americans are despised.
“Yes. When we drove across the island, did you notice we saw no poor areas? Grand Cayman is one of the banking capitals of the world. How many banks do you think are on this island?”
“I didn’t see any banks as we drove around.”
“Wasn’t that weird? There are 111 banks here,” I said.
“Really?” she replied in disbelief.
“I said the same thing. Where are those banks? They hide them well. Also, did you notice how flat the land is?”
She had been around me long enough to know what I was thinking.
“Low and flat. There’s no hurricane protection here.”
“Right. The highest point is about twenty feet above sea level. They were smashed in ‘05 and had to rebuild most of the buildings on the island. This one is on stilts,” I noted.
“At least they can afford it. Banking brings in so much money, locals pay no taxes here.”
“Most other islands are poor with high taxes and high cost of living,” Annie said.
“We’ll just visit here,” Annie said. “I wouldn’t want to be here with no place to hide in a storm.”
“Right. Time for more Margaritas,” I said with a grin.

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