Grand Cayman

    Another very warm and humid day!  It is a long trek from Cozumel to Grand Cayman Island so we did not arrive and anchor until 10 am.  It was nice to sleep in and have a good breakfast before taking off on the day's adventure.  We were not anchored very far off land and could see a long line of white beaches and resorts on the island.  The ride in on the tender was much shorter than in Belize.

     There are many beautiful old colonial buildings downtown and everything looks clean and prosperous.   A tour bus took us away from town along 7 Mile Beach.  The water is many beautiful shades of blue and fairly warm. Our tour was to go to "Sting Ray City" which is a sandbar about 30 minutes away from the beach by small boat.  When we reached the sandbar there were many other tour boats anchored nearby.  We jumped out of the boat into warm, waist-deep water.  Immediately dozens of stingrays gathered around to eat the shrimp that the tour boat brought to attract them.  The stingrays ranged from dinner plate size babies to adults that were over 36" in diameter. 
    We were advised to shuffle our feet so that we would not step on them, but also assured that the rays were only interested in the food.  They swam around us and brushed against our legs.  I was surprised at how soft and smooth they are.  It was great to be in the water on such a beautiful day.
    We got back to the ship mid-afternoon and grabbed a very late lunch and a well-deserved nap.  After our final formal dinner I sat out on the balcony again to watch the stars and enjoy the warm night air.  We are already heading back to Miami.