Monday, July 26, 2010

The Trip

Well we made it to the Cayman Islands and back. The experience was incredible. We all enjoyed it despite less than perfect weather. I think though actually we lucked out. With out the beating sun we were able to be outside more. The only negative part of the whole trip was how outrageous food was. It didn't bother me as much as Bubby who kept cringing at the menus. :) 

We were able to snorkel off the hotel beach. We did it every day and even got fussed at for going to far. It's hard to get carried away! 

This was Parker's first time snorkeling, not in the pool! 

I was so impressed by the clarity of the ocean. 

Most of these conch shells still had residents. We found so many of them.
If you look really hard you can see the fish. 

These fish were so brilliant in color. My camera didn't pick it up. 

I was learning how to use the underwater camera. It's a Fugi XP...which ironically broke on the way home. 
Before we went on this trip, we each picked from a list, the thing we wanted to do. I picked a stingray visit and snorkeling adventure on a sailboat.  The stingrays there are wild, but are used to being fed by the tourists that they let you hold them and touch them. We ended up doing this twice and both time the guides were very informative and made you feel comfortable. 

 However, Bubby didn't get off the boat. He wasn't into the stingrays. 

There are about 125 stingrays in Stingray Town. 

When I finally got low enough for her to breath, she settled into my arms. I loved it.....Of course she was probably looking for food. They feed them squid to get them to come over. The females are large and the males are smaller. We only saw one male. This has been going on for 60 years or so and it started with the shrimp boats. 


Parker picked getting to play with the dolphins. We learned facts and got to get in the water and take three different rides with them. We petted and splashed with them. It was amazing at how well-trained they were. 

We began by playing a game. This ended with them splashing us of course! 

We all got to do this ride. They swam very fast. Lots of fun. 

Oh yes they kissed us and we kissed them back. :) 

I think he liked it. 

On this ride, they pushed your feet and you went flying. 
Parker did the superman pose!!! Again lots of fun!!

This one the dolphin was upside down, so that you are belly to belly. 

Finally we petted her/him....and they did some flying tricks. 
This is something I've always wanted to do and probably never will again, so I am glad we did it. 

Bubby picked the submarine ride for his trip. 

We had to crawl into the circular hole. It was air-conditioned thankfully. We went down 100 feet. 
Then we looked out these windows...it didn't take great pictures. Too blue, but it was interesting in person. 

The last excursion we did was a boat ride to Stingray City, Snorkling and a starfish walk.
I forgot my camera on the boat when we looked for starfish, but we did see them!! 


Our guide for this trip. He is a native Cayman Islander and we extremely informative and friendly. 

Bubby waiting patiently on the boat. He loves to snorkel, just touching stingrays isn't his gig. 

It gets pretty crowded at Stingray City. 

This spot had the best snorkeling. 

Interesting sideways swimming fish. 

My pictures just don't do justice!! 

All in all it was a great trip. I don't know if I will ever go back, but I'm so glad we did it. 

1 comment:

Genie @ Diet of 51 said...

What an amazing family experience (even if Bubby doesn't do stingrays)! Thanks for sharing!