Grand Cayman

Our fourth and final port was the Grand Caymans(it also happened to be Valentine's Day). Jason and I went there in 2006 and loved it. Grand Caymans is a beautiful island. Unlike a lot of these islands where the beach and resort areas are nice and the rest of the island dirt poor and barely livable, the Cayman people are well taken care off. The government puts the money from tourism right back into the economy. If you live there you have to work; they have a zero unemployment. The entire island is clean and colorful and the people are friendly. The houses are painted in turquoise, purple, pink, yellows and other fun and tropical colors.  Our ship had to be rerouted to a back up port because the water was too rough at the Georgetown port. A lot of people's excursions were cancelled but we were lucky and ours was not affected. The sky started out clear and beautiful. 

We took a shuttle from the port to Dolphin cove. Our excursion was two part; first Stingray City, then swimming with dolphins at Dolphin Cove. It started to rain on the ride over but stopped when we got there. We got on a boat to go to Stingray City and we were headed into dark clouds and there was even a water spout (a water tornado). Can you see it in the picture? 

It sprinkled a little bit, but cleared off again to make room for lots of sun. Last time we were in the Caymans we did a dive at Stingray City. This time we were right up on the sandbar so even though we were in the middle of the ocean, we standing about waist deep. 

Our guides picked up the sting rays for us so we could feel them, they feel very soft, almost like velvet. They were swimming all around us though too so you had to be careful where you stepped. 

We could feed them too if we wanted. Jason was all about it. 

After petting, holding and feeding the sting rays we took the boat back to Dolphin cove. 

They had other animals there as well.

We were divided into four groups and given a guide and a Dolphin. Our Dolphin was Lucie.

 We put on vests and our guide showed us the different signals and what we would get to do and then we got into the water. The cove is on the ocean and the water is 40 feet deep! First we lined up and put out our arms. That was the signal to Lucie to swim under our hands so we could pet her. 

Then she came back around and swam upside down so we could feel her belly. 

Next was the belly ride. We each took turns putting our arms out and Lucie would swim up underneath us so we could grab her fins and we rode on her belly. 

When you put your hands on your vest, Lucie would give you a kiss. 

Jason's turn.

After everyone got a turn, the couples or families each got to spend some one on one time with Lucie. 

Then we lined up on two sides and Lucie did tricks for us. When we held up our hands and shook them side to side, she danced. 

Then she and the other dolphins did some jumps for us. 

This was an amazing experience. The Grand Cayman is still still my favorite Caribbean island, although I have many more to visit. We had so much fun on our cruise and can't wait to plan out next one:)