Stingray City At Grand Cayman

O ne of the most famous            water. Certified scuba divers and  natural attractions in          even snorkellers are recommended   Grand Cayman Island is          to take the dive trip option with  Stingray City. This is an area in     the dive shops to experience       the ocean not far from the            Stingray City with fewer crowds.   northern tip of Grand Cayman          For non-divers, the sandbars here  where tourists can get up close       are high enough to offer such      to hundreds of friendly               shallow waters and stingrays will  stingrays. Stingray City will be      come to these areas. It is         one of the organized tours from       believed that many years ago,      cruise ships visiting Grand           sailors visiting the area threw    Cayman as a port of call. There       fish remains overboard and soon    will also be tours available from     noticed the stingrays coming for   local operators in the town of        the free food. These particular    Georgetown where the cruise ships     stingrays became conditioned over  dock and bring passengers into        the years to the humans and the    town via tender boats. The cruise     food handouts unlike stingrays     organized tours will almost           elsewhere in the Caribbean.        always be the more expensive                                             option.                               The stingrays here are friendly                                          enough that people could touch     Scuba divers can book specialized     them and local guides have been    dives at Stingray City through        known to even hold them. The       one of the many diver operators       guides will warn everyone that     in Grand Cayman. The scuba diving     even though these stingrays        at Stingray City is at a deeper       appear to be quite friendly, they  section away from the tourist         should still be regarded as wild   crowds who are usually brought to     animals so it is never             a very shallow area where one         recommended to touch them by       could even stand in waist deep        their razor sharp tails or abuse   them in any manner. It is                                                possible to feed them with the        Although Stingray City can be      squid parts provided on site. The     crowded at times due to its        mouths of the stingrays are           popularity, it does offer a very   located underneath their bodies       unique experience to see these     and people are instructed to hold     wonderful sea creatures up close.  the food in their palms flat          Stingrays are usually very shy     facing up. With their keen sense      animals and will swim away from    of smell, the stingrays will          scuba divers and snorkellers but   hover towards and over the food       not here at Stingray City in       to collect their snacks.              Grand Cayman.                      About the Author: Clint Leung is owner of Free Spirit Gallery (http://www.FreeSpiritGallery.ca) , an online gallery specializing in Inuit Eskimo and Northwest Native American art including carvings, sculpture and prints. Free Spirit Gallery has numerous information resource articles with photos of authentic Inuit and Native Indian art as well as free eCards. Source: www.isnare.com