Turquoise waters
lapped against Seven Mile Beach's fine white sands. Neck deep in water
as clear as a swimming pool, you can see your toes with tiny fish
skittering around.
The
picture to the left is a tour guide holding up a stingray at the Sand
Bar. Stingrays
have gotten use to people at Grand Cayman. They congregate at Stingray
City and the Sand Bar in the North Sound. The water is about 10-12
feet deep at Stingray City and 3-4 feet at the Sand Bar. As each tour
boats haul in, the stingrays swim toward the boats looking for handouts.
They keep their dangerous barbed stingers safely tucked away as they
swim around people. Please note it's important to keep
in mind that stingrays are wild creatures. Inexperienced people should
not be picking up stingrays as shown in the photo.
The
waters off of the Cayman Islands are among the best places in the
world for snorkeling and scuba diving. There are many dive shops in
Georgetown and at major hotels. The West Wall encompasses numerous
dive sites. The South Wall offers shallow diving in exotic coral playgrounds.
The North Wall features spine-tingling drops that may bring about
panic, until you realize you're floating, not falling. The East End
contains many of the island's least-explored sites.