The second to last day of our trip, we went to Seven Mile Beach. It is THE tourist destination on Grand Cayman, a long stretch of pristine sand reaching down into impossibly clear turquoise water that grades into ever deeper shades of teal as you look out towards the horizon.

While most of the land just above the beach is owned by hotels, the entire length of the beach is public access with various parking spots and paths to the water in between the hotels.

(Those are homemade Arenite shorts. If you missed the post, click the photo).

We took a walk at the water’s edge, enjoying an overcast morning and the quiet. and when we arrived back at the public beach where we’d parked, we took another sea bath. We stayed in until our fingers shriveled into raisins. The water was so clear that even at eight feet deep we could see little silver and blue fish swimming around our ankles.Finally, we headed back for a little down time before the next big touristy thing we planned to do, Stingray City. It’s another one of those things you Have To Do if you visit the Cayman Islands. The Chaplain’s high school mate and his girl had done it on their trip a few months earlier, which had catalyzed our trip, so we knew we wanted to go as well, to bring things full circle.

The Chaplain’s island friend got us the locals’ rate, and we climbed on the bus that would take us to our tour boat. The boat was similar to the one we’ve taken in Tobago to see Nylon Pool. On the way to the Stingrays, they stopped the boat so we could get out and snorkel. I didn’t know snorkeling would be part of the tour, and it was a pleasant surprise.On my trip to Nylon Pool a couple of years ago, I’d spent a lot of my time hyperventilating into my snorkeling equipment. I’d like to credit my meditation practice, but that wasn’t an issue this time. I relaxed into the water and spent the entire time breathing calmly, in total awe of the amazing, living coral reef just below us. Swimming around in the coral were every color and size of fish from tiny to medium, green and red, neon blue and yellow.

We stopped a second time to snorkel, and this stop was even more amazing. The guys running our boat dumped squid juice into the water, so when we got in to the water ourselves, we lowered ourselves right into a mass of colorful fish. The beauty was incredible. It was like being dropped into a fish tank at the aquarium, but in the best possible way.

The stop in Stingray City was the main event. We all got out of the water and were told to walk, not swim. We were showed the squid we would be feeding to the stingrays, and told how to hold them so our fingers wouldn’t get sucked into the mouths of the stingrays. Female stingrays are the big ones, about 3 feet across in our case, while the guys held steady at around 1.5 feet across. They swam over to us almost immediately, and this was the only time I felt anxious. We were in the water with these huge, sort of wild animals, with nothing to protect us.I had stingrays brushing against my legs and my belly and I worked hard to stay calm. By the time it was our turn with the photographer (later, we paid $50 for access to the photos he took. Extortion, but when will I ever touch a stingray again?), I volunteered to go first holding the stingray. Apparently, kissing a stingray will add a few years to your life, but I had every intention of faking it when the time came. For better or worse, my stingray was well trained and when I went in for my kiss, she closed the gap and we made full contact. I guess you only live once.

At the end of our Stingray City tour, one of the other people on the boat mentioned they were going on a Bioluminescence Tour that night. I looked it up and you can rent a kayak and go self-guided, or with a tour guide, and it looks incredible. The best time to go is when the moon is waning. I would totally go back to Grand Cayman just to do that.In spite of going on an afternoon tour (ours went from 2:30-5:30 p.m.), wearing an SPF shirt and neck scarf, and applying and reapplying sunblock, I got a sunburn that day, but it was an experience I’m glad I was able to have.

On a practical note, I took motion sickness meds before this tour. I took the photos using my iPhone in a $6 waterproof case I got online. The case kept my phone safe and dry, but the touch screen wouldn’t work  underwater. Instead, I had to use the button on the side to take photos, which I’m not used to, so most of my underwater photos were taken accidentally. 

Catch up on Part I, Part II, and Part III. The last installment is coming next week.