FROZEN IN CAYMAN

It would have to be a really bad voice that would motivate Catholic Christian Brothers to ask a child to do anything, anything,  ANYTHING, except SING, during mass.

I would be hard pressed to believe that any adult would be so hurtful towards a child, let alone believe that a group of religious teachers preaching generosity of spirit to others would be behind this.

BUT. We are talking about Captain Mario here, and around him, nothing is impossible. "Sticks and stones may break his bones" but those words have never hurt his indomitable spirit, and he has carried on singing to his heart's content whenever he has felt like doing so. Loudly. Vigorously. And with all his heart.

Suffice to say love is blind, but possibly also deaf, as two people in this world adore listening to his singing, one being his wife and the other being his daughter.

You may ask - why write about this on a blog about Stingray City Sandbar in Grand Cayman, where kissing stingrays and tours that take you there are the prime subject....................???

Because Captain Mario loves sharing the experience of cradling and feeding the stingrays at the sandbar, and he will do just about anything to encourage intrepid excursion guests. Even sing......

And so it was on an absolutely gorgeous Caribbean day, that he found one of his guests frozen to the boat platform ladder, half way up and half way down, really wanting to meet the stingrays but feeling simultaneously terrified at the prospect. Forcing a guest into the water is not an option, and her vice grip on the ladder was not going to be easily loosened.......

So, what's a guy to do? Well, summing up the situation and falling back on his hours of watching a certain movie enforced by his 4 year old daughter, he sucked in an enormous lung-full of air and burst forth with his rendition of "Let it go". Loudly. Vigorously. And with all his heart.

Did it work? You betcha! She was in the water before you could say "Olaf". Was it because of Captain Mario's encouragement or to get away from his singing? We shall never know........ but we do know she got her stingray kiss and Captain Mario steered back to dock a happy man. Who will NOT stop singing.

Kiss accomplished! Stingray City in Grand Cayman

SOME DAYS ARE DIAMONDS.......

Sigh. Just plain stupidly, daftly and ridiculously lucky.

First of all, we live on Grand Cayman - naturally, we think this is the best Caribbean island you can visit. 

Yes, we do have traffic jams. But while we wait 15 minutes to get through these, we can smell the ocean, look up at open azure skies and enjoy either a view of the Caribbean blues or at the very least, the natural vegetation and palm trees that surround us.

Yes, it gets hot and humid. REALLY hot and humid. But that's when we jump into awesomely beautiful caribbean water which is no further than a 10 minute drive from any point on the island.

Yes, we have a hurricane season. But we are very lucky and usually only suffer tropical storms, which actually just wash off dusty plants and make every thing shine even more (never mind that glorious post-storm fragrance which is so head-swirlingly refreshing).

So all of the above (and so much more) is pretty awesome. But then, we also get blessed with days like these, when we seriously need to pinch ourselves to make sure it's real:

Looking at the barrier reef in Grand Cayman

Yesterday was one of THOSE days. When, even as blessed as we are, we get treated with something even more special. Our boat trip to the Barrier Reef in Grand Cayman for snorkelling left us mesmerised - skimming over the waters you could actually spot the Starfish in the sea grass!!

And what is the first treat we get at the snorkel site?

Not one - but TWO - Eagle Rays playing at the Barrier Reef in Cayman

By this point, the feeling of being Alice in Wonderland has got about as unbelievable as it seems it could get, but no. The snorkelling carried on to include a school of about 500 Blue Tangs, Trumpet Fish, each variety of Parrot Fish, Trunk Fish and an array of coral formations which left everyone breathless.

Our guests were pretty quiet with awe while moving onto the next stop - the world famous Stingray City Sandbar. After the snorkelling adventure just experienced, everyone seemed anxious that even this much anticipated attraction might be a bit of an anti-climax. How wrong we were......

Stingray City Grand Cayman

We could not have been prepared for the beauty waiting there for us - the sun was glancing off the waters, giving it an "ombre" effect. With only two other boats there, the stingrays were only too happy to dance around us, eagerly looking for their squid treat, supplying cuddles and kisses. Nearly all of our favourites were there - Barbara, Snowflake, Frosty, Kim and Kisses ..... one young female stingray even swam straight into the arms of a guest and stayed there for an awesome  2 minute snuggle.....something that even Captain Mario has never experienced.

All good things come to an end, and hard as it was, the time to go on home came too quickly. However, the sunset that was the golden topping to an emerald day soothed the sadness and just warmed the memories even more. 

Grand Cayman sunset - afternoon tour

Like we said.....some days are diamonds.....but some are just pure Caribbean Emeralds!

ROUGH WEATHER - BUT TOUGH GUESTS!

It is that time of the year when Grand Cayman experiences some its most turbulent tropical weather, with high winds, choppy seas and weather conditions that can change in the flick of an eye.

Safety for our guests is #1 priority. Captain Mario will NOT take chances - he and his crew are often teased about having the best jobs in the world (which seriously, cannot be far from the truth), but with their jobs comes the awesome responsibility of looking after the lives & well being of each guest onboard.

Rain is never an issue for us - you are getting wet by entering the water at three beautiful sea sites anyway! Plus, we have a large interior cabin which can provide shelter during squalls. But wind is a different story, and high winds can change the North Sound (where Stingray City Sandbar is found) from one enormous and stunningly beautiful pond into a cauldron of currents and waves.

Smooth sailing (left) versus Rough days (right) at Stingray City Sandbar

For Captain Mario, it is hard to face guests with disappointing news that a trip will be cancelled due to unsafe conditions, especially when he sees all the kids' faces drop. Some guests have been saving up for this visit for over a year, some are celebrating a special occasion and some are ticking off bucket list items.....the disappointment is never easy.

But sometimes, it is just safe enough for the trips to go ahead and we are always proud of our brave and valiant guests who go ahead despite difficult weather - kudos to you all!