Stingray City Grand Cayman Island

Visiting the Cayman Islands without going to Stingray City is like not visiting the Caymans at all. The stingrays are so tame that they have become one of the main attractions in the entire Caribbean. These friendly rays can be found both at Stingray City and at a shallower site known as The Sandbar.

Stingray City is a shallow dive site - about 12 feet of water. The Sandbar, which is more for non-divers, lies at the entrance to Rum Point Channel. The water is very shallow at this point, and the sea floor is flat and sandy. In some places, you will find yourself standing in chest-high water. Both sites are frequented by southern stingrays.

The site was first noticed when fishermen came to the calmer, shallower waters just over the reef to clean their fish. Soon they noticed stingrays hanging around the boats, inhaling any leftovers they could get. After some brave dive masters got in the water to hand-feed them, the stingrays eventually became tame, almost pet-like. Today, you can swim under, over, and along with these rays. Their favorite food is squid, which you can feed them by hand. Stingrays like the shallow, sandy bottom that found at this area, as that is where they normally find their food. Stingrays are bottom dwellers who feed primarily on mollusks and crustaceans, for which they dig in the sand, and on the occasional small fish.

At the sandbar, you can use a mask and snorkel and watch the rays swarm around you, brushing their velvety bellies against your hands and feet - this is their way of begging for food. The rays have no teeth, but use a powerful sucking motion to draw in their food. Some are big - nearly six-feet in diameter! Their only means of defense is a barbed, venomous tail, but as long as you don't lift the rays out of the water, and treat them with the respect they deserve, you'll have a wonderful experience.

When diving at Stingray City, be sure to also look up another famous inhabitant of the area - a green Moray Eel who is also exceptionally used to divers and can also be hand fed.

Feeding them has been compared to feeding a horse, while underwater - watch your fingers. Your guide will probably have cut up bits of squid that you can use to feed to the rays. Hold the bait in the palm of your hand with your fingers outstretched so that your palm is flat. Stingrays don't have teeth, so the ray will come in and just vacuum the bait right up off your hand !

If you drop the bait too early and the ray misses it, the bait will likely get taken by one of the always present Sergeant Majors or Yellow Tail Snappers. These fish can be quite aggressive and can give you a nip on the finger to help encourage you to give them the bait. If you get nervous, just fold your arms across your chest and cover each hand with your opposite arm.

If you dive or deep snorkel, wear a skin or light wet-suit to protect from stingray hickies. If the Stingrays get a bit excited during a feeding frenzy, they will just start sucking away at anything near them, and it's possible that one could just start sucking on your back, arm or leg...

Be sure not to wear dive gloves while diving or snorkeling with the rays. The fabric of the gloves can easily strip off the layers of protective mucus from the ray's skin and expose it to potentially deadly infection. There is absolutely no reason to wear gloves at Stingray City or The Sandbar.

Keep in mind that these are wild animals and will not take kindly to folks trying to ride them or pull their tails. They are capable of inflicting a rather serious injury with the stinger on their tail if you attempt to ride or harass them physically.

Numerous tour and dive operators offer snorkel and/or dive trips to Stingray City and the Sandbar.
You can get discounts on Stingray City trips (and others) if you book a condominium with Cayman Vacations, so check that out for some great deals.