By Scott Bateman
© Caribeez.com

Introduction
Our neighbors first told us about their fantastic experience at Stingray City off Grand Cayman Island. We thought it sounded interesting.

It wasn't just interesting. It was fantastic, and it turned out to be one of our favorite Caribbean experiences.

Photo copyright Caribeez.com and IStockPhoto.com

We visited Grand Cayman on our western Caribbean cruise. About 40 of us took the drive over to the dock where our boat was located, jumped on board and spent about 20 minutes riding out to the sandbar where the large school of stingray lived. The highlight of the excursion was a chance to go snorkeling with them.

Numerous sources have explained that fishing boats would stop at the sandbar to dump the remains of fish they had cleaned over the side. Stingray gathered to feed on what the fishermen dumped. Eventually, the crew got into the water and started to feed the stingray directly. That's how the stingray got comfortable with human contact and eventually settled down to live at the sandbar.

Highlights
On this particular day, the weather was perfect -- clear blue sky and an easy sea. As the double decker boated neared the sandbar, everyone stood at the sides to watch large dark shapes glide underwater toward the boat in anticipation. Some people on the boat talked excitedly while others talked nervously.

The boat came to a stop and dropped anchor. Those of us on the top deck had to climb down stairs and temporarily lose site of the water and the stingrays. As we did, we started to hear screams of excitement.

When we got down to the bottom deck and looked out, we saw a number of people in the water trying to climb on top of each other and others getting back into the boat. We wondered why they tried so hard to get out of the water when they had just gone into it.

One of the guides explained that the sting ray had developed a habit of coming in contact with people. They loved to glide past people and rub their wings over people's legs. They also loved to give sucker bites -- licking the salt off people's skin.

Despite the fact that some people quickly got out of the water, the great majority of snorkelers -- both adults and children -- stayed in the water and were laughing, diving and talking with even more excitement.

Then it was our turn to get into the water with snorkeling gear. Within moments, stingray as large as six feet wide were gliding past us to see if we had any food for them. Some of them would glide their wings across our legs. Others would pass close by as we put our heads underwater to watch them and carefully reach out to run our own hands over their wings.

Suddenly a large and heavy boy jumped on my back. My son got rubbed for the first time. He laughed uncontrollably and nervously as he tried not to get rubbed again. Eventually he settled down and got back into the water.

Tour company guides joined vacationers in the water to explain how the sting ray live, They fed them occasionally in front of us and, in one case, gently captured one and held it for a minute at the water level to explain more about them. He then asked our kids to hold out their arms one by one and laid the sting ray across them at water level. Somehow they stayed calm.

Conclusion
We had plenty of contact, but no sucker bites. Less than an hour later, it was time to get back on the boat and return to the cruise ship. All great excursions end too soon. Stingray City is a memorable experience for anyone visiting Grand Cayman.