Grand Cayman

Hello everyone! I am back in the states after a great trip! I went to Grand Cayman for a scuba diving trip the last week. It was what you would imagine it to be – clear, warm water, great beaches and yummy food. I did it partly for my birthday – but really just to scuba since 31 isn’t really a big birthday to celebrate! Overall, I did 18 dives. I stayed at a well known dive resort, Sunset House. They have unlimited shore diving. The diving there is exceptional – water was usually 85 degrees which meant going without the full full suit and just wearing a shorty. There are so many colorful fish to see and turtles come by. Diving is more peaceful than you may think – time really does go slower when you are just looking at everything around you and the only way to communicate is by hand gestures. I had a new dive computer that let me know everything – how deep, when to do a safety stop and when I was coming up too fast. I am still nervous about going down too deep – I do get alittle loopy past 85 feet. Not bad, just feeling tipsy from the nitrogen.
Some of the most memorable dives were on the east end seeing a shark, getting down to 101 feet, and swimming with the Sting Rays. I did do a night dive this time, but did not see too much! On the sting ray dive, divers feed them octopus and get to touch the rays. It is pretty amazing to see, I am sure there are many videos on Youtube of this. They do not have teeth, but suction then grind the food. I made the mistake of going without a wetsuit on that dive, and one sting ray got ahead of itself and decided to try out my leg. I got the worst hickey you have ever seen! Left a nice big bruise. On that dive as well a big green moray eel came out to play and I actually touched it as it went by!

Most of the trip was spent diving, but I did rent a car to get around the island some. I have to say that driving was an adventure – I got this little go cart it seemed and driving was on the opposite side of the road. I kept hitting the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal! Most of the cruise ships stop in Georgetown – that closes after 5 every night! For the other nights, there is 7 mile beach (I crashed the Ritz a couple of times to lay on the beach) and Rum Point. If you ever get the chance to go there, head to Rum Point. It is exactly what you imagine a Caribbean beach would be like with clear water, a place to get tasty drinks, and hammocks all around. It was a great place to visit, but next time it will be on to another island! One thing about hanging around divers is that they tell you everywhere they have been and it really makes you want to travel. Pics to come soon of diving!