Swimming With Stingrays In The Cayman Islands

Our next stop on our voyage aboard the MSC Seaside were the Cayman Islands, for which I have never been. On my day in the Cayman Islands, I was going to do something remarkable and swim with the stingrays. Going into the trip, I hoped that I would not be too freaked out when a stingray brushes up along my leg, but I also realized that swimming with stingrays would be a once in a lifetime opportunity for me.

The cruise ship could not make it to the Grand Cayman port, so we had to disembark from the ship onto a smaller boat (called a tender) that would take us the rest of the way to the port. As the tender boat sped away from the ship, it provided a pleasurable view of our cruise ship. We landed on port and met up with our taxi drivers, who took us to a quaint restaurant off the bay where we met up with the crew that would be taking us out to the shallow water in their catamaran.

I have never been on a catamaran before, but it felt like being on any other boat. It was a 20-30 minute ride to the area where the stingrays would congregate, so I spent the time taking in the views of the bay and the surrounding area. As we drew closer to our destination, the water turned into a crystal blue, signalling that the water was shallow enough for us to stand on. We anchored in the shallow water, and as we were jumping into the water, the catamaran crew began throwing bait. With the bait in the water, the stingrays began to arrive in droves to where we were swimming.

As the stingrays were brushing up on our thighs and swimming between our legs, many of the people in our group were clearly in discomfort, and were screaming any time the stingrays got close to them. These stingrays had their stingers pointed inward, so there was no risk of injury from the stingrays. Personally, I thought the stingrays were nothing more than dogs in the sea who were just curious of who would be in the water with them.

There were buckets of squid floating in the water provided by the crew that served as food for the stingrays. As I took the squid out of the water and held it under, a stingray swam up to me and sucked the squid out of my hand. When the stingray ate the squid from my hand, it felt like a vacuum was about to suck my hand completely, so I quickly let go once I felt that sucking motion.

Some of the catamaran crew swam into the water and caught some stingrays so that people can pose with them. A photographer was also in the water taking pictures for the guests. The crew had me actually hold the stingray in my hands, which felt like holding a big piece of rubber. The crew also had me kiss the stingray, which according to them, will give you seven years of good luck (I doubt it, though). Kissing the stingray felt like eating a mushroom. After that, one of the crew will put the stingray on your back, so it can attempt to mate with you, I guess.

The water itself felt a little chilly, but I quickly became acclimatized to it. With all that said, swimming with the stingrays is an experience I will never forget, because I do not think I will get the opportunity to do something like this again. For my first visit to the Cayman Islands, this was an extraordinary experience.

If you want to experience being in the water with the stingrays, watch my video below:

More pictures of my trip below: