Superb Snorkeling Site: Stingray City

Sting Ray City didn’t exist when I visited Grand Cayman in the early 1980s. A decade later, a vacationing Detroit cop started feeding the school of friendly stingrays who hung out in the North Sound during his annual visits to the island. Soon, with 100-foot visibility (or more), 80+degree water temperatures, easy access by a half-dozen tours, and 12-foot depth, Stingray City became the world’s best known dive destination, especially for cruise ship passengers passing through the island.

The Grand Cayman Tourist Board heavily promotes the area. The good folks at Red Sail Sports offer daily 4 1/4-hour lunch and snorkel catamaran sails from 9:00 am -1:15 pm. Or choose the Stingray City Afternoon Sail from 1:45 – 5:00 pm that features playing (not snorkeling) with Southern Stingrays for about 45 minutes from a 3-4 foot sandbar.

Beware of sun burn from the hot Caribbean sun, bites from “no see ‘ums,” and other underwater critters like the moray eels that frequent the area. Learn more: Stingray City