December 15-21, 1991

December 15-21, 1991

Grand Cayman is a world-renowned scuba diving spot. We flew there, stayed at the Treasure Island Ramada, and planned on doing lots of diving. It didn’t start out well, which should have been an omen for us. We arrived Sunday late evening, checked-in and went looking for a restaurant to get dinner. Nothing seemed to be open; the closest restaurant had a local private function taking over the place. It seems the couple weeks before Christmas are dead.

The next morning we went to the scuba shop next-door to arrange a dive. Business is slow so we can go anywhere we want. He suggests starting with Stingray City. It was an awesome dive!! As soon as we got in the water, at least a dozen stingrays of all sizes were over us like a pack of hungry puppy dogs. Some were giant and a few were just babies. The dive master had given us a handful of squid to feed them. They sucked the squid out of our hands into their cartilaginous mouths. So cool!

Grand Cayman is famous for wall dives. If Stingray City is so good, I can’t wait to do their signature dives. Unfortunately, overnight I caught a bad case of the flu and Dr. Aimee ordered immediate bed rest. And that is how I spent all but the last day of my vacation. What a bummer! Aimee went on one dive without me but mostly she lay by the pool while I read and slept.

On our last day I felt a little stronger, so we rented a moped and drove it to the north side of Seven-Mile beach. There we toured a Green Sea Turtle farm. For a conservation effort, they sure let us handle and pick up the turtles a lot. Later I found out they do release a few to help nature, but most are grown to be sold commercially. Nearby is a black limestone rock field the locals call Hell. It is appropriate we finish here because that is how I felt about most of this vacation.