Swimming with Stingrays
17 July 2016
Finally, we're all in the dinghy for the 3-mile trek thru an obstacle course of coral reefs to an area where Stingrays and Black Tip sharks hang out. Weeks' earlier I had hit coral with the outboard and spun the prop, so I was more that a bit nervous during this trip. But all went well, and after 40 minutes we had the dinghy anchored among the tour and hotel boats that bring tourists here daily. So here's the deal; the tour boats feed the fish to ensure they're availability, so us cheapskate the cruisers just show up and participate. And even though there are dozens of people in the water, it's still cool to pet a large ray or stare down a large black tip shark in crystal clear 76-degree water. And the fish were amazing as well. Rose was counting off all the species on her fish card - her favorite was the Picasso Triggerfish and Butterfly fish. We enjoyed it so much, we made the trip twice! Sorry I can't post my underwater videos due to bad internet!