Well I think we'll be heading out today since we really need to get moving North- can't beleive how late it's gotten. Only problem is... there is NO wind. The calm weather we've been enjoying the whole time we've been here that has led to incredible diving and beauty is still with us- now we need wind to sail around Cuba and over to Florida. We've decided to try and motor and hope for wind since we can't wait forever.
I haven't been feeling too motivated to write anything on the blog, I guess since I was trying to just savor these last dives. I've just loved it here. The West side has the largest city of Georgetown with good stores, lots of cruise ships on certain days and lots of activity. The diving was ho-hum. There are free moorings here and it's free to check in and out of the Caymans. Everyone has been so nice and the island is full of flowers, pretty landscaping and mockingbirds. The mockingbird is on the penny here so they must be really common. I love the non- 3rd world feel. We both agree that this has been a good transition for us. The Caymans are expensive but we've barely spent any money here except on groceries and the prices weren't that bad for great food. They give you fuel duty free when you check out. We bought a book that describes all the dive sites and maps them out. This place is great!
The North side of the island has a large sound protected by a barrier reef and it's just beautiful. The wall is right on the other side of the barrier reef and there are free dive moorings encircling this whole island- not to mention Little Cayman and Cayman Brac which are 75 miles East of here. We don't have time to go to those this time. The the diving is world class in all 3 islands. We did what we could anyway and can't wait to come back here. There is no spearfishing here and I don't even think you can take conch or lobster but I'm not sure. It would be out of season right now anyway. Needless to say, because of these rules, there are conch all over the place, huge lobster roaming around all day and loads of fish. I read that the people of the Caymans decided that they were going to make their island more tourist based instead of sustenance living like many of the others in the Caribbean, so consequently, the reefs are in great shape and they are full of life.
Swimming with the stingrays is a thing here. It all started years ago when fishermen used to clean their catch and the rays would eat the scraps, then they became tame. Now, years later, there are 2 spots inside the barrier reef on the North side with gorgeous water where there are I don't even know how many stingrays that hang out there. Several boats per day come out to these spots, all of the people get in the water and the rays start swimming all around them. The boat guides feed them squid bait and that makes them swim all over you; it is a riot to watch and to feel them is even better. They are so soft and gentle and their eyes have always intrigued me. I got to "hold" one when one of the guys offered it to me. I'll certainly never get to do any of this anywhere else! Of course we were there on our own boat, anchored just yards away for a couple of days so we could enjoy them longer and that made it so nice.
The scuba dives we did were among the best ever. Of course the camera leaked in it's underwater case again on one of the deeper dives so for the rest of them, we didn't dare bring the camera. On one dive there were 2 huge turtles swimming together, very curious as usual as to what we were doing. They were within a few feet of us- I loved it! There is loads more to do here and North Sound is a magnificent place to dive and snorkel.
Anyway, that's pretty much the update on what we've been doing. With any luck, we'll get some puffs of wind in between motoring and the next entry will be from someplace in Florida. I don't think we're going to be able to stop at Dry Tortugas this time. It's just too late in the season now.