Monday, October 29, 2007

Stingray City!

So probably the highlight of our trip was on Wednesday! We rented a boat all day which was wonderful so we could go where ever we wanted! We got the boat and right away we headed to Stingray City. Stingray city while it sounds like an amusement park is probably one of the coolest things I have ever experienced. It is just a sandbar way out off the shore, So you are out in the ocean and it is only about 4 to 5 feet deep, but what has happened there over the years is that just beyond this place there is a rock barrier that then drops off to much deeper waters, So the fishermen use to get inside that rock barrier to where it is very shallow and calm and they would clean their catch of the day. Well the stingrays figured out that they could get food there everyday so they began to hang around. Over the years the fishermen stopped cleaning their fish there and people began to go there and feed the stingrays. Now on any given day there can be 10 to 15 boats out there with tourists and you can swim around with and feed the rays.
Our adventure started with Jon driving the boat and as we got closer and closer to stingray city Jon got more nervous and for good reason because non of us knew what we were doing on the boat and as we approached Stingray City it was filled with professional tour boats who had formed this circle of boats and we had no idea how to "join the circle". Well Jon did a great job and we edged our way into the circle and we dropped our anchor and jumped overboard to go feed these amazing animals! Before we knew it we had about 12 rays swimming all around us just waiting for us to feed them. Austin was so excited and he got in the water and even fed them! We had so much fun that we went and had lunch, got more squid and went back.

2 comments:

amy said...

that is AWESOME! chuck & i got to "swim" with stingrays on a cruise several years ago. they were in an enclosed area, though that was set up specifically for cruise ship activities. that is incredible that you guys were feeding wild ones!

Jill Rutland said...

jules,
i totally remember when we went there many moons ago...that was such a great trip. I think it's when ya'll graduated from high school....pre-marriage and pre-kids!! glad ya'll had so much fun the 2nd time around!!!