Sea Eye Diving boats on Grand Turk beach. - AY48

Diving with the southern stingrays at Stingray City on Grand Cayman has been described by many journalists as 'the best 12 foot dive in the world'. This was not my experience when I was fortunate enough visit the famous dive site.

When we arrived at the site on the north coast of Grand Cayman we tied up to three other boats that were already there. After an extensive and comprehensive briefing by the divemaster, covering everything from how to interact with the rays to dive etiquette i.e. adopting care when moving around to limit the amount of sand that we might kick up. By this point I was eager to get in the water to see what the hype was all about.

Armed with my Nikonos V with 15mm wide angle lens and SB105 strobe I was ready and mentally prepared for what I hoped would be a fantastic dive. Image my disappointment when I entered the water to discover that the visibility was less than 10 feet. Through the sand filled water I could just about make out a group of divers sat in a circle with large dark ghostly figures swooping around them. At this point the visions that I had in my minds eye of close focus images of stingrays lit by fill in flash with the overhead sun adding natural light to the scene disappeared into a mist that in reality was particle filled water caused by the three groups of divers that had already kicked up the sand before we arrived.

So, when Macky who was our divemaster for the duration of our stay on Grand Turk asked us if we would be interested in an excursion to Gibbs Cay a small remote uninhabited island which was 50 minutes away by boat to snorkel and swim with a group of stingrays that continue to visit the island to feed on scraps thrown into the sea by conch fishermen and more recently by divers who de-shell and clean their catch there, he was greeted with a less than enthusiastic response. Thoughts of zero visibility and herds of divers came flooding back.

However, the prospect of a beach barbecue, a pristine white sandy beach and the chance of walking around an uninhabited island searching for land and aerial based wildlife meant that there would be enough to keep me occupied and stimulated should the Gibbs Cay trip turn into another Stingray City fiasco.

The following afternoon found a small group of divers armed with snorkelling paraphernalia embarking onto the two dive boats for the trip to Gibbs Cay. The sea was crystal clear and thankfully calm for the short sea journey to the Cay. It was very enjoyable to sit back in the shade of the awning and enjoy the rugged coastal scenery as it slipped by.

It was not long before our boat captain indicated that our destination was in sight. Even from a distance I could see a pair of sea eagles soaring gracefully over the island. Gibbs Cay is only approximately half a mile long by a quarter of a mile wide and is comprised mainly of sand and rough rock. The only vegetation is a creeping vine that encroaches onto the beach and gorse like bushes that have managed to establish a hold in what little soil there is.

As our boat grounded on the soft sand of the beach and we tied off I could see that Macky had been correct in describing the water visibility as good as any other site around Grand Turk that we had already dived. Within minutes of our arrival the first pair of stingrays appeared, attracted by the sound of our engines and the prospect of an easy feed.

Donning snorkelling gear and armed this time with my Subal housed Nikon F90x camera with 20mm wide angle lens and dome port, I eagerly slipped into the water. A shallow sandbar extends out from the beach for approx. 50 yards with the depth averaging 4 feet but never exceeding more than 10 feet at any point. With the bright sand reflecting the sunlight, the use of a strobe was not deemed necessary, making natural light exposures the order of the day. Using Ektachrome 100ASA film with the shutter speed set to 1/125th it was possible to use apertures of f11-f16 to obtain maximum depth of field and to freeze the stingrays motion on film.

After taking a few shots of the divemaster’s party trick of holding scraps of fish in their mouths while the stingrays swooped in to take it, I settled down to take a few serious shots.

After about an hour I suddenly realised I was alone. My fellow snorkellers had left, obviously seduced by the aroma of barbecued ribs, chicken wings, home cooked beans and fresh salad and the overwhelming desire for food. Even though I too was hungry, my enjoyment at finally being alone with these magnificent stingrays that now totalled eleven, varying in size from juveniles to fully grown adults was too much of a distraction.

With the other snorkellers out of the water the visibilty returned to the clarity that I had first encountered upon initially entering the water. With the water clear and calm I even made a few attempts at over-under shots which for those who have attempted it is no easy thing especially with only a small dome port in which to get the air/water divide central.

With no more food forthcoming from the divemasters the rays reverted back to their natural behaviour and feeding pattern of searching for more natural food which comprises a diet of molluscs, crustaceans, invertebrates and sometimes small fish.

Having taken a large number of shots of the rays searching for food, my concentration was broken by my wife Judith who indicated that I had been in the water for almost 3 hours and that if I did not want to miss out on food I had better come out of the water before it was all eaten.

I had nothing to worry about the divemasters had been cooking up a storm and there was enough left to satisfy even my ravenous hunger washed down by a cool glass of rum punch (or two or maybe it was three, who knows).

Relaxing in the shade of the make shift tent erected by the divemasters I reflected upon the differences between the Stingray City dive and this trip to Gibbs Cay. There was just no comparison. This had been a perfect experience in every way. A pleasant boat trip, relaxed snorkelling with the stingrays in ideal photographic conditions. What more could one ask for.

As you can probably gather, it turned into a much more positive experience than I could possibly image, so much so that I returned the following year and went to Gibbs Cay once again!

The underwater images below were all taken with a Subal housed Nikon F90x camera with a 20mm Nikkor lens and small dome port.

Camera settings were as follows:

Lens aperture f11-f16
Autofocus
Matrix metering
Shutter speed 1/125th
Film Ektachrome 100ASA

Attracted by the sound of our boat engines and the likelihood of an easy feed the stingrays soon arrive. - AZ2

Divemaster feeding stingray. At Gibbs Cay the stingrays readily approach and initiate encounters with swimmers and snorkellers. - AZ33

Stingrays are bottom dwellers, inhabiting shallow water. They are found in sandy areas near shore, where they spend most of their day resting or sleeping partially buried in the sand, with only their eyes, spiracles and tails exposed. - AZ25

As most of the food that stingrays eat is found in the sand below them, sight is of little use in locating it. The main sensors used are the two nostrils, or nares, on either side of the mouth. - AZ35

Once food is located in the sand, the stingray mines for it by taking in water through the spiracles located on the top of its body, and jetting out the water through its mouth. This moves the sand aside and the food such as a crustacean is revealed. The stingray then sucks up the crustacean, crushes it with its powerful jaws and then ingests it.- BQ44

A partially successful split screen shot of Gibbs Cay and one of its famous stingrays - BQ40