Aye, Aye Captain!

Grand Cayman Island

I think it's always best to know exactly who is in charge.

For example this iguana is definitely the boss of this particular block of real estate here on the lovely island of Grand Cayman.

We were not in charge of the details of our diving experience here. I did however hire this company to take us out on our first and second open water dives for our scuba certification.

Our dive master Martin was in charge of deciding the location and responsible for passing off various skills in the ocean.

Jeff was responsible for footing the bill for our private excursion.

I was in charge of planning, communication with our guides, and keeping us organized, and prepared for things. What I didn't plan on was Martin, who I called Squidward but just in my head, bringing squid on our dive to feed to a Moray Eel. I was amazed as he played with it like a snake charmer. When the eel suddenly went after Jeff I was shocked. He bit into Jeff's hand and then let it go and then came after me! I tried to scream and get the attention of our dive master who was supposed to be in charge, but he was just looking on almost in amusement. The eel was snapping at my abdomen where my weight belt strap was flapping around. Jeff kicked him away from me just in time, I could not get away fast enough. I'm going to have to say that the eel was the boss of this little bit of the ocean! Eventually Jeffs hand stopped bleeding and we finished up our skills and wrapped up the diving portion of our day.

Next Martin took us over to Sting Ray City. This was the number one rated activity on the island and I was really looking forward to it. Apparently so was everyone else visiting the island! There were so many boats of people out there.

Martin's squid came in handy here. He let us feed the squid to the sting rays here. Jeff had no fear of these big sea creatures!

They made me a little nervous at first.

I knew that I needed to let them be completely in charge of our interaction, but I just didn't expect them to act so much like house cats, just coming up and rubbing on your legs and begging for a little attention.

I finally got a little more comfortable and relaxed a bit and gave them the attention they wanted.

It was such an incredible experience to swim with these amazing creatures, and a little humbling as I realized we were totally at their mercy.

Just because you're wearing the captains hat doesn't mean you're in charge. I was definitely not the boss of anything today!