Been a while...

[trbig]

... since my last vacation. This will be one of those really long short weeks, I'm sure. We're heading out Thursday to go down to Dallas, then early Friday morning, we're flying out to the Cayman Islands (Grand Cayman). Anyone ever been there that can offer up anything to do that's a "Can't miss"? I'm going to go on a dive or two, but hate to do that too much since my wife doesn't dive. Hopefully the new GoPro camara will do better than the disposable point and click film camaras I have tried to use before.

Nothing really planned except some snorkeling and some nice R&R. (Rum and relaxation)

[DGXSER]

Went there on a cruise years ago. It is a nice place, had a good time.

If you have not handled a sting ray before, then the StingRay trip is pretty cool, take you out to a sand bar where you stand waste deep and feed the rays.

Of course the Tortuga Rum tour is never a bad thing. Hell is a cool place to see. We did the island tour, took like 4 hours I think.

Enjoy,

[DiverRay]

I usually set the other half up for a "spa treatment", or shopping, when I dive! The GoPro is a decent camera, but I'm not sure if it has a light. You WILL need a good light for the colors, and you really want it to be about two feet away from the camera, if possible.
I've not been to the Cayman Isles, so I can't help on any tours. The dives I've done have been from a cruise ship, Curasau, (sp?) St. Thomas, USVI or Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.Have fun!

[trbig]

No, the Go Pro doesn't have a light, so it's just going to have to take a pic of what I'm seeing. I know what you're talking about though. My photos of the fish in St. Thomas weren't very good unless it was at a very shallow depth. Over at the British Virgin Islands, the water was much more clear and would have made for better pics... if the camara hadn't quit on me.

I know thousands and thousands of people a year go to that stingray alley, and it was a weird fluke, but after the Steve Erwin thing, I'm more leery of stingrays than I am sharks...lol. I do want a close-up with a sea turtle though.. never got to do that yet.

[DGXSER]

All I can say Tod is that more people die in mtoorcycle wrecks each year than from stingrays. But we all have to have our own irrational fears, stingrays is not the most irrational I can think of.

[trbig]

All I can say Tod is that more people die in mtoorcycle wrecks each year than from stingrays. But we all have to have our own irrational fears, stingrays is not the most irrational I can think of.

"A study in the journal Wilderness and Environmental Medicine used CDC data to find that 1,943 Americans perished from interactions with animals between 1991 and 2001. The paper doesn't cover animal-related car accidents. Instead, it focuses on "various mechanisms that include bite, sting, crush, gore, stomp, buck off, fall on, peck, or scratch." Hornets, bees, and wasps accounted for about a quarter of those deaths, with dogs making up around one-tenth. Two deaths were ascribed to "venomous marine animals"*—a rather vague category that includes the stingray. For comparison, three people were apparently nibbled to death by rats."



Maybe it is a bit irrational? Looks like I should be more scared of rats. lol.

[BA80]

Maybe it is a bit irrational? Looks like I should be more scared of rats. lol.

Well your sure not afraid of wrecking a motorcycle.

[jwhughes3]

Just limit the rum...

I'll bet those rat deaths were either babies or drunk people who couldn't get away....

Its tough to get good dive pics below 20-25 feet without a flash strobe...colors just all murky. But let me know how the GoPro does I am curious.

Enjoy!

John

[trbig]

I am curious.

I heard that about you..


So far, for pics, my point and shoot does a lot better job. The fisheye lense on the Gopro, even in a less wide field of view setting still bends lines around anything not in the center of the camera. I'll just have to take a shot and crop out the outsides to get a decent photo. I've tried it with and without it's housing, and it's no difference. BUT... anything has got to be better than those little waterproof disposable cameras I've tried to use in the past. Those are a waste of money.

[DiverRay]

I now use an old cannon 5MP point and shoot with the cannon waterproof case. I was given the case, brand new condition, and had to buy a camera. That was about $50 total on ebay. I DO still need a light for anything over about 24", but that will have to wait.
If you can get a BRIGHT flashlight, that WILL work, and allow video as well.
Again, enjoy yourself, and remember, Irwin was swimming over a LARGE ray, and you will be around small, 2' size ray's.( At the Monterey Bay Aquarium, they have a shallow pool you can reach in and touch the small rays as they swim by!)

[jwhughes3]

Canon film camera next time...

Tod, its probably too late for this trip, but I have a waterproof Canon film camera (35mm) that you are welcome to use next trip. Seals are good and has flash (Sureshot A1) good for snorkeling or diving to 15 ft or so...

Let me know I will mail it out.

John

[trbig]

Well, got to Grand Cayman just fine, and it's beautiful! (But expensive!) Rented a little car, and gas is over $6 a gallon U.S. I had to drive on the left in St. Thomas, like it is here, but this car's steering wheel is on the right side of the car. Turn signals are on the right of the wheel, and I bet I've signalled for a turn and turned the d@mn windshield wipers on a hundred times now.

The resort put us right on the beach, so we walk down two steps and are in the sand. Here's the view from our porch.









I brought my little point and shoot camara... I thought. I have bought a couple extras of them since they take a pretty good picture and are cheap.. and I tend to tear them up wrecking and stuff. lol. So without checking, all I brought was one of the spares that didn't have a battery or memory card. I've been relying on my little GoPro camara. Some of the pics look really fish-eyed, and some are OK.

Here's one of the local spots for snorkeling...









And while we were at Georgetown today where the cruise ships come in, my wife got the obligatory photo...









I was walking around the shops and saw what happens when a Suzuki and a Kawasaki breed.









The photo editor I have on this computer sucks, so it's tough to post more, but just checking in. Temps are in the mid to high 80's, but the beezes have been nice.