On the second day of our Caribbean adventure, we started off the day at 6:30 am with a good breakfast. Once the group was finished eating we were given a quick boat briefing by one of the dive shop employees, this outlined the rules of the boat and how the crew operates. After this and a short interval we boarded our vessel, the Cayman Sister here we met the crew and then we set off to our first dive site which was just off the shore from cobalt coast. Once here we were shown a sketch of the site, which was a drop off wall which was covered in reef. This dive was used to get a sense for our buoyancy and to get an overall sense of diving. However the second dive site called rainbow reef was more of a normal dive. Here we were able to see rainbow parrot fish which is what gave this reef its name, they can be identified by their distinct reflective scales and their large beaks which are used to pick items off of the coral. Also at this site were schools of blue tang which could be seen moving between coral outcroppings in order to eat algae that grows on the coral. Another thing we were able to do here was swim through a small cave. In this cave were some lobster who are native to the island, the spotted lobster, which had white spots that covered its entire body. This dive was a great experience for me and the group as a whole. Once we returned to cobalt coast we were given a long rest period which was much appreciated as after two dives I was exhausted. After we regrouped from our rest we were fed dinner then participated in a debate which brought into question the integrity stingray city a large tourist attraction. I was arguing the negative side, and our main point was how the over tourism harms the stingrays. Our opponents main argument was how the tourism from stingray city is a main part of the cayman economy. However at the end of the debate I felt that it wasn’t a terrible thing for the rays. After the end of our first day I’m even more excited for what is to come and to get back in the water for more dives.
