Dolphin Swimming

Grand Cayman Open Water Flowers Sea Swim

// June 25th, 2010 // View Comments // Grand Cayman, Locations, News

World Cup Soccer may be making headlines these days, but for folks on Grand Cayman Island the 18th annual Flowers Sea Swim was the focus last Saturday, June 19th, 2010.  The one mile open water swim race had it’s most successful year ever, with a record setting 777 participants hitting the ocean and racing to the finish.  Swimmers from around the world took to the waters of the famous Seven Mile Beach, vying for almost $100 000 in prizes, including swim with dolphins packages from Dolphin Discovery.  The event attracted some of the world’s top athletes, including Olympians Shaune Fraser and Ian Crocker. As in past years, proceeds from the event went to charity, this year supporting the Sunrise Adult Training Center.

The overall winner of the 2010 race was Alex Meyer, a tremendous young athlete from Harvard University clocking in a spectacular time of 17.18 minutes, with 16 year old Eva Fabian coming in a very close second place at 17.47 minutes, both athletes setting records with their performances.  Dolphin Discovery Grand Cayman would like to congratulate all the participants on their remarkable achievements and we thank organizer and founder Frank Flowers and his daughter Dara Flowers-Burke for their incredible efforts in creating  a world-class event for our island community.  We look forward the future of the Flowers Sea Swim!

Boatswain’s Turtle Farm Grand Cayman Island

// June 23rd, 2010 // View Comments // Grand Cayman, Locations, Sea Life

Grand Cayman Island is famous for many things, the beautiful stretch of Seven Mile beach, great scuba diving, snorkeling at Stingray City, swimming with dolphins at Dolphin Discovery (of course!), rum cakes and Boatswain’s Turtle Farm.  The history of the Cayman Islands is closely tied to turtles, the turtle appears on the flag, seal and currency of the islands.  The relationship with the Caymans and turtles goes back to the 1600’s when Caribbean ships would stop at the island for provisions and to stock up on the abundance of turtle meat.  The 17th century saw the beginnings of settlements in the Cayman Islands and turtling became a a main source of income and food for the new islanders.  By the 1800’s, the population of turtles was in serious jeopardy and by the 1960’s they were all but extinct.  In 1968 the Cayman Turtle Farm was established to raise turtles commercially and to research and preserve the sea turtles of the wild. While many of the turtles are still raised for food, thousands of sea turtles born at Boatswain’s are released to the sea, replenishing the wild population of these beautiful creatures.

Dolphin Discovery Grand Cayman is pleased to have such a wonderful neighbour in West Bay and we invite you to pay them a visit before or after you swim with dolphins.  The entrance fee to Boatswain’s Turtle Farm is included in all dolphin swim programs, allowing you to enjoy the turtle enclosures, the education center, the breeding pond, the touch tanks and all animal exhibits including the predator tank with sharks! If you wish to snorkel or enjoy the pools, these “wet” activities are available at a small extra charge.  Boutiques and restaurants will satisfy your shopping and dining needs, purchase souvenirs for loved ones back home or simply sip an ice cold rum drink in paradise while nibbbling a Caribbean delicacy. Dolphin Discovery and Boatswain’s Turtle Farm are the ideal combination for a perfect day on Grand Cayman, a unique shore excursion for Caribbean cruisers, book now and make it an unforgettable part of your Caribbean vacation!

Stingray Facts

// May 13th, 2010 // View Comments // Cancun / Isla Mujeres, Grand Cayman, Locations, Sea Life

Stingrays are fascinating creatures, as they float and fly through the oceans they appear almost bird-like in their motions.  We at Dolphin Discovery love all marine animals and would like to share a few fun stingray facts with you…..

- Stingrays are found in shallow waters in warm climates

- There are about 70 species of stingrays in the world

- There is no evidence of evolution in stingrays, ancient fossilized remains appear to be identical to the stingray of today

- Stingrays can live in salt water or brackish waters (where salt water and fresh water meet)

- Stingrays are related to sharks (some folks call them “flattened sharks”), unfortunately while sharks may be family, they are also the biggest predators of stingrays

-Stingrays often take on the colour of their environment for defense

- Stingrays spend a lot of time motionless, partially buried under sand

- Stingrays are usually docile and harmless, though they will use their barbed tails in defense (usually if they are stepped on)

- Stingray venom was used as an anaesthetic in ancient Greece

- Stingrays may be as small as a few inches or up to 5 to 7 feet long

- Stingrays have no bones, they are primarily made of cartilage

- Stingrays are carnivores, hunting their prey (small fish, crabs, shrimp) at night

- Stingrays use their sense of smell and special electro-receptors to hunt their prey

- Stingray mamas give birth to two to ten stingray “pups” per year

- Stingrays have a lifespan of 15 to 25 years

Dolphin Discovery is thrilled to offer our guests the opportunity to interact with these beautiful marine creatures.  Participants in the Grand Cayman Royal Swim receive a bonus swim with stingray experience, where you’ll be invited to stroke and hold the stingrays and our trainers will teach you everything you want to know about them.  Guests in our Cancun-Isla Mujeres dolphinarium have the chance to snorkel in the sea with stingrays, a phenomenal experience!  We hope you learn to love stingrays as much as we do, join us at Dolphin Discovery!

–Stingray photo courtesy Barry Peters

Dolphin Discovery- Mother’s Day Specials

// May 4th, 2010 // View Comments // Cancun / Isla Mujeres, Cozumel, Discounts, Grand Cayman, Locations, Riviera Maya, Tortola, Vallarta

Mexico is a country known for its devotion to the family, and no family member is more revered than “Mama”.  Every year on May 10th the entire country pays homage to matriarchs with the annual “Dia de las Madres” or “Mother’s Day” celebrations.  Young children create cards and gifts and adult children bring flowers and treat their mothers to very special dinners and parties.  The traditional song “Las Mananitas” is sung, often as a serenade outside of mother’s house with mariachis for accompaniment.   “Mama” is the center of attention and the whole family shows her their appreciation on this very special day.  Mothers have been honoured throughout the ages around the world, but the first official “Dia de las Madres” in Mexico wasn’t celebrated until May 10th, 1922 as a result of the petitions by  Rafael Alducin Bedolla, founder of the newspaper “Excelsior”.  We thank him for bringing us such a special day and we thank moms everywhere for all that they do!

Dolphin Discovery would like to show moms just how special they are by offering a 20% discount to mothers on all our swim with dolphins programs in all our locations for the entire month of May!  Guests swimming with their mom get an additional 10% off their own swims too!  Treat your mom to an experience she’ll never forget, book now!  Lots of love to moms everywhere from all our dolphins!

A Virtual Visit to Grand Cayman

// April 20th, 2010 // View Comments // Grand Cayman, Locations

The old expression states that a picture is worth a thousand words, so my question is, how much is a video worth?

These days there are very few people who haven’t used Youtube, for music videos, for a laugh, to keep up with the world.  I personally use Youtube as means of taking a virtual vacation, finding videos of places I’ve loved in the past and places I dream of visiting in the future.  Seeing destinations through the lens of a camera may not be quite as good as the real thing, but it sure can give you a good idea of what to expect. If you are heading into the “unknown” of a new experience or destination, watching a video can ease any anxieties and more often than not, build your expectations and excitement for the upcoming adventure!

I could write all day about Dolphin Discovery Grand Cayman Island, but I thought I would let the wonderful world of video take you on a little tour.  Here’s a sample of what you will find on your Grand Cayman adventure,  join me on my virtual vacation!

We’ll start with a tour of the island, including a helicopter fly-by, check out the amazing colours of the water!  This is a great video, you’ll visit the Boatswain’s Turtle Farm and the famous Stingray City too (don’t forget that when you swim with dolphins at Dolphin Discovery Grand Cayman, your visit to the turtle farm is included in the price!)

Grand Cayman is full of excitement and adrenaline, but why not take a few moments to enjoy some peace on the famous Seven Mile Beach?  Here’s a little virtual getaway for you, gently lapping waves, crystal clear waters and soft white sands, takes less than a minute to relax and enjoy this experience through video, but wouldn’t a few hours of this reality be divine?

Finally, no trip to Grand Cayman is complete without a visit to Dolphin Discovery.  You’ll learn a little something about our marine animal friends, get a friendly, fishy kiss and feel the thrill and excitement of swimming with dolphins in paradise.  There is no better way to spend the day in Grand Cayman, here’s a video peek of the experience of a lifetime, picture yourself in the water with our dolphin friends and let the worries of your working day fade away.

Thanks for virtually traveling with me to Grand Cayman, I hope you enjoyed the video journey.  If you will be living the dream and visiting this beautiful island, we invite you to join us at Dolphin Discovery, a unique experience for memories that will last a lifetime!  Whether you are spending a week on a Grand Cayman diving trip or making a Grand Cayman port call from your cruise ship, we’d love to have you, contact Dolphin Discovery reservations today!

NORCECA Beach Volleyball in Grand Cayman

// March 26th, 2010 // View Comments // Grand Cayman, Locations, News

Dolphin Discovery was a proud sponsor of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball tournament in Grand Cayman the weekend of March 18-21, 2010.  “NORCECA” (the “North/Central America CaribbeanVolleyball Confederation”) is a non-profit sports organization that represents 35 countries in the International Volleyball Federation and is responsible for the staging of qualification tournaments for the Olympics and the World Championships.  The Cayman Islands Beach Volleyball Tournament marked the start of the qualification process to the 2012 Olympics in London and the last stretch to the Central American and Caribbean Games in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico next summer.

After an exciting weekend of tough competition, the Canadian duo of Martin Reader and Ray Sewell grabbed the men’s gold, leaving the silver to the Puerto Ricans and the bronze to the United States.  In the women’s competition, Puerto Ricans Yarleen Santiago and Dariam Acevedo won the gold, the silver went to the United States and the bronze to the Mexican team.  The next tournament of the circuit takes place in El Salvador March 25-28, 2010.  The full schedule for this year’s tournaments can be found on the NORCECA website and includes several stops in Mexico, including Puerto Vallarta.

The participants in the Grand Cayman beach volleyball tournament worked hard, but they were also able to take time out to enjoy the island, including swimming with dolphins courtesy of Dolphin Discovery Grand Cayman.  Gold medalist from Canada Ray Sewell said: “As a tourist I had some unique experiences, going to the turtle farm, the dolphins and Stingray City and I would recommend them to anybody back home. Your white beach is fantastic and the people are so friendly and accepting.” Well Mr. Sewell, it was an honour for the dolphins to have you, come back anytime!

Dolphin Discovery is grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of this fantastic event, we look forward to next year and wish all the NORCECA beach volleyball players the best of luck in the upcoming tournaments!

Grand Cayman- Tortuga Rum Cakes and Stingray City

// February 4th, 2010 // View Comments // Grand Cayman, Locations

Even if you’ve never been to Grand Cayman, you can probably create an image in your head… beautiful beaches, turquoise waters, palm trees, bikinis and dolphins.  Those in the know will tell you that there are two important treasures that you must add to your Grand Cayman day dreams, Tortuga Rum Cakes and Stingray City.

photo courtesy www.tortugarumcakes.com

The history of Tortuga Rum goes back to 1984 when the husband and wife team of Robert and Carlene Harmaty decided to embark on the adventure of creating a rum for the Cayman Islands.  They chose the name “Tortuga” (”turtle”) as it was the orignal name of the Cayman Islands, created two blended rums (Tortuga Gold and Tortuga Light) and were off and running with their new venture.  The couple kept their “day jobs” but nurtured their company as a labour of love.  In 1987, Carlene started making rum cakes from an old family recipe and discovered that she had a hit on her hands.  The cakes were so popular that they built a commercial bakery in 1990 to keep up with demand.  The trademark ingredient is a generous helping of premium five-year old, oak barrel aged Tortuga Gold Rum but the recipe is still a secret!  From a small family business, Tortuga Rum has turned into an international success, with a broad range of rum and rum-based products being enjoyed all over the world.  Today, the Tortuga Rum Cakes are a symbol of Grand Cayman, the essential souvenir (if you can resist eating them on the way home!).  Dolphin Discovery Grand Cayman is proud to offer the Tortuga Rum Cakes in our Dolphinmania Boutique, be sure to have a little taste, buy a few for you, a few for Aunt Lily, a few for your house-sitter (and a few more for you).

photo courtesy Fevi Yu

After swimming with dolphins and having sated your taste buds, it’s time to head out to the world-famous “Stingray City”.  Located in the shallow waters of Grand Cayman’s North Sound, Stingray City is renowned for the large numbers of stingrays that congregate in the area.  Stingrays love calm, sandy-bottomed areas such as this where they can dig in the sand in search of food.   History suggests that it was the fishermen using the area to clean their catch that attracted such large numbers of rays, looking for the offals that were thrown overboard.  Stingray heaven!  In 1987, Skin Diver magazine discovered  this “secret” spot where divers and snorkelers could feed rays by hand and soon the whole world was abuzz about Stingray City.  These days there are many tour operators offering excursions to Stingray City where you can swim and snorkel with these creatures and feed them by hand.  Tourists are encouraged not to wear footwear, even a simple water shoe can damage the sensitive skin of the rays and please, do not remove the rays from the water, it is essential that they stay submerged in order to breathe.  Many tours will take you to the reef for some snorkeling after your encounter with the rays, a great addition to your day on Grand Cayman.  This is a truly unique place, a Grand Cayman excursion that is not to be missed!

Whether you are cruising the Caribbean looking for a Grand Cayman shore excursion or spending your vacation on the island, be sure to visit Dolphin Discovery Grand Cayman for the experience of a lifetime!  Our friendly staff are not only dolphin experts, they are ambassadors of Grand Cayman and will go out of their way to ensure that our guests have a great island adventure.

Grand Cayman Events January 2010

// January 5th, 2010 // View Comments // Grand Cayman, Locations

January is a great time for a Caribbean escape and Grand Cayman is an excellent choice for anyone looking for sun, sand and tropical temperatures.  This month the island is proud to be the host for a couple of great events, if you are going to be in Grand Cayman be sure to check these out!

The Taste of Cayman Food and Wine Festival is in its 22nd year and just keeps getting bigger and better.  The event has become so successful that the island has deemed January to be “culinary  month”.  January 9-16th, 2010 more than 30 vendors will participate in the festival and the event promises to please your taste buds with samples from the finest chefs and restaurants and over two dozen wineries.  Children will love the special kid-sized events with face painting and jewelery making.  Grown-ups may sip a mojito or glass of champagne, enjoy the fireworks and live music, indulge in divine dishes and perhaps even win a great prize in the raffles, this event promises to be spectacular!

January in Grand Cayman is a scuba diver’s delight!  Each year the International Scuba Diver’s Hall of Fame hosts a dinner and induction ceremony for new honorees in the field of scuba.  People inducted into the hall of fame are the movers and shakers in the dive world, educators, photographers, researchers, explorers and more.  The event kicks off on Friday January 29th with the International Underwater Film Festival, featuring some of the finest underwater photography from around the world.  Saturday January 30th the newest hall of fame members will be inducted and honored with a dinner and ceremony.  This year’s inductees include Dr. Eugenie Clark (also known as “the shark lady”), Wyland, Nick Icorn and Francis Toribiong, each having dedicated their lives to the field of scuba and marine life.   We at Dolphin Discovery congratulate the inductees and thank them for their continuing efforts in the scuba industry and the underwater world.

Dolphin Discovery is proud to be a part of a great community in Grand Cayman and we wish the best of luck and much success to the organizers of these fine events and thank them for their contributions to the island.