Have you ever heard of a stingray hickey? It's a huge, painful, welt delivered by a voracious stingray seeking a meal. If you've ever received one chances are good that, like me, you deserved it.

On a trip to Grand Cayman Island we decide to head to Stingray City to dive with the rays. Stingray City is off the Island's North Sound. The area is a series of sandbars that is very popular with snorkelers and divers.

You can stand on the bars in 2 to 3 feet of water and the rays will swim by you and even between your feet, snorkel or do a shallow dive (around 12 feet) and interact with the rays on the bottom.

Yes it's a popular tourist destination, but that shouldn't keep you away. And it can be an awesome, safe diving experience for a recently certified diver. Plus the number of boats are limited daily by the island's government so it won't be so crowded as to be unpleasant.

On the ride to the site, the dive master explained that the location was once popular with local fishermen who would use the shallow area as a place to clean their catch and dump unused bait. The rays soon found their version of a meal at the Ritz and would congregate at the sound of boat motors. Today they stay there because the tour groups feed them.

The day we went was overcast and chilly so we opted to wear wet suits (fortunately) rather than just skins. On this particular dive you do not wear fins, which can injure the rays, nor do you wear gloves.

As the rays swim by you can touch them to feel the sandpaper roughness of their upper surface and the cashmere like softness of their underside. Once down the dive master distributed pieces of squid that you hold out, so the rays can pluck from your hand. The rays do not have teeth but have the ability to generate enough suction to "vacuum" mollusks from under the sand.

How I Got My Stingray Hickey

Before we went underwater, the dive master told me that if I held a piece of squid in my fist, instead of extending my arm out, a ray would nose up to my hand and stay there until I gave it the squid. I, of course, decided to try it.

The large ray didn't think it was funny and didn't play by the rules. He put a suction hit on my arm that surprised me, hurt and caused me to drop the piece of squid, which he immediately sucked up and swam off. Even with my wet suit I had a large, red hickey on my arm which lasted for days. Fortunately it did no serious damage and on the positive side it was great beach bar discussion in the evenings.

Where to Dive or Snorkel With Stingrays

Several good tour operators will take you to Sting Ray City. Two are Living The Dream Divers, and Cayman Turtle Divers.
If you go to Antigua and want to interact with the rays check out Sting Ray City Antigua

You can also swim with stingrays at Theater of the Sea in Islamorada, Florida. If you want to swim with stingrays in an aquarium, visit Ripley's Aquarium in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

About.com's Guide to Scuba Diving, Natalie Gibb, has an excellent article called Safely Dive With Stingrays.

You Can Also Swim With Sharks

You can go scuba diving with sharks in the ocean and in aquariums. Here's what it's like to swim with sharks in the ocean. And, here's what it's like to swim with sharks in the Denver Downtown Aquarium. Can you picture yourself swimming alongside a giant whale shark? The experience is worth it for adults and kids. Just avoid the hickeys.