Recently the liquor licensing board in Grand Cayman granted permission for a boat to serve alcohol out in the North Sound of Grand Cayman at a location called Sandbar. This natural place has become a tourism hotspot due to the congregation of Stingrays that gather here. Visitors can on any given day venture out by boat to play with, feed, pet or just look at the rays. Stingray City began in the 80′s and since then people have learnt a lot about the rays and how they like to behave and our interaction with them. One this has not changed though. The fact that the environment is natural and not controlled by man. There are no fences or walls the rays can move as freely as they want when they want. It is by far probably the greatest attraction in Grand Cayman if you were to judge by the number of people who visit it.

Stingray City - Grand Cayman

In recent years the area has not only become a marine park protected area but also new legislation made the area become a WIZ (Wildlife Interaction Zone) Some of the items in this regulation are as follows:

• Wildlife Interaction Zones under the Marine Parks Regulations address three main areas – (i) protection of the rays through controlling the way that people interact with them
• “All tourist boats entering designated Wildlife Interaction Zones will be required to have a licence granted by the Marine Conservation Board. “

I do not believe that allowing a boat to serve alcohol at the sandbar is helping to protect the rays through the way the people will be interacting with them. If the license to sell liquor has been granted then statement two could prevent them from operating in the designated area if the Marine Conservation Board was to deny them a WIZ license.

Near the end of the press release regarding the WIZ areas the Hon. Charles Clifford, Minister of Environment sad “For 10 years we have tried the route of self regulation and it is now abundantly clear that in this absence of legislation there is little that can be done to properly regulate activities at this and other similar locations.” Lets hope that the new legislation allows this proposed new activity to be regulated and stopped.

There are safety issue with intoxicated customers being in the water with stingrays. Yes we all know them to be lovely playful creatures that when dealt with correctly are of no hard and enjoy a cuddle as much as we do. However a guest of the Cayman Islands who has not been to stingray city before and does not know how to handle them and then has some alcoholic beverages as well may not be in the best position to enjoy the area and these lovely creatures.

Other environmental issues to think about are mess, be it from cups, bottles, cans and even effluent must be thought about and realistically cannot be controlled as well as one would want to.

The last area to take into consideration is Tourism and the effect it will have on the numbers and the brand name of Cayman. It certainly is not heading in the direction the rest of the world is going; towards sustainable and or green tourism. In fact a floating bar at stingray city would be te exact opposite and probably turn off new and return vistors alike. Stingray City as a product is already everything it needs to be, nothing needs to be added to the mix.

Whilst my personal feelings are strong about this a recent letter to the editor from Natasha Kozaily is a perfect way to end this article.

“While I do not agree with everything that was said, I think some valuable points were made, especially concerning the rent and fees that accompany a floating bar at Stingray City. Is there any rent or fees for a floating bar? Does this open the doors for competition and more floating bars or shops at Stingray City? And to my next question…where is the line drawn?

Just because people already anchor at Stingray City in their private boats with coolers full of alcoholic beverages, does that really justify making alcohol available to those who it wouldn’t be available to in the first place? Does it make it right? Is it now OK to give everyone the opportunity to get intoxicated in the water with no thought to the many negative consequences?

Secondly, the floating bar should not only make us stop and think about its impact on Stingray City, but it should also wake us up to the bigger questions at hand. Is Stingray City being operated with the care and concern it should be handled with right now? Are we planning our future with the next seven generations in mind? I do agree that we should be thinking about the wider issues, concerning our environment and tourism. Maybe the floating bar was exactly what we needed to wake us up to the problems!

I applaud everyone who joined the protest on Monday, signed the petition, honked their horns against the floating bar and took part in the debate. Whatever the outcome may be, it’s comforting to know that there are people who want to stand up and make a difference. I hope that we don’t stop at the problem of the floating bar, but continue to fight for the protection and preservation of our seas and environment. We need to accept the things we cannot change but always…always try to change the things we can.”