Ahoy, sailors, mermaids, and Jacques Cousteau wannabes, and welcome to Stingray City! Today the beans have the great honor of exploring the Caribbean Sea, courtesy of a catamaran out to Stingray City. What exactly is Stingray City? Well, it's out here in the sea, not too far off the Grand Cayman shores, that huge stingrays have been showing up every day for the last several years, looking for a free meal. The local Cayman fishermen used to stop here to clean their daily catch, and the stingrays figured out it was a great place to come by and enjoy a complimentary buffet. They eventually became used to having people around, and in return the people got used to hauling tourists out here to help feed the amazing creatures.

Now, you might be worried about the stingray's diet, as the beans were. I mean - whose to say they wouldn't enjoy having a little frijole delight added to their diet? Fortunately for our nervous beans, we're please to tell you that the stingrays like their snacks from the sea - not from a can.

For those of you without your "sea legs" (or mermaid fins), have no fear. The water here at Stingray City is only a few feet deep, what with it being a sandbar and all, so as long as no big waves come along and you keep your mouth closed, you won't end up swallowing any of that beautiful blue water - a really salty way to bring home a souvenir, if you ask me.

Tourists are invited to climb into the water with the stingrays, as long as you follow a few rules. (No shoes, no bracelets - nothing that might scratch the rays, and watch your step - they may be accustomed to humans, but they'll still sting you if you step on one.) And let me tell you from first hand experience - it's both exciting and nerve racking at the same time. Some of those suckers are huge, and while they say that they're normally docile, you still have to respect having a sea creature of that size swimming right up to you. Still, it's one of those experiences you can tell your grandkids about one day - provided you actually get off the boat and not be a chicken about it...

Being the brave vegetables that they are, the beans immediately jumped into the drink. The stingrays didn't seem to mind having a 7-inch tall can of vegetables in the water with them, but the beans probably should have asked before riding one like "Flipper", don't you think?

One of the "fun" parts of the stingray experience is actually getting to feed them. The boat captain will send you out into the sea with a floating bucket of chopped up squid, and you can hold them out and wait for the stingrays to come a-callin'. (It's sort of like the underwater version of "Trick or Treat", only it's calimari instead of Snickers.)

They don't have teeth per se, so the stingrays suck the squid out of your hands, in a vacuum strength that Hoover would be proud of. And that's why they warn you -- after you feed them, don't wipe your slimy squid-covered fingers on your body - or on your swimsuit. Because with a super keen sense of smell and that incredible suction power, the stingrays might accidently think you're a giant squid, and you'd go home with a stingray-sized hickey. While the beans think it'd be funny to see, it'd probably be hard to explain to the gang back home.

So there it is - Stingray City in it's beautiful glory. The beans are glad that they had a chance to visit, and insist that all of you try it - just once. Bring your squid, be sure to keep your fishy hands in the sea, and double-knot your bikini top, just in case. (Free advice from the beans who got to watch firsthand as one of those women swimming down there forgot this Golden Rule.) Another reason why you shouldn't forget the frijoles - they make a great emergency coverup in case your Speedo has been sucked off by a stingray.