{"id":2353,"date":"2013-03-12T20:44:17","date_gmt":"2013-03-13T01:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/micho.org\/cayblog\/?p=2353"},"modified":"2013-03-12T20:44:17","modified_gmt":"2013-03-13T01:44:17","slug":"chopper-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/micho.org\/cayblog\/?p=2353","title":{"rendered":"Chopper fun"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have seen this helicopter flying around for the longest time and figured it would be fun to go for a ride sometime. \u00a0Well, today was the day. \u00a0Any what a day it was … skies perfectly clear and plenty of sunshine.<\/p>\n

Here was our ride for this trip. \u00a0 I had never taken a helicopter, so did not really know what to expect.<\/p>\n

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First off, across the Seven Mile beach “land” and over the North Sound and to Stingray City. \u00a0Plenty of cruise ships in port today, so lots of people having fun with the stingrays.<\/p>\n

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Next, off to the North wall … essentially where the North sound meets the reef and then the oceanic\u00a0drop-off. \u00a0On the right is the North Sound (where is Stingray City) Then you have the barrier reef. On the left it gets progressively deeper. \u00a0Where you have the stripes is +-60-70 feet deep and then the dark blue is >6000ft deep. \u00a0The diving along the drop (called “wall diving” since you are diving along, well, a wall or a cliff into the abyss) is spectacular.<\/p>\n

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View from the chopper. \u00a0I was directly behind the pilot, who is a chap from France called Jer\u00f4me. \u00a0Quite a character! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

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Great view and colors around fisherman’s rock<\/p>\n

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Now back along Seven Mile beach ; always spectacular.<\/p>\n

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Great shot of the USS Kittiwake. \u00a0This ship was sold by the US government to a group in Cayman. It was sunk in 2011 and is now a popular diving and snorkeling site. \u00a0 The Kittiwake was a “Submarine rescue vessel” and was in service from 1946 to 1994. \u00a0The boat is just over 250ft long.<\/p>\n

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Great view from above the Disney cruise ship.<\/p>\n

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And finally a video of the takeoff. \u00a0This will give you a good idea of how fun it was.<\/p>\n