If one of your dreams was to go on a long holiday on a secluded island, then you should definitely hear about this beautiful island called La Gomera. Part of the Canary Islands, the beautiful island offers a lot of entertainment, from diving, snorkeling and local villages, to ruins and even mountains you can climb! That’s where one family and their kid spend some unforgettable moments, meeting a strange sea creature… We have to admit, it’s a one-of-a-kind story!
The beautiful island offers an incredible scenery, starting with its high mountains, diverse flora and fauna, and ending with a valley, a coast and a beach soaked in the sun for an entire year! The most popular place on the island is without doubt Valle Gran Rey - The Valley of the Great King!
This place is the most known beach on the island, and it’s close to where the family in our story went to have some fun.
Little did they know Mother Nature had one big surprise for them…
The waters around La Gomera are beautiful, and they wash over its beach that has fine black sand! This is the perfect destination for snorkeling or just swimming around.
There’s also a secluded beach right behind the Vueltas harbor. And that’s where things get a bit strange!
As you approach the harbor, you’ll see many fishing boats that sometimes take tourists on board to show them a good time.
When Joel, the little boy in our story, got ready to visit the beach that morning, he had no idea he’d be greeted by something in the water…
The plan was to get on the boat and go fishing, but as Joel got ready to hop in the boat, he saw the waves looked a bit strange.
Then, as he approached the water, something brushed against his foot. Was it a fish?
As you all know, one of the main attractions at the Canary Islands is to visit the underwater creatures.
This is why many people go snorkeling or scuba diving, but Joel didn’t even need to dive to encounter an sea creature!
Before Joel came to spend his holiday on La Gomera, residents heard of tourists that stumbled upon strange creatures.
However, they knew better than think of stories told by frightened people that may have never even see an underwater creature up close. Plus, all the stories were of them swimming in the dark, so they might have been mistaken.
Nonetheless, people recommended tourists not to swim during the night, considering many accidents can happen, and there are no lifeguards around during the night.
But that morning, Joel had no intention of swimming… And when he stepped on the wet stairs, something touched his feet, and it wasn’t just water!
Was Joel imagining things? The water was pretty dark, and something touched him again, with more strength. He realized it wasn’t a wave.
Since he was in the harbor, he thought maybe it was one of the fish that the fishermen threw back into the water. But that thing wasn’t a fish at all…
Nobody dared to move as Joel told them something touched his feet. It was a big creature and tourists feared it was a shark.
They were stunned and didn’t know if screaming at Joel to come back was a good idea. They feared the boy would slip on those stairs and who knows what would be at the bottom of the sea, waiting for its prey!
Joel took a better look and realized that the huge sea creature was actually quite friendly!
The mysterious creature people saw at night and terrified tourists was looking to make some friends. What was it?
Believe it or not, but Joel became best friends with this giant stingray.
He made a habit of visiting it every day during his holiday and always made sure to bring it some food.
Because the stingray is always around, waiting for Joel, fisherman have started to throw it all the bycatch they didn’t need, so you can imagine this huge stingray found a great home!
Every morning, Joel would go to the harbor to see his best friend, and with time, they began developing a great friendship.
What’s even more incredible is that they decided to stay longer for Joey’s sake!
As Joey walks along the stairs in the harbor, the stingray swims close to him and touches his feet.
Joey bends over to greet his pal, and the stingray greets him back! Check them out in the next photos to see for yourself!
As soon as people heard of Joey’s new friend, they joined him during his morning routine.
One person caught the whole moment on camera, and it’s safe to say the video got viral overnight.
As news of Joel and his stingray friend traveled around the village, more people came to see how the stingray comes around every morning to say hi.
Then, one of the fishermen came to offer Joel a box of fresh shrimp!
Now Joel had something to offer his friend in return for their everyday interactions!
He was eager to feed the stingray all of that fresh shrimp, and that became part of their ritual.
Joel fed his stingray friend until he was full, but he never said no to fresh shrimp, even if he had enough!
Then, Joel would pet the friendly sea creature one more time before saying goodbye…
Joel would then watch as the stingray disappears into the ocean, knowing they’d see each other the next day.
But aren’t stingray dangerous, you’d ask yourself?
You see, when they feel threatened, they can use their poisonous stinger to defend themselves.
If left alone, they’re not aggressive. Joel understands that he has to make the stingray feel safe around him…
Joel teaches other kids how not to be threatening around the friendly stingray.
This way, it feels safe around humans and will let Joel pet him!
Giant stingrays don’t usually live in shallow waters like this stingray and don’t have such behavior.
It seems this one is that one exception, since it’s so friendly!
The person that captured these amazing moments has uploaded the video on YouTube, and it obviously went viral overnight!
A YouTube user said: “My faith in humanity’s restored. These boys have good souls.”
Another person said that the boy looks like he knows to “respect boundaries and doesn’t go too far,” and that the “ray flapping back to the boy was so fantastic.”
This unusual friendship is certainly one-of-a-kind, and Joel will never forget his time at La Gomera. Hopefully, he’ll relocate there with his family to keep visiting the friendly stingray!