Swimming with Stingrays???

[bzv143]

help! 5 year old granddaughter wants to swim with stingrays. Is there any other port besides Georgetown, Grand Cayman, where this can be done? THANKS!

[akcruz]

I believe there are others as well, but this can be done in Nassau for one. Check out the provider of the excursion, some are better with kids than others.

[uppitycats]

Isn't this really dangerous?? Wasn't that one naturalist guy -- don't remember his name, now, but his young daughter has a tv show now -- wasn't he KILLED by a stingray?? I can see maybe swimming with dolphins..but stingrays??

[daze6399]

Steve irwin I think wa the name of the guy and yes he was killed by a sting ray. The barb pierced his heart. The rays on these excursions have no barbs, at least according to one of the ads I read. Even with the barbs, rays really aren't dangerous, it wasn't an intentional attack by the ray that killed Steve Irwin.

Daze

[cyntil8ing]

The rays in Grand Cayman do have barbs, but they are not the same breed as the Steve Irwin ones. They're very tame and unless you accidentally step on one, would never hurt you. My four and six year old were a bit freaked out by their size, but enthralled nonetheless.

 

[kasi1979]

A stingray encounter is also possible in Grand Turk.

However I found the stop at Grand Cayman far better, as the water is smoother and the animals are used to lots of tourists.

[mass02703]

St. Thomas also has one....they are de-barbed!

[griffy116]

My daughters (both grown women) did the Stingray City in Grand Caymen. On the boat to Stingray City there was an extensive safety talk about the dangers, ability to shuffle your feet, etc., etc. At five, I could see the fascination, but if they accidentally step on a sting ray, their natural instinct could cause problems. I think I would encourage waiting until she's older. JMO.

[A&Jfamily]

My kids have done them twice. The first was in Grand Cayman when my youngest was just shy of 4, and my oldest 9. My youngest was too scared to stay in the water - it was a touch choppy - even though he had on his swim vest. My 9 yo ate it up. These are completely wild sting rays, but are very, very tame. The handler gets in the water, waites for one to approach (usually a female as they are bigger) and feeds them like a pound of squid, then just rubs her tummy. They stay willingly - and he proved it to me. He took his hands off and stuck them up in the air.and she practically climbed out of the water up his chest to get him to rub her some more.

 

Then, last summer we did it on Blackbeard's island off of Nassau; kids were 5 and 11. These sting rays are enclosed and de-barbed. They are much smaller. Unlike the wild ones who are used to being fed one on one, these have been taught to swim between rows of tourists holding squid. They were smaller and not nearly as friendly as the one in Grand Cayman.

 

It is was me, I would do Grand Cayman again in a heart beat.

[WisconsinFan]

What line will you be with? Castaway Cay, Disney's private island has a great sting ray encounter. Ray's are barbless and taught to swim up onto platforms on "Mickey heads" to be hand fed. We loved it. It includes a naturalist type talk and part of the fee goes towards marine life protection.

[nybumpkin]

We also did both Grand Cayman and Blackbeard's Cay in Nassau. My younger two sons (then 11 and almost-8) weren't comfortable with Stingray City in GC - it was deeper and rougher than they expected, so they stayed on the boat. While the stingrays at Blackbeard's Cay (one year later) weren't as entertaining as the ones in GC, my sons were much more comfortable there because the water was shallower and calmer. And you can snorkel around the pen area and see the stingrays after the feeding is done.

[Cruisinchristie]

We had a group of 4 families this spring that did the tour in GC. We had 9 kids that ranged from 5-12 and the young ones were all terrified. My son was turning 6 and we had even showed him the videos on youtube of stingray city. He was so excited to go! He freaked when we got in the water and the first one came near us - even with my husband holding him. The other boy that was the same age was crying, and the 5 year old girl was also. They just wanted to get back on the boat. The guides were awesome and the rays were very gentle, it was just not something they were ready for. The 7 yr old + kids were fine and loved it.

 

You may want to wait a couple of years on this one. Just my experience.

[Chicky2181]

Steve irwin I think wa the name of the guy and yes he was killed by a sting ray. The barb pierced his heart. The rays on these excursions have no barbs, at least according to one of the ads I read. Even with the barbs, rays really aren't dangerous, it wasn't an intentional attack by the ray that killed Steve Irwin.

Daze

 

This is not true in all cases. I've done the sting ray excursion in grand cayman twice. It takes place in a natural environment...not a facility. These guys have their barbs. I felt that it was safe for adults because the water was chest deep....and I'm 5'9. I'd be concerned about doing this with a 5 year old.

 

So sad about Steve Irwin...it was a total freak accident. Usually people end up stepping on the barb...it hurts like heck, but not deadly.

 

I can not speak of facilities that have sting rays. Although I have done Discovery Cove in Orlando and I think those guys are not de-barbed.

[earn]

We did Stingray City GC with our 8 and 10 year old sons last Easter. They are swim club swimmers so water was OK for them, but quite a few kids would not get off the boat. The stingrays are fantastic and it was the highlight of their holiday.

[crusinmama06]

Yep, NASSAU BAHAMAS! My kids were 4 and 8 when we swam we stingrays at Blackbeard's Cay. Blackbeards is a private island and they divide it with the singrays on one side and a private beach on the other. So you do the feeding/snorkeling/picture taking on one side then you go over to the other and just relax, play in the sand, etc.

 

It was a great day. I loved it. I know the kids were a little eeeked out by them. The stingrays are debarbed. But ironically enough when we got over to the beach side they started chasing a sting ray. I said "Um, girls, that's a WILD STING RAY!"

 

The nice part about it is that the kids can come in and out of the water as they wish. So as they feel comfortable. There is no boat to jump on and off of like in Grand Caymen. They are simply walking in and out of the surf.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cuizer2]

I love swimming the stingrays and do so every chance I get. The best is Stingray City in Grand Cayman. Second best was Antigua. I also have done it on Pearl Island in Nassau. That was terrible and I would never go to Pearl Island again. I recently tried in in Grand Turk. However, only a few showed up and I never got the chance to feed them (nor did anyone else).

 

Grand Cayman ...

 

 

 

 

 

Antigua ...

 

 

Grand Turk ...

 

[Cuizer2]

Isn't this really dangerous?? Wasn't that one naturalist guy -- don't remember his name, now, but his young daughter has a tv show now -- wasn't he KILLED by a stingray?? I can see maybe swimming with dolphins..but stingrays??

 

It is a lot less dangerous than driving a car.

[jlbl4902]

My son was almost 5 when we went to the Caymans and it did totally freak him out! For whatever reason the stingrays scared him and he and I had swam with the Sea Lions just a couple of months earlier in St. Thomas? :confused: (which was a wonderful experiance) :) He is 6 now and still talks about both like it was yesterday... :D

[Cuizer2]

My son was almost 5 when we went to the Caymans and it did totally freak him out! For whatever reason the stingrays scared him and he and I had swam with the Sea Lions just a couple of months earlier in St. Thomas? :confused: (which was a wonderful experiance) :) He is 6 now and still talks about both like it was yesterday... :D