Iguanas on Coco Cay

[L&N]

Booked our 3rd cruise on Anthem of the Seas.  Love this ship, and it will be our 2nd time visiting Coco Cay; however, the last time we were there, I saw sooooo many iguanas.  Silly as this may sound, I am petrified of them.  I couldn't finish my lunch while sitting at a table when I saw an iguana walking toward me.  Has anyone had any experience with iguanas while on Coco Cay?  Good or bad experience?

[jbethel11]

9 minutes ago, L&N said:

Booked our 3rd cruise on Anthem of the Seas.  Love this ship, and it will be our 2nd time visiting Coco Cay; however, the last time we were there, I saw sooooo many iguanas.  Silly as this may sound, I am petrified of them.  I couldn't finish my lunch while sitting at a table when I saw an iguana walking toward me.  Has anyone had any experience with iguanas while on Coco Cay?  Good or bad experience?

Hey, L&N, I'm sorry for your terrible experience while visiting CoCoCay. Did you visit CoCoCay before or after the opening of the new amenities? (Thrill waterpark, Oasis Lagoon, e.t.c.) There are now currently multiple complimentary dining venues so if you do encounter one, you can just take your meal elsewhere.

[Merion_Mom]

They are still around but much scarcer since all of the construction 

[mac_tlc]

We noticed a few of them on the “islands” in Oasis Lagoon last week. There are a number of seats in the Lagoon alongside the islands. They seemed to like eating the flowers.

 

mac_tlc

[L&N]

We were on Coco Cay in 2018 before all the new construction.  Hopefully, I’ll either be able to avoid them or be able to get over my fear.

[island lady]

Before the construction started, we used to see a lot of them.  Now...this last time in June, never saw one at all.  All the massage construction has taken away their habitat.  

 

You will safe from Godzilla....no worries.  

[L&N]

Thank you everyone for your comments.  Seems I can almost put my fears to rest hearing that the island is not over run by iguanas.

[Queen of Oakville]

We saw a couple - on the centre island within the big pool

[taglovestocruise]

7 hours ago, L&N said:

Thank you everyone for your comments.  Seems I can almost put my fears to rest hearing that the island is not over run by iguanas.

See them for what they are, just a duck in a lizard costume looking for free food.

[gadaboutgal]

I  can empathize with your feelings about iguanas.  I have the same reaction to snakes. I had to look up to see what snakes there are in the Bahamas and am wondering if anyone has ever seen one on Coco Cay. 

[L&N]

I’m not a fan of snakes either.  Been to Coco Cay once and never saw a snake.  Just quite a few iguanas.

[voyager70]

Shame they have been displaced for the sake of the dollar.  I love them.

 

[cb at sea]

We've never seen any....so don't look for them, and you will be ok.  They do NOT want to bother you, or be around you anymore than you want to be around them.  No worries!

[flhokie]

Saw more chickens/roosters than iguanas earlier this month.

[gatour]

2 hours ago, voyager70 said:

Shame they have been displaced for the sake of the dollar.  I love them.

 

Come to Florida where they are considered an invasive species, much like boa constrictors.

They are not an endangered species, so their fate it is what it is.

 

Whereas Florida, allows homebuilders to scrape the land and kill gopher turtles which are a protected species.

[L&N]

Please don’t get wrong.  I wouldn’t want to hurt them, I just have a fear of them, or maybe it’s a phobia.  

[CruisinCrow]

Never had a bad experience with an iguana, on Coco Cay or anywhere else.   Mostly they just sit around on rocks soaking up the sun.  But, like with all wild animals, it's a bad idea to feed them.  Feeding them is what makes them approach people and the stuff people feed them isn't good for them.

[island lady]

7 minutes ago, CruisinCrow said:

Never had a bad experience with an iguana, on Coco Cay or anywhere else.   Mostly they just sit around on rocks soaking up the sun.  But, like with all wild animals, it's a bad idea to feed them.  Feeding them is what makes them approach people and the stuff people feed them isn't good for them.

 

Only bad thing is they eat all my sister's flowers, then poop all over her seawall.  🤢  She has a house in the Florida Keys, we don't get them up near Port Canaveral.  (Too cold for them).  Had a bad cold snap in the Keys years ago, the Iquanas were falling out of the trees. 

Edited August 25, 2019 by island lady

[depplep]

Saw two Iguanas sunning themselves by the restaurant on the rocks where the zipline comes down. Saw a crab as well. Didn't see any snakes. This was in June. We didn't get off the ship last week.

[CruisinCrow]

43 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Only bad thing is they eat all my sister's flowers, then poop all over her seawall.  🤢  She has a house in the Florida Keys, we don't get them up near Port Canaveral.  (Too cold for them).  Had a bad cold snap in the Keys years ago, the Iquanas were falling out of the trees. 

 

I remember that cold snap.  We don't get them in the Tampa Bay area either.

[island lady]

9 minutes ago, CruisinCrow said:

 

I remember that cold snap.  We don't get them in the Tampa Bay area either.

 

There was a guy down that found a dead frozen Iguana on the ground.  He put it in his trunk to take to take it to bury it.  When he opened his trunk...Iquana was only temporarily unconscious...surprise!!  Yikes!!  😮 🦎

[L&N]

Yes, I heard that iguanas freeze in the cold and then thaw out.  

[brillohead]

14 hours ago, L&N said:

Please don’t get wrong.  I wouldn’t want to hurt them, I just have a fear of them, or maybe it’s a phobia.  

If you can, I recommend reading about them to learn what they are all about.  Understanding how they live can help reduce your fear of them.  

They are quite harmless -- they don't bite or attack or anything like that -- so it would be a shame if they detracted from what should be an enjoyable, relaxing day for you. 

 

Hopefully, reading about them and looking at pictures and videos of them will lessen the fear factor for you.  Phobias are no fun, but in most cases they CAN be managed.  I truly hope that you can alleviate your discomfort and enjoy your cruise!  

[L&N]

Thank you, brillohead.  I’m doing just as you suggested.  Friends have been asking us to go to Aruba with them, and I know there are a lot of iguanas there.  I hate to miss you out on a beautiful vacation because of something that wouldn’t harm me.

[brillohead]

18 minutes ago, L&N said:

Thank you, brillohead.  I’m doing just as you suggested.  Friends have been asking us to go to Aruba with them, and I know there are a lot of iguanas there.  I hate to miss you out on a beautiful vacation because of something that wouldn’t harm me.

I'm finally going to get to Aruba later this year on an ABC cruise... I can't wait!  

If reading / looking at pictures / watching videos gets overwhelming, just take a break and come back to it another time.  It's the repeated exposure in safe surroundings that teaches your body to not have the panic/phobia response.  It's okay to feel a bit uncomfortable while exposing yourself to the educational material, but if it ever starts getting to feel like "too much" just walk away for a while.  

Happy cruising AND beach-enjoying!