Stingrays

[Javajoni]

Funny story:

My BF and I decided to do the Wave Runner/Stingray Adventure at Grand Caymen. I'm not a big fan of under-water creatures but I'm game to try new things and I was looking forward to the Wave Runner . After our fun ride in the Wave Runner and a half hour of snorkeling, we found ourselves waist deep on a sandbar, then I look to my right and here comes this huge stingray gliding towards me. When this thing gets right up to me I find out, to my embarrassment, that this thing totally creeps me out! If I could have climbed up my BF's back I would have but he's 6'4 and 250 lbs so instead, in my panic, I pushed up tight against his back squeezed his love-handles..hard! The surprise and pain caused my BF to let out a blood-curdling howl. This startled everybody, they must have thought it was a replay of the Steve Erwin incident! Needless to say I took off for the Wave Runner as fast as I could go, I jumped so high to get into that boat that I don't think I even touched the side. Our tour guide was awesome though, he came over to me to see if I was OK, then showed up later with a stingray and held it up to the surface so I could see it and touch it. The guide knew that I would find the fish interesting as long as I wasn't in the water with it.

[redskin80]

Your story is great. Too bad you did not give the rays a chance. They are unbelievable creatures and incredibly soft to the touch. I love the photo DH and I have we used it for our christmas card one year.

 

 

Thanks for sharing it was good chuckle.

[baseball921]

That is pretty funny. I was the total opposite, I touched and held everyone that came near me. Some of the other girls were screaming and running away, but I thought it was the coolest thing I've ever done! I can't wait to go back.

 

~Kristie

[cruising and boozing]

Was this excursion the one carnival offers?I was looking into it and it seem interesting cause of the wave or rayrunner.

 

Carnival Freedom 2/2009

Carnival Freedom 12/2007

Carnival Liberty 2/2006

[beach410]

Thats too funny! I absolutely loved swimming with the stingrays, 2 of my 3 boys, the youngest and the oldest, believe it or not, decided they didnt and stayed in the boat. The youngest came into the water at least to attempt it, but then changed his mind, he was only about 5 at the time. My oldest wouldnt even get in the water. We will definately go back and do it again.

[L2J]

This startled everybody, they must have thought it was a replay of the Steve Erwin incident!

 

Nice.:cool:

 

I too will admit I'm not a fan of anything that slithers, creeps, crawls or swims.

[DqALEX]

I did Stingray city in Grand Cayman last month and I have to say that was one of the best tours I have ever taken. I'm going to try to go again next week. My kids did not want to leave. I was expecting a pool, or a beach with nets to keep them in. Not what I expected at all IMO its a great great tour.

[jbroons]

Funny story!! We're doing Sebago's Rays, Reef & Rum Point thing in Grand Cayman (4/5/09). Anyone out there done this excursion??

[TheVegasMan]

My wife was afraid of them at first and stayed on the boat until the last 15 minutes when we were there. Then she got in and held one and even gave it a kiss. I, on the other hand was the first one off the boat and was after being shown how to catch and handle them, I was catching them for others to hold.

 

As long as you feed them properly, hold them so that their face rather than tail is facing you and don't get any fish on you they are very safe. One of our guides had a mark on his back where a stingray gave him a hickey. Apparently someone touched his back after handling the squid and the stingray attached itself to him to try and eat the squid.

 

Always shuffle rather than walk when you are in an area known to be inhabited by sting rays.

[PCFLBeachBum]

There were no loud blood curdling screams but I am pretty sure if my GF could have walked on water she would have beat Usain Bolt in a foot race back to the mini boat. She warmed after awhile when she realized she could use me as a buffer/shield. I really enjoyed it and so did she, but we came to the conclusion that she is much more of a Dunn's River Falls type of person. Good times. Getting really excited about Liberty Eastern Caribbean cruise in Feb. :D

[jbroons]

Funny story!! We're doing Sebago's Rays, Reef & Rum Point thing in Grand Cayman (4/5/09). Anyone out there done this excursion??

 

I'm requoting myself 'cause I was wrong....the Rays, Reef & Rum Point Beach thing is through Native Way Watersports!! (Highly recommended).

[crusinpsychRN]

I don't find anything interesting about those things swimming all around me. My son got bruises all over from it. No thanks.

[noblepa]

We did the Sting Ray City tour a couple of years ago, in Grand Cayman.

 

Wow! They were amazing.

 

On our tour, the operators provided snorkels and masks. Only about half of the passengers took them, and less than half of that group actually used them. While standing in the chest deep (the tide must have been in) water and watching the rays swim around my legs was interesting, I found that floating, face-down, using the mask and snorkel was much better.

 

When you're standing, looking through the water, the wave action on the surface distorts the image. Underwater, there is very little distortion and the water is crystal-clear.

 

The rays are pretty docile and have learned that these boats full of people always bring lots of tasty squid to eat. They're smart, too. When we arrived at the sandbar, the guide starting throwing squid into the water, which attracted the rays. After about twenty minutes, another boat arrived nearby and did the same. All of our rays headed over to the new boat for a fresh supply of squid, so our tour was over.

 

Their skin feels like wet velvet and, as I said, they are very docile. You just have to be a little careful of the spine in their tail, but this isn't difficult. On the way out, the guide told us not to try to pet them from head to tail, the way you might with a dog or cat, because the spine is in the tail.

 

If I ever get back to Grand Cayman, I'll do it again.

 

Paul Noble

[Cuizer2]

What - no pictures???

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CanopusSailor]

I went to Stingray city and it was fantastic!! The stingrays seem to be gentle. Just try not to step on them!!

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

1/9 Majesty of the Seas

11/8 Destiny

6/8 Westerdam

4/8 Victory

1/8 Fascination

11/7 Valor

6/7 Imagination

6/6 Imagination

[TheVegasMan]

Cuizer2,

 

How do you add the full size photos? All I get to add are thumbnails.

 

TheVegasMan

[kyrisong1]

I'm requoting myself 'cause I was wrong....the Rays, Reef & Rum Point Beach thing is through Native Way Watersports!! (Highly recommended).

we did them jbroons, TWICE!!!

We loved this excursion and it's so reasonable, the carnival one was way more expensive and the boat people were on was HUGE, lots of people = less personalized attention. Nativeway ROCKED!!!! And I'm so afraid of anything that touchs me in water, but the rays were awesome, soft, creatures that really loved people.

And Alex I agree with you, the fact that they are not enclosed is a HUGE plus for me.

We went once when there was 8 other ships in port, so Chris (nativeway guide) took us to the snorkle first then back to the rays when it wasn't so crowded, really careful to make customers happy AND get you back to your ship on time, I give them two thumbs up.

Carole

[halos]

LOL...I'm sorry you were so scared. I loved our Stingray City excursion...only thing I didn't like was how crowded it was.

 

My favorite experience ever with Stingrays was at Discovery Cove at Sea World. They have an area where you can snorkel...it's beautiful. While we were swimming with our faces in the water with snorkel on, a whole bunch of the huge rays swam by us...totally surrounding us on both sides and under us as they went by....It was amazing.....they are flapping their 'wings' for lack of a better word and when you are surrounded by them, moving in the water like that you get the amazing feeling of flying. It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had...

 

Until my youngets DD had an utter panic attack and destroyed the moment LOL!!

[Cuizer2]

Cuizer2,

 

How do you add the full size photos? All I get to add are thumbnails.

 

TheVegasMan

 

I post links to photos that are hosted on the Internet. In this case these are photos that I have uploaded to Photobucket.Com. Webshots.Com is another photo hosting site (both are free - though I have a paid subscription to Webshots). I find it is easier to post Photobucket photos.

 

When posting I use the little yellow box with the picture of a mountain in it. Then I paste in the code I received from Photobucket and you get something like this ...

 

 

[DqALEX]

What - no pictures???

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great pictures thanks for posting them

[LemurCat]

My sister and I did the Stingray excursion at HMC and it was fantastic. Totally not crowded. There seems to always be a couple of people that freak out when it comes time to meet the rays.

[mdrobtx]

Oh my gosh. Those pics were crazy. It's that crowded there. I went in '93 for the first time and there were maybe 3 boats there. It's really turned into a free for all.

If you want another similar and great experience, do the sting ray and nurse shark excursion in Belize. Book with an independent operator. We were the only boat there. 12 of us. Really cool. Got a 5 foot nurse shark to take a bait fish out of my hand.

Of course I like sharks.:D

 

[halos]

. Got a 5 foot nurse shark to take a bait fish out of my hand.

Of course I like sharks.:D

 

 

 

:eek:

 

I think that's where I draw the line with underwater creatures.

[jakieemma]

On our upcoming cruise we are going back to Sting Ray City for the 5th time. We are traveling with friends that have not been there, so it will be fun watching them experience the sting rays !!;)

 

[Cuizer2]

:eek:

 

I think that's where I draw the line with underwater creatures.

 

As long as the shark can tell the difference between the food and your hand, you've got nothing to worry about.

 

Signed,

 

Lefty