Best Stingray Excursion for family with kids ages 10, 6 1/2 and almost 2???

[loveysbydesign]

Trying to decide if an excursion on The Hannibal Stingray City Tours would be good for our family of 5. We've never been there before and are trying to decide between this or the StingRays on Castaway Cay. At GC we can bring the little guy but at CC we can't. We'll be there on June 2nd, not sure if that affects the roughness of the water or not. Any help's appreciated!:D

[martinchem]

Sting Ray City in Grand Caymen is the one.

[2PinaColadas]

Check with Moby Dick in Grand Cayman. I was very impressed with them. The crew gets in the water with you and it really helped the kids on our tour feel safe. They return e-mails quickly.

[JohninDC]

I agree with 2PinaColadas - the the Moby Dick crew were great and the boat was well equipped with child sized equipment. Good luck!:)

[loveysbydesign]

Trying to decide between Moby Dick and Captain Marvin's Hannibal. Anyone have a link to Moby Dick's????

[JohninDC]

Here you go: http://www.mobydicktours.com/

 

Just did this tour on the 16th and can't say enough. "Mrs Moby" handles reservations and bookings, while CAPT Mark and crew were great helping in the water with snorkel gear and the stingrays! Good luck!:)

[loveysbydesign]

Looks like we won't be able to go to Stingray Cuty this time due to finances...what else could we do with our kids in G.C. that is chepa and family friendly?

[SunSeekerEBS]

Seven Mile beach is beautiful and only a taxi ride from the boat. That's pretty inexpensive and who doesn't like a beautiful beach?? Hope that's helpful. ;)

[JerseyBoy]

We were at GC on March 31th and used MobyDickTours to visit Stingray City. They were great, I would recommend them to visit the Stingrays. You don't have to pay for the trip until you are there, as they don't require a deposit. Just be aware, as to when your cruise ship changes the time. We were on the Ruby Princess and there is a time change that takes place when you get to GC, some ships don't change the time. We almost didn't make it because we were off by an hour. Since we weren't sure what to do, we got off the ship early and went to where Mobydick told people to meet up at, fortunately we did it right and the local time was an hour earlier then the ships time.

[jamescruiselover]

Is is also fun for kids to do it? Any dangers? My kids talk about that crocodile man accident...anything we need to know?

[islandboo]

Is is also fun for kids to do it? Any dangers? My kids talk about that crocodile man accident...anything we need to know?

 

Steve Irwin's tragic accident was a freak occurrence, possibly exacerbated by the risks he took in getting very up close and personal with the wild creatures he was dealing with. Also, the ray that killed Steve Irwin was a bull ray, which is capable of lashing with its tail - the Southern Stingray has the barb fixed a bit away from the base of its tail and can't really strike out with it - most injuries come from people stepping on or near them. The rays at Stingray City are very acclimated to the presence of humans - they associate people with free handouts, not danger (as long as you don't harass them!). I visited Stingray City for the first time last week and LOVED it - I was giggling like a little kid.

 

One more thing to note is that a number of the rays at Stingray City appear to have had their barbs removed, perhaps as a reaction to Steve Irwin's death. I personally consider this to be the horrible and senseless mutilation of an inoffensive animal. I never felt to be in any real danger at all with the rays (although I have been very careful in other encounters with stingrays - specifically at beaches where rays were known to be found - I made certain to "shuffle" my feet in the sand to avoid inadvertently stepping on one hidden under the sand). We toured with Chip Whitney of Stingray Sailing and he did a very good job of explaining how to behave in the water and how to feed the rays. He even held a ray up near the surface of the water for folks to feel its rough upper surface and smooth under surface, as well as to show us where the barb is located. The rays do bump up against you while seeking handouts - if you have younger children, they might be more comfortable if you hold them (which you would probably be doing anyway, as the water is waist deep or so on an adult). My 15 year old thought the experience was great.

[bookbabe]

One more thing to note is that a number of the rays at Stingray City appear to have had their barbs removed, perhaps as a reaction to Steve Irwin's death. I personally consider this to be the horrible and senseless mutilation of an inoffensive animal.

 

Umm...they're wild stingrays. In most cases, I'm pretty sure the mutilation was likely at the hands (or teeth) ;) of some other wild marine animal. There are a few stingrays that have had run-ins with boat propellors but that's entirely accidental rather than an intentional incident. Caymanians have a pretty strong set of marine and environment preservation regulations, and I'm sure they'd react very harshly if anyone tried to intentionally harm the stingrays or any other wildlife...

[islandboo]

Umm...they're wild stingrays. In most cases, I'm pretty sure the mutilation was likely at the hands (or teeth) ;) of some other wild marine animal. There are a few stingrays that have had run-ins with boat propellors but that's entirely accidental rather than an intentional incident. Caymanians have a pretty strong set of marine and environment preservation regulations, and I'm sure they'd react very harshly if anyone tried to intentionally harm the stingrays or any other wildlife...

 

I suppose that's possible, but my impression from Chip's reaction was that it was intentionally done - he was pretty steamed about it. We did see one of the rays that had a propeller injury - it was pretty obvious what had happened there.

[misterjohnny]

We just got back from Grand Cayman with our kids (9, 7, 5) and they loved Stingray City. We went with Moby Dick tours and they did a great job. We spent a lot of time on the sandbar and the deckhands made sure everyone got to get up close and personal with the stingrays (if they wanted to, of course).

 

I strongly recommend Moby Dick.