Heads up on Stingray city/Cayman excursion!

[Floridagram]

I think OP gave you all a good heads up. You can do what you want with it. At any given time of day Stingray City can be unbearably crowded, depending on how many ships are in port. I do not book any cruise any where until I research how many ships are to be in port on my day. If you are in St Thomas or St Maarten on a day with 8 ships in port or several plus the Allure or Oasis you do not want to be there. It would feel like Christmas week at MK or worse because there are not amenities to handle that many people.

Winter is always the most crowded because many ships that are other places in the summer come to the Caribbean in the winter. The summer is pretty crowded too. We have learned to, and are able to travel in May and fall months and everywhere is less crowded. My favorite time was to be in Aruba and Curacao and be the only ship in port!

 

[thehighprincess44]

We did it last January and it was absolutely fabulous!!!!!! Perfect temps, great day, low crowd. We went back 4th of July and it was a nightmare. Simply volume issues. I think most of the tour groups do a great job, but volume hurts. We leave the 23rd and I am very concerned about volume tours. I think DCL does a great job choosing partners, but anybody can get overwhelmed with five sold out ships! And it is disappointing to not get a fair shake and time.

Good luck!

 

[nurse2011]

Nurse-can you tell me more about fat fish & the jet skis? We looked into it but didn't know if my kids would be the right ages (ages 8, 11, 13). Could 1 child ride with my husband and 2 with me? Do you have to drive fast?

The jet skis go at about 40 mph max. You do have togo a certain speed so you can at least keep the tour guide in your sight. I think you will have to email or call them to ask if you can have 2 children ride with one adult. The appropriateness of the tour depends on your kids. I think it would be ok if your kids were interested and understand that the sting rays rub up against you. There was a 10 year old girl in our tour group and she screamed hysterically before sitting on the jet skis for the rest of sting ray portion of our tour.

We were very impressed with fat fish. It was a very personal experience, and our tour guide made sure to take photos of us during every segment of the tour. He even took our camera down when we were snorkeling & got close up pics of the fish for us.

 

[delauzons]

We are going to Grand Cayman on the Wonder in 2 weeks and were so excited to go to Stingray City. We booked it with an outside company. I just checked and there will be 6 cruise ships in port that day. Do you think it is worth going to or should I look to do something else? We are a family of five-3 girls-8, 14, and 17. Any other suggestions? We are doing Nachi Cocum in Cozumel. TIA

 

[nurse2011]

We are going to Grand Cayman on the Wonder in 2 weeks and were so excited to go to Stingray City. We booked it with an outside company. I just checked and there will be 6 cruise ships in port that day. Do you think it is worth going to or should I look to do something else? We are a family of five-3 girls-8, 14, and 17. Any other suggestions? We are doing Nachi Cocum in Cozumel. TIA

What time is your tour?

 

[Drew Sailbum]

I can understand how Stingray City can become excessively crowed with boats and folks during heavy port days.
...
I do feel for the rays.

No wonder they're sooo big. Folks have been feeding them, for at least 50 years, like this.

I wonder if they can fend for themselves anymore.

Has anyone ever been injured during this adventure? I've never heard reports....

Addressing these questions...
The rays have been hand fed since 1981. For many years before that they were congregating in the area to snap up the scraps that the fishermen would throw overboard while cleaning their daily catch. At first the hand feeding was just a very few scuba divers. Snorkel trips and cruise ship passengers came much later. Rays are very long lived species so some of the early rays to be hand fed may still be out there today.

Yes, the rays are perfectly capable of going off and fending for themselves. They had to do so for several weeks after Hurricane Ivan in 2004. Every winter there are always a few occasions where snorkel trips cannot go out for a few days at a time due to rough seas. The rays are always there when we go back out.

Yes, injuries do happen on stingray excursions. Stingray hickeys are a common, even daily, occurrence but are not particularly serious. Fewer than about 10 people are stung by a ray at the sandbar each year. To keep it in perspective, a few hundred thousand visitors make a trip to the sandbar every year! Probably more people are injured by falling on the boat ride to/from the sandbar than are stung by the rays.

 

[keishashadow]

We sailed in Jan on RCCL IOS and booked tour with Capt Marvins. Most of the other cruisers aboard were from the disney ship (same as on Cozumel). OT i don't recommend this provider was just ok imo, will go back to Nativeway next trip.

Always better to book smaller boat to get more personalized attention, especially in GC on Stingway Tour if only to have more space to maneuver in the water.

fyi, It's easy enough to check the various port calendars (google) to see exactly how many other ships will be in port when you are and what hours before you commit to booking a cruise/excursions plans.

delauzons - nachi cocum was amazing, restful day! will def go back next visit to cozumel.

 

[delauzons]

What time is your tour?

We are booked at 9 am.

 

[delauzons]

delauzons - nachi cocum was amazing, restful day! will def go back next visit to cozumel.[/QUOTE]

Good to hear! We were debating between Nachi Cocum and the Fury but decided we would rather relax. Glad you had a great time!

 

[delauzons]

Bump*