Can someone please explain the appeal of sting rays??

[Cackyschmackers]

Definitely not a creepy experience for our family. We sailed on a 40' catamaran to the sandbar at Stingray City. Later we sailed to a different spot and snorkeled at an awesome reef, saw a moray eel and so many colorful fish. Definitely the highlight of our Grand Cayman day, we did this on two different excursions. Here is a photo with my six year old daughter and our tour guide showing her how to feed them (not the best pic w/the disposal camera ). We're out in the middle of the Caribbean Sea here, but it's so shallow at the sand bar. So awesome!

 

[gobo2]

I love animals and I would never contribute to keeping them in captivity so I'd never pay to swim with dolphins. The stingrays in GC are wild animals in their natural environment. Swimming with and feeding them was the closest responsible choice I found. Also, it was pretty cheap.
Personally, I think sting rays are adorable and the guides from the tour we chose (Moby Dick Tours) explained exactly what to expect and Nick even (some of you will hate this) licked one of the largest ray's tail to show my sobbing DD18 that we weren't in any danger.
You could absolute stay on the boat if you'd rather. One of the families had 3 small boys. During the explanation the 4 year old yelled out loudly, "Why do we have to get off the boat!!!" He was assured that no one would be forced off. He and a couple others were happy to observe from the boat.
(If the people around Steve Irwin knew anything about medicine, he'd be alive today. He was killed because they removed the barb. Bind it where you find it is the first rule of first aid.)

 

[Churchladychurchlady]

DD and I can't wait to play with the "sea flap-flaps"! They're so serene and graceful, and honestly it's a bit of a thrill to do something that's kind of creepy, but still awesome. The feeding part, I'm not so keen on, the touching and being with and swimming with - I'm totally cool with. But then, I'm weird. Also as a side note, I'd not be comfortable feeding someone else's kid either, so I don't know if it's the idea of feeding something, or what I'm feeding that's a little creepy to me.