How is the snorkeling on Castaway Cay?

[oceanmarina]

Hi all. How is the snorkleing on Castaway Cak?

Also, any snorkeling recommendations for Nassau would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[cramam]

The snorkeling was fair to good in October. It is great for families and beginers with calm, shallow waters. Not much diversity of habitat or species but was interesting for my daughters who were first timers.

 

[auntrenae]

I've been on 3 Disney Cruises, 4th coming up in 20 days, and Castaway Cay has the best snorkeling I've ever had. If you go to serenity bay, that is. We did the family beach the first time and with all the kids in the water, it was pretty murky until we got out pretty far. Also, stay away from kids who feed the fish! Those fish aren't happy when the food is gone and start to chew on you!!! Not a pleasant feeling at all.
Serenity bay is a totally different experience. The water is clear, the fish (once you get out a little bit from shore) are plentiful, and larger than at the family beach. The water seems a little cold until you are in it, but then it's teriffic. If you go out about 40 yards from shore just to the right a little from where you first come onto the beach, there is a large bunch of machinery they sank so the coral would have something to grow on. There are a LOT of fish there. There is one big one that I saw on the previous cruise too, still very shy. If you make a big spiral out from there you can see more interesting creatures, from a stingray being stalked by a small fish (again, a repeat from previous) several starfish, and some octopi in their holes. You can tell an octopus hole by the perfect shells around the opening in a semicircle. We 'took out the trash' for one of the octopi the first time, but didn't need any shells this last time, so we left them for others to find. There are a bunch of large broken conch there too. We found a bunch of live sand dollars that we photographed then put gently back. I would stay in the water there all day if I didn't need to eat sometime. Hope this helps! email me if you have any other questions, Renae

 

[Tandyc]

Sorry for the stupid question, but is it only for adults? I gather there is a family beach (does it have a name?). I was hoping Serenity is not an adult only beach because my kids live to snorkle and this sounds like the place to be.

Thanks for the info.

 

[auntrenae]

I hate to disappoint you, but it is the adult beach. If you want to take your kids, just get out of the way of the other kids playing near shore and avoid feeding the fish. There is a trail to follow underwater that is ok and fun for the kids. I just like bigger fish and more adventure than is available there. Have fun!
Renae

 

[tvguy]

We were on the 12-27-03 magic cruise. We snorkeled at the family beach and I was surprised by the number of fish there. Yes, it does it stirred up, but you can get out and away to clear water.
Disney has also placed large round "things" with holes on the bottom, look like they are made of pottery. Almost everyone of them was packed with fish. My wife and kids even saw a barracuda......I missed that. I didn't see any kids feeding fish, but was surprised how unafraid the fish were of people.
Almost all the snorkeling I have done has been in the Caribbean, but it was almost always from a boat away from shore, so the water the clearer. But I don't think there were anymore fish than on Castaway Cay. I'd tell you where we went on previous Caribbean trips, because it was over 16 years ago...(the mind is the first thing to go)
If you want to do something really fun, and are on the Eastern Caribbean route, do the 12 metre Regatta in St. Martin. They have 4 boats that once competed in the America's cup. I have never been on any kind of sailboat before, and we loved it.
BTW my kids are 12 and 16. I've been home from the cruise a week now, and it's been 12 days since I did the Regatta, and I still have sore muscles...but it was fun!!!

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Those fish aren't happy when the food is gone and start to chew on you!!! Not a pleasant feeling at all.

I did not need to hear that. LOL
I think what I'm going to do is rent one adult snorkle equipment- and one child... and tell DH it's so we can just share and trade off (since we'd need to go at seperate times with older children anyway- doubtful our youngest will know how to swim well enough and I wouldn't want us two out there with THREE children to keep up with) -and then just come up with a reason not to snorkle myself and let him take turns with the oldest kiddos.
LOL
I've snorkled before- but I'm scared of big fish- kinda frightened by small ones too if they come at me. LOL And the last time I snorkeled (in Cancun)- I got out because a barracuda was sighted within our little snorkeling area. My BIL was "nibbled" on before and it scared even HIM because at first he didn't know what it was ... I can only imagine the heart attack I'd have if little fish started nibbling on me. LOL

DH wants to snorkel- and we were thinking CC would be the best place for us to do so on this trip- instead of planning an excursion at other ports of call. Good tip to know that serenity bay snorkeling is better.

 

[WDWLVR]

The key to snorkeling at Castaway Cay is to get in the water early. On our May trip we were among the first off the ship. While everyone else was worried about finding a location we grabbed some chairs right by the snorkeling lagoon, went and got our flippers (we brought our own masks and snorkels) and hit the water. It was great! We did see the infamous barracuda as well as lots of other fish. The family snorkel area also has lots of hidden surprises like the Mickey statue and the 20,000 league submarine.

By the time we were coming back in many others were heading out and the water was getting stirred up. We relaxed with our books for a while then headed over to lunch.

After lunch we headed over to serentiy bay. The tide was very low that day and you could walk out as far as the bouy. We didn't go as far out as to where they sand things but we did see a lot: a live conch, starfish, and even the small stingray with his little fish pal following him around!

It was a great day!

 

[tvguy]

BibbidyBobbidyBoo
they give you inflatable vests so even a poor swimmer will stay afloat if you put some air in the vest.

 

[my3kids]

I think I was the first person out in the water to snorkel when we went. I didn't think the family beach was very good. We saw some fish, but not a lot. We had gone out in St. Thomas and had a great experience. The shipwreck was pretty far out, I thought. I just mostly saw a sandy bottom, not really a diverse plant and fish habitat.

 

[tvguy]

I was surprised at how many fish there were.
I don't know if I expected that for a manmade bay, or if I anticipated they moved the fake fish from the closed submarine ride from Disneyland!!! (still miss that ride)

 

[kcashner]

This may be unnecessary, but just so everyone is clear...there are 2 snorkeling areas. One is by the family beach and is open to everyone. The other is in Serenity Bay, which is the adults only area.

Your children are welcome in the area by the family swimming area (the snorkeling area is roped off next to the swimming area.)

 

[Lisa F]

The only place I have ever snorkeled is at castaway cay. On our last trip we did the seahorse snorkeling excursion (off a catamaran). This was at castaway cay and you board the boat and go about 15 min from castaway cay (can still see the island and the ship) to a reef. OMG, that made the castaway cay course seem like a dump! The reef itself was beautiful even without any fish, but there were some really gorgeous fish there. The water was soooo clear that you could see the goreous fish really clearly. It was my favorite part of the cruise (and we had an absolutely fabulous cruise so that's saying a lot!)

About snorkel equipment, I highly recommend buying your own. For the cost of a rental, you can buy your own mask and snorkel. Then on your next cruise, you can snorkel for free! It also kind of grosses me out to use "used" snorkel equipment no matter what they do to sanitize it but a mask and snork takes up next to no room in your suitcase. I also recommend buying a snorkel that has a valve in it to keep water out. The water was a little rough when we went and it did a great job at keeping the water out of my snorkel when a wave went over the top of it. BTW, we weren't chewed on by any fish, they all seemed to stay near the reef which was about 6' below the water surface... but the water was so clear it seemed like they were right there.

Lisa

 

[MarkLem]

Just finished our cruise last week and did alot of snorkeling. As one who is into snorkeling and diving, the best was at Grand Cayman: clearest water by far, best selection of fish and rays (even 2 green moray eels). Cozumel was good as well. Castaway Key had the least amount and variety of fish, but the area is big. The highlight was that there is a Barracuda that hangs around the sunken submarine(or is it a plane). It's about 3 feet long, doesn't bother you (my 8 year old ldaughter loved seeing it even).

CC is better than nothing, but not as good as the other two spots.

 

[auntrenae]

Mary,
I'm so glad you saw my little stingray and his shadow! That is so cool I was shocked to see him a 2nd time, but took more photos anyway. They should have a postcard making him the serenity bay mascot or something
I have a question. I've been there 3 times now and have never seen the area for the bbq at serenity bay. Is it right by the path to the beach, or is it somewhere farther along the beach. I always make a beeline to the water and from there back to the tram at the last minute, so I haven't even seen it. This time, since we are all adults, it might be nice to eat right there instead of hauling my DMIL all the way back there in a wheelchair. Also, is the food there the same as at Cookies BBQ? If not, we will go back no matter how far it is. That is good eatin'!
ttfn, Renae

 

[prymsu]

If you have snorkeled lots before, at other locations, then you may think the snorkeling is fair to good at CC.

If you haven't snorkeled before then you will be amazed at all you see!

It is still worth snorkeling, if you are hooked on it like i am!