Need advice on what to do on Castaway Cay

[proudmomsantizo]

Hi there: We're doing the 3 day Disneyworld, 4 day cruise in January/08. We'll be on the cruise the 6-10. Just wondering what everyone recommends as the "extras" on Castaway Cay. My kids are 8 and 14 and some of the excursions can be pricey but yet we'd like to do something. Is there something (even if costly) that anyone recommends we must do?

Thanks

 

[Mickeyhugger]

Hi there: We're doing the 3 day Disneyworld, 4 day cruise in January/08. We'll be on the cruise the 6-10. Just wondering what everyone recommends as the "extras" on Castaway Cay. My kids are 8 and 14 and some of the excursions can be pricey but yet we'd like to do something. Is there something (even if costly) that anyone recommends we must do?

Thanks

We always do the banana boat ride cheap $15 ride last a good 40 min. start to finish. Bring your own snorkel gear and they will give you the life vest for free and snorkel the bay and find all the different hidden treasures on the bottom. Do the para sail at the end of the day (not so cheap $75)

Rob

 

[BAIC03]

The stingray feeding at the lagoon is wonderful. The stingray aren't that big, and the water is relatively shallow... great for someone who might be intimidated by the critters. They are super-sweet. You get an instruction class first, and then you go out with one of the biologists to feed the stingray. Some are so tiny!! Great fun, and the pictures you will get of your kids feeding stingray will be awesome. There are lots of times and spaces to reserve.

 

[WDWLVR]

Hi there: We're doing the 3 day Disneyworld, 4 day cruise in January/08. We'll be on the cruise the 6-10. Just wondering what everyone recommends as the "extras" on Castaway Cay. My kids are 8 and 14 and some of the excursions can be pricey but yet we'd like to do something. Is there something (even if costly) that anyone recommends we must do?

Thanks

Welcome to the DIS and the DCL forums! I'm going to move this to the main cruise forum where I'm sure you will get lots more responses.

We just did the bikes on our last visit to Castaway Cay and really enjoyed it. We rode them out to the observation tower and got a great view of the whole island.

 

[LisaG520]

I 2nd the Stingray Encounter. We had a great time, plus it's only an hour so lots of time to explore the island and do other things as well.

 

[LCTsMom]

We loved the stingray excursion, too!

 

[bellelinus]

If it is your first time at Castaway Cay, you may not need to do a formal excursion -- the place is a true tropical paradise and you can spend an entire day playing in the water, snorkeling (bring your own if you have them), snacking, etc. There is a treasure hunt you can do on your own for free, and later in the day there are often floating tubes, mats, etc., in the water that have been abandoned by those heading back to the ship early.

I am not saying that excursions aren't fun -- we loved doing the banana boat, parasailing is great, we have enjoyed renting bikes -- but on your first time you might just want to relax and enjoy the island.

 

[mattmommy]

CC is so gorgeous and so enjoyable you might not need to do something pricey. They can swim out to a large tree-house like dock and swing out on ropes.

You can rent floats (we all seem to like them much more than the tubes that are hard to get into and sit so far above the water) and offer them a nice non-alcoholic umbrella drink to pose for a picture with. DS7 LOVED that. He felt so "big boy". He also unfortunately loved my virgin pina colada too much.

 

[kcashner]

Snorkel (bring your own equipment!), swim, and enjoy the beautiful beach. You don't need to do anything to love CC.

My DD did the Wild Side...but lots of teens don't. There are plenty of activities going on at the teen beach (volleyball, etc.)

 

[frdeb1999]

We enjoyed the tube rentals, banana boats. Neither are too expensive and the place is just great to begin with. So spending time on the beach is alot of fun also. They have a teen excursion that my dd did that also was good. She had a wonderful time and I don't remember it being too expensive.

 

[disneypoor]

We've done the parasailing, snorkeling, tubes, and bike rental. We always love being on CC and would be happy with just lying in the sand and enjoying the ocean. However, the parasailing is something my husband and kids (ages 8 and 11 when we parasailed) still talk about. They always want to do it when we go back, but it's kindof pricey, so I always just kindof ignore them. The bicycle rental was a lot of fun as well. We rode for quite a ways this last time and found a BEAUTIFUL spot to take a picture at. It really looked postcard perfect!

 

[Kyle2123]

We were at Castaway Cay in January '07 and we were kind of disappointed that it seemed too cold to swim. There were a few people in the water but it's definately a lot cooler than the weather you'll get at St. Maarten and St. Thomas. There are a lot of other fun things to do on the island though. If your kids are under 10 or so I'd recommend the Dinosaur dig. There is also a treasure hunt that is worth checking out. We also had fun renting a few bikes and riding around the island. It really is a great place, I'm sure it's the highlight of the trip when it's warm enough to swim and snorkel all day long!!