Snorkeling in cast away with a 3 yr old?

[DisneyMomma2858]

On the Disney cruise the website it states that you cannot rent snorkel gear for anyone under the age of five. I cannot see anywhere that it states that you cannot snorkel under the age of five. Only that it cannot be rented. Can I bring her snorkel gear? Or does she have to be five to snorkel?

 

[TeaBee]

You can certainly bring your own snorkel gear. I doubt they're going to ask your ages when you head out. Make sure to also bring an inflatable snorkel vest as those are required in the snorkel area. One thing to note is that it's kind of haul to swim out to the areas with hidden Mickeys. After my ten year old got intimidated by the swimming distances, we spent the afternoon doing a lazy-man's snorkel in the swim area instead. We shared a raft and laid across it so it supported our bellies then floated around with our masks in the water. There were plenty of fish in the swim area out toward the lifeguard stand and it was actually less cloudy and crowded than on the "snorkel" side of the rope. We actually saw a barracuda! My daughter still talks about it, it was one of the highlights of her trip.

 

[Weedy]

Disney provides the vest at no charge. They are hanging by the snorkel area. Everyone most wear one. They can be a bit bulky

 

[ASchwa]

On the Disney cruise the website it states that you cannot rent snorkel gear for anyone under the age of five. I cannot see anywhere that it states that you cannot snorkel under the age of five. Only that it cannot be rented. Can I bring her snorkel gear? Or does she have to be five to snorkel?

Does your 3 year old know how to snorkel already? Has she been in the ocean and is ok with the water and is ok with it having fish and seeing marine life? My brother when he was about 7 or 8 went snorkeling with a guide. My other brother and I were also snorkeling. He saw a sea urchin on the sea floor and jumped on the guide's back. Well, that was it, we had to go back to the beach. I did a scuba dive when I was 6, they tested me before they allowed me to dive and even then would not allow me to go too deep in the ocean. They also had a guide right next to me. I remember him pointing to a barracuda and I nodded and I remember thinking wow. I was ok with what I saw. The only reason I am mentioning and asking is because if she panics, she or you could get hurt.

 

[JMHDisney]

To see much at Castaway it really is a long way out. When my son was 6, we were snorkeling at Castaway and he suddenly panicked (even though he had done it a bunch of times before) and it was scary for me trying to haul him all the way back to shore because we were so far out. There was a brief moment where I considered trying to flag down a lifeguard. Unless your 3 year old is a very experienced snorkeler and swimmer, it probably isn't worth bringing all the gear for her. There are tons of other things to do at Castaway.

 

[Capt_BJ]

My brother when he was about 7 or 8 went snorkeling with a guide. My other brother and I were also snorkeling. He saw a sea urchin on the sea floor and jumped on the guide's back. Well, that was it, we had to go back to the beach.

Had a very similar experience with dd when she was 7. She'd been snorkeling in the pool for some time and was quite comfortable and wanted to go "for real". So off we went to Key Largo and out on a snorkel tour. About 2 minutes in the water and she saw a 'cuda - very small, but you could see the teeth. Those little legs and flippers threw a rooster tail the most powerful super speed boat would be proud of. She never stopped for the ladder but SHOT out of the water to the deck of the boat .... end of snorkel trip!

She did recover however and a lil' while back spent the summer as a research intern in Roatan, surveying reef health and counting sea horses

 

[DisneyMomma2858]

She has snorkeled before and she has been in the oceAn. We didn't plan on going for out at all. Planned on staying in the beginner side of it