Western Caribbean Excursions with a 4 year old

[BerardFam]

We are sailing on the 7 night western magic April 2016. A lot of the excursions require ages 5 and up to participate in the dolphin swims - our daughters will be 4, 6 and 7 on the cruise so the older two can participate in the swim but not the younger one. After reading the reviews, it looks like the Dolphin Discovery excursion in Chankanaab might offer us the most flexible options. Has anyone booked this with a 4 year old and older kids? Were you able to have the older kids participate in a swim or did you need to book a separate excursion?

Also, has anyone booked stingray city independently, with a 4 year old? Is the 4 year old even allowed to swim with the sting rays through an independent company?

Thanks.

 

[Madzac]

We did the dolphins at Chankanaab park in March with a 3(almost 4), 7, 10 and 13 yr old. We all got to ride together to the park,and when we got in, I had booked myself and DD3 on the dophin interaction and the older kids and DH on the dolphin push, pull and swim. It worked out very well. I could see where the big kids were but not watch their interactions. There has to be one parent booked with each group. At the end, they did combine all of our pictures from both groups on one CD for us.

One thing I will say, it is in the ocean. You have life jackets but the water was over my DD3's head. I had to hold her for the interaction. She loved it. But then when it was my turn, I had to pass her off to someone. The mom standing next to me held her while I did my interaction but she is shy and cried during that time.

The older kids especially had a blast and DD3 still talks about kissing the dolphin. The pictures were amazing. They start very high in price but we talked them down more than half.

 

[Madzac]

Oh and we did the botswain park at Grand Cayman which was a good day for our family. The kids loved the turtles. I had looked into stingray city but was told the water is choppy and wasnt sure how little DD would do. Also many of the private excursions require you to bring a life jacket for kids that small and I didnt want to purchase one for this one time event. I think MOby Dick was the only one I read about the provided them for little ones.

 

[CathyCU03]

We did dolphin discovery with a 3 year old. It's not labeled as a swim with the dolphins but you do get in the water with them. You stand on a platform about 3/4 feet under water and the dolphins come up to you and do kisses, hand shakes etc. Everyone wears a life jacket and you have to hold kids who can not stand. There was a lot of shuffling and waiting to get to the point where we got in the water but the experience with the dolphins was great. It would also be great for older kids. I was honestly surprised how much they let my 3 year old do. Beware that the price for photos there is insane! We also did Botswain and we liked dolphin discovery better.