Stingray city and young child

[sdf89]

My DD5 is a fish and loves swimming. Any words of wisdom on how likely she will want to leave the water when the stingrays come close?

[Love2cruisegirl]

Has your daughter ever been snorkeling or in the water with fish before? My 7 yr. old has plenty of snorkeling under her belt and loves being with the fish. However, I don't think that is a guarantee when it comes to the stringrays. I saw grown women shrieking and such in the water when we went in mid-September. We were on the Buccaneer and there was a lady who went in the water & then the minute the rays got close, she was back up the ladder & onto the boat. She did come back into the water for a few minutes but said she was 'just fine' just watching from up on the boat. She did go snorkeling at our other stops though. I think her fear came from the size of the rays (they're HUGE!) and the fact that they brush up against you-just like a cat would! They were so graceful & calm. It would be hard to say with your daughter-and my daughter for that matter! I think I would take a chance-if she chose to, she could sit on the edge of the boat and just watch everyone.

[gazingm42]

We just did this last week. It was great. Did it with DW, DD8 and DS6. My son had a great time and had to pull in out of the water when it was time to go. This was his snorkling experience. However DD8 freaked out and when the stingray touched her she could not get

in the boat fast enough. However she loved to snorkle with the fish with no problems.

[cruisinqt]

Our 5 and 7 year old girls loved it so much that they wanted to take one of the "baby" stingrays home to live in the bathtub!:eek: And these kids don't snorkel or have a lot of ocean experience.

 

The key is to talk about it in real positive tones long before you go.;) We told our girls that the rays were as big as daddy but as gentle as puppies. We got books from the library with pictures for them to look at. We were also very calm and relaxed when we took them into the water with us. Even big kids their age are feather light when in the water, so each of us held a kid while in the water to make them feel more secure. The water was about waist deep. I didn't let them feed the rays since they suck on your hand pretty strongly when you feed them and I thought it might scare the kids. Overall, they had a blast and still talk about it a year later. It really made an impact on them. It was by far one of the best excursions we've ever done. :D I would highly recommend this excursion for kids. Just be sure to explain everything to them in advance and give them as much info. as possible. Knowing everything that's going to happen way ahead of time makes the kids feel more secure.

[Babs66]

Has your daughter ever been snorkeling or in the water with fish before? My 7 yr. old has plenty of snorkeling under her belt and loves being with the fish. However, I don't think that is a guarantee when it comes to the stringrays. I saw grown women shrieking and such in the water when we went in mid-September. We were on the Buccaneer and there was a lady who went in the water & then the minute the rays got close, she was back up the ladder & onto the boat. She did come back into the water for a few minutes but said she was 'just fine' just watching from up on the boat. She did go snorkeling at our other stops though. I think her fear came from the size of the rays (they're HUGE!) and the fact that they brush up against you-just like a cat would! They were so graceful & calm. It would be hard to say with your daughter-and my daughter for that matter! I think I would take a chance-if she chose to, she could sit on the edge of the boat and just watch everyone.

 

 

We were looking at doing the Buccanneer, through Island Mktg Ltd. Was it worth it? Also, I cannot tell if the beverages are part of the package or if everything is a cash bar