Sting Rays in Belize compared to Grand Caymen?

[Harvsgirl]

Hi,

 

Can anyone comment on how the stingray experience in Belize compares to the one in Grand Caymen. My husband and I have done the one in Grand Caymen but this time our teenage girls are cruising with us and we want them to experience this. Our intinerary includes Belize so we wondered about doing it here instead of Grand Caymen.

 

Any comments would be appreciated as I plan on booking our own tour in advance of the cruise.

 

Thanks.

 

Kim

[Mekamax]

If you are going to Shark Ray Alley in Belize for the Sting Rays one difference is you are actually snorkeling with a vest - not standing on a sand bar. At least we were. Then you get to snorkel the marine park (out in the middle of nowhere) so it is a great tour ending in San Pedro which is a great little town... :)

 

Grand Cayman - I actually scuba dived a deeper part of the Sting Ray City and it was fun but I think overall the Shark Ray Alley would be better to do if you have already done it at Grand Cayman. Now the tour is very long but we loved it! :) Debbie

[Budget Queen]

I was just at both areas last week. As mentioned you have contact with the sting rays at Cayman since it is so shallow, waste deep. At Shark Ally, you snorkle with the rays down below, they did not come up to the surface and the area we were in was probably 10 feet deep. As mentioned you also get in some excellent reef snorkling, probably the best I have been on. :)

[Leah003]

Tom, you mentioned once again there are several tour operators available as we get off the ship. Is this wise to "pick anybody"?

[Babie]

Last time I was there, I did the shark ray alley excursion (not through the ship, we used Coral Breeze). I'm not sure what area of the sandbar we were in, but we were not in 10 foot deep water when we were with the sharks and rays (as others have said). The water was only about 4-5 ft deep so standing was not a problem for most people.

 

Now we also did a snorkel tour of a great reef area, the water there went as deep as 15 feet I believe. But not the shark ray area itself. And we even had a little time on Caye Caulker.

 

I guess we lucked out on our tour if most people don't actually get to stand with the rays and sharks... :cool:

[kmsolo]

I have a quick question.... are all these excurisons that you all mention snorkeling or diving? I am trying to find out the best place to dive. My parents are going to Coz, Belize, George Town, Grand Cayman; and Costa Maya... Which place is better to dive? I have been to Belize and loved the snorkeling, but now that we are all certified we want to experience deeper water... Thanks!

[sportsterjohn]

I doubt that you can go wrong at any of these ports.

[aggieastrosfan]

I think it depends on what you're looking for. If you want to interact with the stingrays, go with the Cayman trip; they didn't have squid for us to feed the rays, only the tour guides got to feed them. If you just want to "swim around", go in Belize. I was with Babie on the Coral Breeze trip, and while we could stand up (I'm 5'9" and the water was upper waist to chest deep), it was also deep enough to where you could actually swim around with them. Kind of hard to do in Cayman.

 

Both trips are must-dos in my book!

[kmsolo]

Well after reading around a bit, my parents decided to dive everywhere they can. So it seems the research I did in all ports to find out which one was better has paid off- they are using it all! Thanks for you imput and help!