Lacaena Posted June 8, 2018 #1 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Hi everyone! I am going to be on the Escape in October and starting to look at excursions. I would like to do the stingray excursion at Great Stirrup Cay; however, I understand that the stingrays there are penned and not free to roam. I always have hesitations about this. Can anyone confirm that they are in fact penned and if so enlighten me as to whether this is humane. I have heard a lot of negative things about dolphin enclosures but nothing about stingrays and a google search didn't turn anything up. I wouldn't want to support something that was "inhumane" to the animals. I'm a little bit of a bleeding heart when it comes to animals. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakman58 Posted June 8, 2018 #2 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Yes they are penned but the enclosure was HUGE. It was an awesome experience and I don't think it was inhumane treatment of the stingrays. If you think of a metropolitan zoo as inhumane treatment of animals then you might want to pass on this. If you look at the picture of myself and my wife you can see the fence in the background and that it extends far into the distance. I highly recommend the stingray excursion and Great Stirrup Cay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacaena Posted June 8, 2018 Author #3 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Thanks for the reply! The size of the pen definitely makes me feel better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare tammyjw305 Posted June 8, 2018 #4 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Stringray City or a different place has fences/pens? I did not see any fences or pens; just lots of boats. The google map satellite view even has some boats :) : https://www.google.com/maps/place/Stingray+City+Cayman+Islands/@19.3762866,-81.3049027,371m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x8f2f62944080be1f:0x6a68e40347bd6fae!8m2!3d19.37587!4d-81.304609?hl=en Our tour guides noted that the stringrays were trained to visit the tourists for free food. If there were pens, I missed them. It was a great excursion; we got to hold and feed the stringrays! Tammy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sauer-kraut Posted June 8, 2018 #5 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Stringray City or a different place has fences/pens? I did not see any fences or pens; just lots of boats. The google map satellite view even has some boats :) : https://www.google.com/maps/place/Stingray+City+Cayman+Islands/@19.3762866,-81.3049027,371m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x8f2f62944080be1f:0x6a68e40347bd6fae!8m2!3d19.37587!4d-81.304609?hl=en Our tour guides noted that the stringrays were trained to visit the tourists for free food. If there were pens, I missed them. It was a great excursion; we got to hold and feed the stringrays! Tammy Stingray City is an area on Grand Cayman, the OP is talking about Great Stirrup Cay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BirdTravels Posted June 8, 2018 #6 Share Posted June 8, 2018 There is a very large enclosure. The natrialist there will talk about the enclosure and what it keeps in and out. And how they rotate the rays through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaisyGoldberg Posted June 11, 2018 #7 Share Posted June 11, 2018 It was a really enjoyable animal encounter. It is an enclosed area, but they explain how they open and close it and how different rays will go away and sometimes come back with friends later. I have had trouble collecting my photograph from them, however -- saw the proofs and placed the order and was told they'd contact me but now can't get a response to emails asking when I will get my glossy. Beautiful photo - hope I get it one day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaisyGoldberg Posted June 11, 2018 #8 Share Posted June 11, 2018 One quick note -- in GSC there's quite a hike from the meeting area to the boat that takes you out to the stingrays -- probably a 5-10 minute walk, not terribly strenuous, but full sun and quite a bit more exertion than some in our group were apparently ready for. They waited for everybody, but if mobility is an issue it's one you might take into account. It's possible they could arrange some other means of transporting less physically able passengers. Once you're on the boat you get off at a dock and go into the water where you walk/swim a short distance a ways into waist/chest-deep water (average sized adults). As I recall it was deeper where the dock was and we swam a ways to where we could stand/walk more easily. A person in our group had expected no swimming and chose to remain on the dock, which was a shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacaena Posted June 12, 2018 Author #9 Share Posted June 12, 2018 Thanks guys for all the great answers. I feel comforted that the stingrays are well taken care of. I am pretty sure we are going to do this excursion! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now