Stingray Bit

[Mrs. Mac]

What are Sea Lice? This is the first time I have heard of them. Anybody had any experience with Sea Lice?

 

Mrs.Mac

[kellyccz's mom]

My husband and I did the stingray thing in Grand Cayman and LOVED it!! The trick is, and the guide should tell you this, is to tuck your thumb in letting the squid come out from the are between the tucked in thumb and first finger. That way they suck in the squid and not your hand. You let loose once they start sucking the squid. We will do it - the stingray thing - EVERY chance we get.

[katondeck]

I have done this tour twice and fed the rays twice. Yes, I got a little mark on my thumb once due to the suction. It hurt a little for a minute or two, but I would do it again in a heartbeat!! It was a great experience and not feeding the rays would mean you would miss out on part of it.

 

Sea lice are almost microscopic "bugs" (I am not sure what they are actually catagorized as) in the water. We encountered them in Barbados. They sting a little when you make contact with them. It feels like an extremely weak jellyfish. It is not comfortable and some people got out of the water because of them. I was having too much fun looking at fish and sea turtles.

[JrMafia90]

I heard it was great. But you do have to let go of the food.

[JYeagersGrl]

The only time I've EVER gotten sucked on by a stingray was at Discovery Cove in Orlando and all they did was suck up my hair and brush my leg. If you do have such a worry about them being dangerous go to discovery cove where they are everywhere and at least 5 feet wide! The are gentle creatures and you have to just let go as soon as they start to hoover over your hand.

[Bonnie&Rob]

We used Capt Bryan. We tried for Capt Marvin, who was full and referred us to the other company. 12 People on the catamaran, which was great. We had individual attention, with everyone getting a chance to feed and hold the stingrays. We also had a diver with us for the reef snorkeling who coaxed some eels and squid out from under rocks for us to see.

 

I don't recommend taking the ship tours. They are usually very crowded (last week there had to be 75 people on the boat - we called it the Sardine Tour). You couldn't move on the boat or in the water when we went by them. Talking to people at the dinner table, they did not have a great time. The ship was also charging $89.00 per person, which is more than we paid for two of us with Capt Bryan. Private excursions are the way to go.

[DaytonCruiser]

Moving this up for thefog.

[elaineof6]

Hey, I'm new at this, but dayum, there's a ton of information on these boards!

 

So what's all this I'm reading about shore excursions and tours with places other than what's offered on the ship? Is this a good deal? And just WHO is Capt Marvin (or whatever his name was), and where can I find him?????

[MERVYN BREMMER]

We went to Sting Rey City in the Grand Caymans and DW got what our guide called a Cayman Hickey. This happened when she was holding the Rey and knocked slightly off balance by a wave. She said it didn't really hurt but it was a good conversation piece and is to this day.

[normaxs]

We are itching to do the Stringray City in GC...does anyone have links to some reputable sites that you booked your excursion with? Or did you go through Carnival?

 

Thanks! And keep the posts coming!!!!

 

Stacy

We were in GC just 2 weeks ago and did Stingray City with Nativeway. In many years of cruising the Caribbean, this had to be the best, most exciting excursion ever! There were only about 20 of us on the boat and we were well prepared to lift, kiss & feed the rays. It was so exciting. Natvieway did a fantastic job. We are looking at a Panama Canal cruise for 2006 and planning on one that stops in GC so we can do this again.

If I remember correctly, they can be reached at :http://www.nativewaywatersports.com

Tell Sharon, Norma said hello.

Norma