Stingray City Sandbar Questions

[skatie]

Hi Everyone - we are visiting GC on a RCI cruise in Feb 2008. My family has never really snorkled, but we are very interested in the seeing the Stingrays at the Sandbar excursion. I don't want to book with the Cruise as I've read so many good things here about booking locally. Please help me answer some questions so I can pick the right exursion.

 

1) How long does it take to actually get to the sandbar by boat?

2) My son (8) and I are prone to sea sickness - which excursion has the type of boat that would be least "rocky"?

3) In late Feb, do seas tend to be calm or rocky?

4) Are there excursions that are just a visit to the sandbar and then back to the dock area?

5) Can you actually swim at the sandbar or do you just have to stand and wait for stingrays to come by?

6) Can we bring our own bottles of water on an excursion?

Thanks!

[habby]

It took about 30-45 minutes to get to the sandbar at Stingray City. We were on a smaller boat that holds 25-30 people. The boat moves quickly and there's so much to see that you don't have time to get seasick.

 

I'm not sure about the calmness of the water in Feb. We were there at the end of April and there were no big waves. The area is semi-protected which helps I think. Most of the excursions I saw offered Stingray City and snorkling at a reef area, but there may be some who just do Stingray City. My SIL never got off the boat at either location. She had just as much fun as we did watching everyone else and taking pictures for people. We weren't at either location for a LONG time, maybe 20 minutes.

 

We were told to be calm in the water at Stingray City. No splashing or quick moves, so as not to agitate the stingrays. It's a really cool experience, one not to be missed. Your tour guide should have lots of educational info on the stingrays. They taught us how to tell the difference between males and females, and how to feed and hold a stingray.

 

Yes you can take your own bottled water.

 

Hope this helps somewhat.