Stingrays at Castaway Cay

[shoequeen1001]

We are going in Jan. Me, DS(11) and DD (7) will be doing the stingrays. DH is a bum (as in beach bum- give him a marjarita and he's happy).

I am wondering about the excursion. What exactly do you get to do? Can you bring underwater cameras to take pictures? (Scrapbooking is very important!;) ) also any suggestions for books about stingrays for the 7 yr old. We homeschool so I want to do some research before the trip

[Jeanne B]

The stingrays are in mostly shallow water so you can get pretty good shots from above with a regular camera vs using an underwater camera but if you're planning on doing any snorkeling in the beach area bringing an u/w camera is a good idea plus you can get some nice scrapbook shots above water during the feeding time. If you're going to have one with you definitely bring it to the stingray excursion but the stingrays seemed to move pretty fast so I don't know how easy it would be to get good shots underwater (and we do quite a bit of underwater photography). But we didn't go out in the deeper water either, the water was too cold for us:eek:, in deeper water it might be easier to get good u/w pics.

 

They start you out in small groups around the feeding stations, everyone gets a few opportunities to feed the stingrays and then you can spend time on your own snorkeling or just walking around the stingray area. We had our snorkel gear but we only snorkeled for a few minutes since the water was too chilly for us. We had a better time just walking around and watching them.

 

Here's a picture I took from above water...

 

[gatour]

The "excursion" consists of going to a certain place on the far end of the sunbathing/swimming beach. You get an initial briefing and then led to the some shallow water platforms where the stingrays are trained to glide across to get food from you hand. Afterwards you are free to snorkel with the stingrays. I would say bring an underwater camera.

[TrolleyGirl]

I found the talk before the feeding to be very informative. It covers habitat, life cycles, different breeds, and care of the stingrays. It would be a very good homeschooling lesson about the animals themselves.

 

Yes, by all means take a underwater camera too. The water is so clear you'll get great shots. After you are done feeding the singrays you get to swim with them.

[Eeyoregon]

We really enjoyed this excursion. DCL photographers are also there during the hands-on portion and took some great photos of my sons but your own camera is much cheaper :D .