5 year old and stingrays?

[mandaleigh]

My DS thinks he wants to swim with the stingrays. We are going on the Freedom of the Seas and watch the Travel Channel show often. Everytime the stingrays come up, he says he wants to do that.

 

Does anyone find that kids think they want to and then they are too scared to get in the water? My son has no fear of water, so it would just be the huge black things in the water....

[houseflipper48]

We went several years ago when my kids were 8 and 10. They were scared to death to get out of the boat. My daughter 8, only got out for a second, and quickly got back on the boat. To tell you the truth, it freaked me out alittle also, the stingrays were ALL over me making this slurping sound. Glad we did it, but would I do it again....NO.

[twinkletoes4445]

Every time we've visited Stingray Sandbar, there have been kids on our excursion (from 3ish and up). I am still amazed at the beauty of the stingrays and never tire of this excursion. We always use Captain Marvin's, and if your child doesn't want to get in the water, they'll bring a stingray over to the boat for him to see. We've seen kids that won't get in the water, so the parents take turns...and we've seen kids (little ones) jump right in.

 

I'd do it. Even if your child ends up not wanting to get in the water, he will still have a good time. We've been on excursions where there are adults, and they don't get in the water, but come along only to see the stingrays.

 

I would book a short excursion. That's what we did the first time since we wanted to do other things. We did the island tour to the Turtle Farm (we went to the old one), and that's something your son may like to do.

 

http://www.captainmarvins.com/

 

 

If you don't want to do an island tour, I think it's Nativeway that offers Stingray Sandbar and a visit to Rum Point. Run Point is a nice beach area that has a restaurant.

[Jeffski]

Swam with the stingrays in the Caymans last year with my 6 year old daughter and 8 year old son. They loved it. Used Captain Marvins also and really enjoyed the day as much as anything we did on the whole cruise. If your kids like water then I think most would love this adventure.

[mandaleigh]

Thank you all for your responses.

 

I think I'll see how he does at Sea World this spring.... if he won't touch the stingrays in the touch pool, then I'll probably hold off.

 

It's alot of money to spend for a boat ride....

[UtahCruisers]

My DS thinks he wants to swim with the stingrays. We are going on the Freedom of the Seas and watch the Travel Channel show often. Everytime the stingrays come up, he says he wants to do that.

 

Does anyone find that kids think they want to and then they are too scared to get in the water? My son has no fear of water, so it would just be the huge black things in the water....

 

We swam with the stingrays when my son was 7, he is a good swimmer and not afraid of the water but the stingrays scared him to death. He just ended up sitting on the shore because they freaked him out so much. I have to agree they were kinda scary even to me but once you got used to them they were pretty cool. I guess if you go into it not pushing him to do it and let him go at his own pace he should be okay.

[twinkletoes4445]

Thank you all for your responses.

 

I think I'll see how he does at Sea World this spring.... if he won't touch the stingrays in the touch pool, then I'll probably hold off.

 

It's alot of money to spend for a boat ride....

 

That's a good idea. If he isn't afraid at Sea World, he should be fine. If he is, there's plenty of other things to do on GC until he's old enough to enjoy this activity. :)

[5waldos]

One of my sons loved it- he was 6. My other son, who is afraid of many things, had more trouble. But this was in Belize where we were in deep water, not on a shore.

 

It is interesting if you read back on these responses however, the parents of kids who were afraid of them were uncomfortable themselves. Which is why I am afraid of spiders.

[bookbabe]

Testing kids at something like Sea World, or even the local petting zoo, is a great idea before trying them at Stingray City. If your child is fine and eager to pet and play with the animals there, they'll likely be fine at Stingray City. Children that love water and aren't afraid of boisterous animals tend to love Stingray City. Children that are either afraid of water or active animals tend to have a more tense time.

 

My favorite analogy is that stingrays are a lot like cats...and they're pretty sure you're the one holding the catnip. The experience is also very similar to the pens at the petting zoo where you get to go in with the cup full of food to pet and feed the animals. The stingrays swim by and check you out, to see if you're holding any food. If you're not, they'll quickly lose interest and swim away. You might get pushed over a little by the waves or by the stingrays in their enthusiasm, but they really are only looking for food...they'll mostly ignore you if you don't have any.

 

If you're nervous, wear a t-shirt and board shorts instead of a skimpier swimsuit (less direct skin-to-skin contact may help with your comfort level) and don't take the "stingray food" that the tour operators will offer you. Stay a little bit away from the guide with the food, and just watch the stingrays swim by. They may come close, but if they don't smell any food they'll continue heading elsewhere on their quest for snacks.

 

For smaller kids that are a bit nervous, staying on an adult's shoulders during the experience can also help. That way, they're in the water, but not actually in the water, if you know what I mean... :D

[tdk1938]

My DS thinks he wants to swim with the stingrays. We are going on the Freedom of the Seas and watch the Travel Channel show often. Everytime the stingrays come up, he says he wants to do that.

 

Does anyone find that kids think they want to and then they are too scared to get in the water? My son has no fear of water, so it would just be the huge black things in the water....

 

I'm sure he'll be fine. Our son has autism and he can't swim. We let him wear the life jacket and he had a ball. First we hanged on to the ladder and refused to get in the water. Once he was is the water he's OK.

We went with Nativeway water sports and we have only 9 people on oour boat name Yoyo. I saw many boats with 30 to 40 poeple on each boat. We had a blast. The crew (Thomas and Moses) and photographer Chris were great!

[bernieb86]

Went last week with Nativeway! Kids are 14,11 and 8. All loved it! Should have no problems. They said it was one of the best excursions we did. It's something to not miss!

[noahsark99]

Our first trip was with Captain Marvin and my son (6 or 7 at the time) surprised me by getting right in there! The guide even said that you would get 7 years of good luck if you kissed the stingray so he did.

 

Our second trip was with Nativeway (Rays, Reef and RumPoint) and I can't recommend them enough!! The water was a little rougher this time and my son didn't enjoy it quite as much as the first time but he is ready to do it AGAIN when we go back in March.

 

I think the adults were more freaked out than the kids!

[Cessna140]

and loved it each time. But the last time we went the water was quite rough and the water was very choppy. Even the adults had a hard time in the water, it was very easy to drift away in the current. So just keep a float on him and hang on to him!

[TheVegasMan]

I was the first one into the water. My wife was the last one in, she stayed on the boat the first 80 minutes of the 90 minute stop. We finally convinced her to get in the water and she LOVED it. Even kissed on of the rays.

 

There was a family with 2 small children on our boat, the youngest was less than 2 and she loved being in the water.

 

Be careful not to get any of the squid they feed to the rays on you. Stingray hickies are said to be quite painful.

[lsane2]

I checked the Princess excursions to Stingray City and there is a minimum age of 8 on all of them. DD will be turning 7 on our cruise and she loved feeding the stingrays at the New Orleans aquarium last year.

 

Do the private tours go someplace different than Princess or are they just more lax in their requirements? On Princess's site, they say the water there is minimum 6 feet deep.

[consorzio]

We took our 3 year old last year and he loved it!! The water is not deep, and we all had on vests. We kept him close and he was just fine. Even petted the stingray!

[drumline]

We also went with Native Way charters. We had only 10 in our group and they were fantastic.They will get in the water and will actually hold the stingray for you if you want to get a closer look without holding one yourself. We saw the huge groups on the other boats which looked like utter chaos.

[beachbev]

My 6 yr. old is not scared of water either. The rays are very large and the water was clearly over his head. He would not even get off the boat. I had a blast and the older one did fine. He was terrified and still talks about it.

[Nebr.cruiser]

We took grandkids 3,4,5 & 5 with Captain Marvin a few years ago. None of them are afraid of the water; we all live on a lake. But, only one would get in the water with the rays, and then only briefly with her dad holding her. However, it was a little cool and choppy that day; the kids had tried snorkeling and gotten scared/cold of the waves, as well as the sting rays. I think they would more likely have gotten in if they had enjoyed the snorkeling.

 

They loved the whole boat ride though, and still talk about it. It was worth it just for the sea experience and (to them) the free fruit punch!

 

If you decide to go, just be prepared that he may or may not get in with the rays. The water depth varies depending on time of day and where you are on the sand bar, but most 5 year olds would have trouble standing--life vests are provided, though.