So we went on a cruise, and it was AWESOME! Not that I wasn’t excited about being on a ship, general traveling and having some time off, but most of you know that I’m actually a zoo freak. Meaning, I’m an animal lover. The fact that not only did I get to swim with stingrays in Stingray City in the Grand Cayman Islands but also meet a dolphin (all on my 23rd birthday) made it even more memorable! We booked this excursion through Royal Caribbean as a package with the Dolphin Swim. However, I could hardly find ANY information about what to expect other than the bare bones. As a person who wants to be prepared, this seemed a little daunting. So I decided to write a post for families interested in one of the most magical experiences that I’ve ever had.

Swimming With Stingrays at Stingray City In the Grand Cayman Islands

What To Do BEFORE You Leave the Ship

There are some things that are highly recommended you should do before you ever leave the ship.

• Cover Up With Reef-Safe Sunscreen – Because of the Marine Life that is present at different ports you may only be allowed to apply sunscreen in designated areas, or not at all. Or only if it is reef safe. Really, you should be utilizing reef-safe sunscreen before you leave the ship. So do everybody a favor and apply it before you ever step off the boat. I live in the middle of a desert, so I had no idea that typical sunscreen could have a negative impact upon the oceans, so I will be better prepared next time. If you care for the oceans, the creatures inside it and the people who live on the islands you are cruising to it is a MUST. I was in the covered portion of the dingy, so I really only got forty-ish minutes of total sun during the Stingray City portion of the excursion.
• Take a Dramamine – Because of the way the Grand Cayman Island’s port is designed you will have to take a dingy to the mainland. So take a Dramamine to start your morning and keep one handy for later in the day before your dingy ride back just in case.
• Eat a Big Breakfast or Heavy Snack – Different companies have different policies about snacks being included or available. So eat before you leave the ship!
• Collect Necessary Documents & Items 
  • Seapass
  • Valid Government-Issued Photo ID
  • Water Shoes
  • Hat (Secure Ballcap or Hat)
  • Sunglasses
  • Waterproof Video Camera/Waterproof Smartphone Case
  • Swimsuit & Cover Up (worn off boat)
  • Petty Cash (Tipping & Small Souveniers)
  • Credit Card (Larger Souveniers)
  • Towel Borrowed From Cruise Ship
  • Snorkel Gear (To see them interact underwater better.)

What To Expect

Tour Lay-Out

Because we bought a combo tour with the dolphin package our day may look a little different than yours!

• 10-15 minute dingy ride to the port
• 10  minute bus ride to Dolphinaris
• 35-40 minute dingy ride to Stingray City
• 40 minutes-1 hr enjoying Stingray City
• 35-40 minute dingy ride back to Dolphinaris

Snacks & Bathrooms

You cannot eat anything when you get to Stingray City. So eat beforehand! You should be able to purchase a snack in port before leaving for the bus ride or if you did the Dolphin Swim Combination Excursion Package you can purchase refreshments and snacks there beforehand. That’w why we recommend you arrive at your meeting place early! The time printed on your ticket is the time your group departs from the port not your gathering time.

We got refreshments (Tampico and Water) to enjoy on the ride back to Dolphinaris afterwards.

Because we opted to enjoy the dolphins as well, we began the second part of our tour after. You can read all about this experience soon!

The dingy that you ride out on will most likely have a bathroom that you can utilize.

Stingray City Conditions

Even though it seems like they’re driving you out to the middle of nowhere there will probably be a handful of other boats there doing the exact same thing. Make sure to stay with your tour guide and group. You’ll be able to stand even if the waves are a little rough, the water will be clear and warms up quickly after you get in.

If it’s hurricane season, you might get sprinkled on, but it’s well worth it!

Standard Tipping

You’ll begin to realize very quickly after a few excursions that it is very common to tip your tour guides. In fact, you should be tipping your tour guides if they provide a good experience! You could go with the standard rule of tipping 20% of the excursion cost (like most people tip for goods and services). Or you could tip with a flat rate for the amount of people in your group. Five dollars per person was common for our group and seemed to be plenty.

Stingray Photo Opportunities

It may vary with the tour company you are with, but our guides were much more worried about providing an experience than demanding we take photos to purchase near the end. We took my Campark (which is a more affordable bare bones version of a GoPro) in it’s waterproof case. We got lots of fun videos and photos! You may have a photographer travel with you, you may not.

We had a younger kiddo in highschool with a waterproof camera who photographed us. But none of our guides discouraged us from using our own cameras and phones!

Some of the standard photo opportunities you may get include:

• holding a stingray
• kissing a stingray
• getting a sushi massage (letting a stingray massage your back with the exterior of their bodies)

Near the end of the tour if you want to see your pictures and buy them, then express that and they will hook you up!

We were all satisfied with the photos we took ourselves, but the guides who took my husband out did plug a USB into a computer and attempt to sell CD’s with the digital copies.

Some Important Notes About Handling Stingrays

1. Do NOT Try to Pick Up a Stingray On Your Own! (That’s What Your Guides Are There For)

I get it. Everyone wants to be Mr./Mrs. Marine Biologist for the day. Or Tarzan. I really do. But we should take this time to acknowledge that all animals (captive and wild) have the potential to be dangerous. One of the first instructions our guides gave us was that we should not be picking up stingrays.

If we saw a stingray that we wanted to interact with, we should coordinate with our guides and they would pick the stingray up for you. Why not pick them up on your own you may ask? Well, there’s a plethora of reasons:

• Stingrays have poisonous barbs, and even if you don’t have a full-on Steve Irwin experience, they can still really hurt you and put you in an extreme amount of pain in the least terminal situation. Just a note, you’re looking at the ‘tail’ in this screen capture from one of the videos. The barbs are actually much smaller and located near the back. They are just a few inches long.

• Although these particular stingrays are incredibly docile other species are not. Even though the stingrays in Stingray City are incredibly used to interacting with tourists some do better than others.
• Even if it wasn’t a safety issue you should want what is the most low-stress option for the stingrays at Stingray City. As stingrays live in the sea, they need to be partially submerged with the waves to be comfortable. If not they will struggle to breathe. Your guides are experts in giving them this opportunity.

So let your guides pick them up! It’s safer for you and the animals!

2. If You Don’t Want a Hickey, Keep Your Hands Out Of the Water After Feeding

Our guides impressed a few lessons upon us during the boat ride over. The second one was that while we could feed them, we would need to pay attention to what we did with our hands afterwards.

If you see a photo with several stingrays in it from Stingray City  that is because a feeding frenzy/swarm was artificially created.

I was really hesitant to feed a Stingray at Stingray City. Because they’re wild animals. But our guide actually helped me position my hand during  it while I fed a stingray some delicious tentacles so I wouldn’t be uncomfortable.

I made sure to keep my hand completely out of the water afterwards. Because if not, they will smell food. They will assume you are food if you smell like food and then they will try to eat you. Which is essentially done by sucking on you with their mouths.

Even though my mother-in-law didn’t touch her body after she fed them she did place her hands in the water to wash them off. Which resulted in one climbing up her back and the other up her front.

3. Be Aware, But Remain Calm

Stingrays at Stingray City are definitely some of the creepiest things around. They’re like ghosts. Even though the water is clear, they sneak up on you with little warning. They caused me to shriek a few times. Especially during the feeding frenzy because I was so nervous about the proximity of the barbs to my body.

But they were built for the ocean. So really they know exactly what they’re doing. Stay calm and don’t jerk quickly and it will be just fine.

4. Dress The Part

This is really important. You don’t want to hurt stingrays in Stingray City! They have a special membrane that could be damaged by any water shoes, jewelry, etc. So really, just wear your bathing suit. If you damage their membrane they could get an infection and become ill or pass away.

I made sure to take my Garmin watch off and opted to not do the ‘sushi massage’ because I didn’t want the stingray to get hurt by the bobby pins in my hair.

This was honestly one of my favorite experiences of all time. I mean seriously, why would I share the most cheesing photo of me down below if it wasn’t?

You’re looking at PURE HAPPINESS.

Are you considering booking a Stingray City excursion through the Grand Cayman Islands?

Thanks for reading!

Lauren