Snorkle or dive Grand Caymans sting ray city?

[mikef]

Thanks for your responses so far, but I'm still a bit confused, why would someone choose one over the other? While the snorkle version sounds a bit like a tourist trap, can you still have a memorable experience or are you going to be bumped into by everyone and dodging loud tourists trying to wear the sting rays as hats? Is is possible to move a way a bit from the crowd and just enjoy them as nature, swim with them, take some nice pictures and make some memories? Or is this impossible because of the nature of the experience is more like a day at a water park?

Some background- we are from Colorado, adventerous, in our 30s and avoid tourist attractions when an alternative exists regardless of the effort or dificulties if the eventual experience is worth it. When we went to Maui, we ended up hiking into the jungle and finding our own private waterfalls as well as enjoying the normal tourist destinations. If we are at a tourist trap we try to manipulate it or find the best of it and make it memorable.

Is the dive version just another shallow dive with a few sting rays swiming about? Spending an silent hour underwater observing the rays doesn't sound as good a choice as the snorkling since you will be able to talk, float around and do more.

Why would someone choose one over the other is there one big thing about each that makes them memorable? If you had to do it over would you do the dive or the snorkle again?

Also, any details on the cost of each? What time do you think you back to the dock with each event? Is there time to do something else? We will need to be back to the cruise ship by about 4:00pm.

What else would you do with the remaining time between SRC and departure? We are not much for shopping. We like hiking, adventure and discovery.

Thanks
Mike

 

[Charlie99]

mikef once bubbled...
Is is possible to move a way a bit from the crowd and just enjoy them as nature, swim with them, take some nice pictures and make some memories? Or is this impossible because of the nature of the experience?

Is the dive version just another shallow dive with a few sting rays swiming about? Spending an silent hour underwater observing the rays doesn't sound as good a choice as the snorkling since you will be able to talk, float around and do more.

Why would someone choose one over the other is there one big thing about each that makes them memorable? If you had to do it over would you do the dive or the snorkle again?

It's NOT a natural interaction. It's a unnatural feeding. The whole thing started because fishing boats would stop just inside the channel to clean their catch. The rays caught on to this and would come over for a free meal. Some dive and snorkel operators then turned it into a tourist attraction. The fish have also caught on, and as another poster mentioned, some of them get pretty agressive. Also, some rays have learned that if it latches onto a snorkel and pulls off your mask, that it might get a good meal as you drop the bait bucket.

I enjoyed the dive more, but that was partly because it was the 2nd dive of a morning trip and since we had done Peggy's Pinnacle fairly close by on the North wall we were the first boat there. Since there were only 4 of us, we each had a bait bucket and could feed and tease the rays (they don't have a reverse gear, so if you keep the bait enclosed in your fist and and then push it past them, the have to come around for another pass --- worked for all except the very large one that took my entire fist in his mouth, deep enough that his raspers scraped my knuckles.)

Yes, it can be a zoo, in both senses of the word, both above and below water. Don't expect it to be a natural interaction. It's no more of an natural interaction than feeding pigeons or squirrels in a park. Enjoy it for what it is.

 

[sxyscubagal]

Hi Mike...
My bf and I just returned a few weeks ago from Grand Cayman and we also went to Stingray city. We dove the site and it was an absolute blast. You have to wear a few extra pounds of weight so those huge rays don't knock u down...even though they will.... but that's where all the fun is!! You have squid in your hand and they come by swimming all over you to "suck" down that yummy food!! I've never laughed so much underwater as I did on that dive. We were also lucky enuf to have a professional video taping us on that dive and it's just a hoot to watch the DVD... I think you should dive the site.... you'll have a really good time!! If you have any other questions.... please ask.
Kristie

 

[Drew Sailbum]

Stingray City is the #1 tourist attraction in the Cayman Islands. It gets over 1 million visitors per year. Do the math - it works out to around 3,000 visitors every day!

The large majority of visitors to Stingray City are coming from cruise ships. Some of the larger tour operators have huge boats and contracts with the cruise lines. And since all of the boats are catering to the cruise ship schedule, most of the visitors will be out there about the same time. A few of the boats out there look a bit like the horror pictures you see of overloaded refugee boats - really packed.

My best advice to on-island guests is to preferably go to SRC on days when the cruise ships are not in port. If that won't work, then preferably go in the afternoon since most of the cruise ship passengers are already returning to their ships.

For cruise ship visitors it's rough. You can try to meet up with a dive operation, but finding one to take you to SRC on the schedule you need may be difficult. Best chances are to find a dive op that would do SRC as the second dive of a morning two tank trip to the North Wall. If possible, put a group together and charter a small dive boat to fit the schedule you need.

Why snorkel? Lots more options if you want to snorkel. It's much easier to schedule and get you back to your ship. Snorkel if some in your group aren't divers. Snorkel if you want to save some cash.

Why dive? Southern Stingrays are bottom dwellers, so you dive to get down on their level. Dive to be in the action and get knocked around by these large animals. Dive to avoid the slot machine effect (described elsewhere as the rays grabbing the snorkel to get you to drop the food).

 

[CJ's]

confused: Please remember that there are two very different Stingray Cities!

1) Stingray Sandbar.
At Stingray Sandbar you are able to stand up and interact with the stingrays as there is a sandbar (no kidding!) and the water is around 3ft deep. For this reason the majority of snorkel operators take their boats there. On busy cruise-ship days this can mean upto 20 different boats and 500 people at one time, all standing in an area the size of a football field (sorry, that's "soccer" field to you guys!). Sound like fun? Approx 100 yards away from the sandbar is an area of deeper water (14ft) with some interesting coral heads. It is here that some operators will do a Stingray City dive. This can be a great dive as there is some great life here including green, spotted and goldentail morays, all kinds of cool shrimp, flamingo tongues etc etc. BUT......if there are the above mentioned numbers of people snorkelling you are unlikely to get very much stingray action! Often the rays do move over there when it is busy simply to get some rest, so you may find one or two sleeping in the sand!

2) Stingray City.
The original stingray city is about 3 miles west of the sandbar. Far enough away that it has a different stingray family and is not affected by the number of snorkellers at the sandbar. This spot is primarily visited by divers. It is also around 14ft deep and also has interesting coral heads and lots of cool fish and critter life. Most importantly it is nowhere near as crowded, especially in the mornings when you can often get the whole place to yourselves, particularly in September when the island is quiet. This is most likely where you will find yourself if you book a Stingray city dive. On most dive boats snorkellers are also welcome, indeed, if you have snorkellers who are a bit nervous of the rays this can be the best option as it is far less intimidating to watch the rays swim below you than it is to have them climbing your back and knocking your legs as they do at the sandbar.

In my opinion if you are a diver you should do your best to dive at stingray city. It is a totally different experience to wading with them! You could say that diving Stingray city is 3D whilst snorkelling is only 2D. After around 800 dives there I can still enjoy the experience, if that says anything to you.

Do remember however that it is not a natural interaction. The stingrays are there to get food and for no other reason, although it is not easy to forget this when a 5ft wide stingray bowls straight at you like an express train!

Listen carefully to the advice of your divemaster before the dive! Everything he/she tells you has been learnt the hard way so don't waste the info!

It can be difficult (as Drew points out) to find an operator that does a stingray city dive in the mornings but there are many operations who run trips leaving around 12.30pm and returning around 2.30/3pm. Often this fits in very well with ship departure times.

If you would like names just let me know.

Happy diving.
CJ.

 

[scywin]

I've been to Stingray City twice. Both times there were plenty of stingrays. The scuba dive is about 15'. You basically hover on the bottom and feed the rays. The trip is definitely worth doing once as a scuba dive. Wear a diveskin, but no gloves. You are actually going to touch the stingrays as they glide by.

At 15' you obviously have a lot of bottom time. If you feel you have had your fill, go to the surface and snorkle over the scene to get a different perspective.

It is definitely a touristy thing to do, but it is unusual and fun.

 

[Lamar Jr]

I was on Grand Cayman two weeks ago and took my family to Stingray Sandbar. My wife doesn't dive and my children are still too young, so diving Stingray City was not an option for us.

I didn't want to be on one of the cattle boat charters, so I hired the dive operator that I did my scuba diving with to take us out in the afternoon. Just the four of us plus the divemaster made for a fun and relaxing ride. We arrived at the sandbar around 1:00 and there were about 70 or 80 people already there with a couple of the charter operators. As was mentioned before, the water at the sandbar is only about 3 ft deep. Even my 6 year old could stand on the bottom.

We stayed away from the clusters of people as much as possible. Spent about an hour swimming and mingling with the rays, then got back on the boat and headed back to the yacht club. From the time we left the dock until we returned was about two hours total.

I think a dive at Stingray City might be a more enjoyable way to go, but for nondivers the Sandbar can be an interesting and enjoyable way to see the Rays.

 

[DeWDiver]

I would definitely chose diving. Last Dec my wife and I dove with Ocean Frontiers and dove the Sandbar on one of their three tank dive trips. Had great interaction with the rays. My wife even got a sticgray hicky on her hand.

Haven't read all the post, but there are also two very large green morays at the Sandbar dive site. Psyco and Eccy I believe.

All the snorkelers looked like a bunch of bobbers in the middle of bumper boats.

Just my two cents.