Grand Cayman - Turtle Farm & Stingray city

[kcfree]

My DD (10) really wants to go to the Turtle Farm on our February cruise. She also wants to see the Stingrays.

She also wants to snorkel with the turtles, which has to be done before 2:30. All of the tours I’ve seen has the Turtle Farm stop after Stingray City which means she couldn’t snorkel with the turtles.

Has anyone snorkeled in the lagoon at the Turtle Farm? Is it worth it to skip Stingray City so she can do that?

Or are we better off skipping snorkeling with the turtles so she can see stingrays?

Thx!

 

[Luvmypetz]

My BF and I have gone on so many snorkeling excursions hoping to see turtles. We finally hit the jackpot in GC with the turtle farm. My video is apparently too large to let me attach tho. We went on our own by just walking to the "taxi" stand. I think $3 for each of us. We purchased the premium package so we could snorkel. It also allows access to the water park but we did not use it.

 

[meghanb133]

We did a Stingray City excursion in July 2016 in GC. It was probably one of the worst excursions ever. We got to the sandbar with what felt like a billion other people. It was just so crammed with boats and people literally everywhere I felt like we couldn’t really enjoy the stingrays and couldn’t get great photos either. The money I spent on 2 adults and 1 child I feel like we could’ve done something more memorable.

 

[kcfree]

Thanks for your response. How much time do you think you need to visit the snorkeling lagoon and see all the turtles?

My BF and I have gone on so many snorkeling excursions hoping to see turtles. We finally hit the jackpot in GC with the turtle farm. My video is apparently too large to let me attach tho. We went on our own by just walking to the "taxi" stand. I think $3 for each of us. We purchased the premium package so we could snorkel. It also allows access to the water park but we did not use it.

anks

 

[kcfree]

Do you remember which tour company you used?

I’m afraid it will be crowded too. There will be 3 ships in port the day we are there.

We did a Stingray City excursion in July 2016 in GC. It was probably one of the worst excursions ever. We got to the sandbar with what felt like a billion other people. It was just so crammed with boats and people literally everywhere I felt like we couldn’t really enjoy the stingrays and couldn’t get great photos either. The money I spent on 2 adults and 1 child I feel like we could’ve done something more memorable.

 

[Luvmypetz]

Thanks for your response. How much time do you think you need to visit the snorkeling lagoon and see all the turtles?


I would say we were there for 2-3 hrs. It's about half hour up and back but maybe someone else could chime in if my travel time is off. If you choose to snorkel, you can go whenever. You're not held to a specific time. Your wrist band color lets you obtain your gear. And you definitely want to get in the separate pool with the babies!!

 

[meghanb133]

We cruised through Carnival and booked the excursion directly through them. It was called the Deluxe Stingray City Sandbar tour. I just checked my saved emails from back then and it didn’t give a direct company name just the tour name.

Sorry I couldn’t be more help.

I also wanted to add my DD was 9 at the time and although she is small for her age I feel the water we were in was fairly deep. She had to hold onto my husband majority of the time.

 

[ustasmom]

We did an excursion on Royal Caribbean. Turtle Farm, Hell, and Stingray City. We could have skipped both the Turtle Farm and Hell. We loved Stingray City. The catamaran ride was great and swimming with the stingrays was pretty far out of our wheelhouse. There were a lot of boats and people, but you were out on a sandbar (still pretty deep) feeding squid to stingrays. Pretty cool nonetheless. I don't think that I could get my teens to do it, though. And certainly not my 10 year old. She cried the entire time we were snorkeling at Castaway Cay.

 

[SL6827]

My DD (10) really wants to go to the Turtle Farm on our February cruise. She also wants to see the Stingrays.

She also wants to snorkel with the turtles, which has to be done before 2:30. All of the tours I’ve seen has the Turtle Farm stop after Stingray City which means she couldn’t snorkel with the turtles.

Has anyone snorkeled in the lagoon at the Turtle Farm? Is it worth it to skip Stingray City so she can do that?

Or are we better off skipping snorkeling with the turtles so she can see stingrays?

Thx!

I am going to be in the Grand Cayman in February as well, not as a cruise guest, but there for 10 nights. I was thinking about doing this and swim with the dolphins, but I am just now remembering how cold the water will be. Do you think that will be a concern for you? I booked the submarine tour yesterday with no concerns of this nature, because of course you don't get wet. But I will never forgot how cold the water was in May of 2007 and 2011 at Castaway Cay, so now I am a bit uncertain.

 

[Jamesfam]

We did an excursion with an outside company called Captain Marvins. It was actually 2 excusions, the first went to stingray city and snorkeling and then we hopped on a bus and went to hell and the turtle farm. It was so much cheaper going with them then Disney. I'm not sure even with Disney there is an excursion going to all of those places. We had a great time, to this day it was my kids favorite trip.

 

[Miumiu4me]

We snorkeled at the Turtle Farm. It’s a nice looking place, although it’s very touristy. I think Stringray City is better.

 

[Rabb it]

I can't speak on Turtle Farm but we did Stingray City through Disney Cruise Line itself and it was amazing. I couldn't believe how many stingrays there were. It was my favorite excursion to date. We paired it with the Dolphin Swim.

 

[Michelle smith]

I can't speak on Turtle Farm but we did Stingray City through Disney Cruise Line itself and it was amazing. I couldn't believe how many stingrays there were. It was my favorite excursion to date. We paired it with the Dolphin Swim.

I am thinking of doing this as well. Can you tell me how long you had at sting ray City? Was it worth it?

 

[Tim3888]

I can't speak on Turtle Farm but we did Stingray City through Disney Cruise Line itself and it was amazing. I couldn't believe how many stingrays there were. It was my favorite excursion to date. We paired it with the Dolphin Swim.

Funny, we had the opposite experience at Stingray City. First, the boat that was supposed to take us there broke down, so we waited a long time to even get there. They put us on a smaller boat eventually which was fine. The two guys running it were very friendly. But we got there and the place was packed to the brim with people. There were big waves (which is obviously not something that can be helped) which made it challenging, especially for little ones.

The stingrays that were there were neat, but there were not many at all (I think owing to the sheer # of people). At one point a guy picked one up (one of the few that was there) and was holding it so I stepped forward to take a look and he turned to me and yelled, "Sir, you are not on my boat!" So... that was nice.

The time we were there was also very short... wasn't worth the trip there and back.

I suppose like anything dealing with nature it can be hit or miss. I've talked to others who have had a good experience. Ours was the worst one on our cruise, unfortunately.

 

[Rabb it]

I am thinking of doing this as well. Can you tell me how long you had at sting ray City? Was it worth it?

It seems like a lot of people had different experiences at Stingray city for some reason but ours was really awesome. We were there for at least an hour in the water with the Stingrays around us. There were baby stingrays, medium sized ones, and HUGE honking big momma stingrays, the bigger they were the more likely they would swim right up to you. There were also various tropical fish swimming in between the stingrays.

There were a couple of groups from different boats around the sandbar, but I want to say around 50+ stingrays. Around our group there were like 15 stingrays of various sizes. They swam right up to us as soon as we got off the boat. They obviously know they're going to get some food so they swim over.

You get some time wadding about admiring the stingrays and the boat captain/first mate help you pose for pictures with some of the bigger rays. The water was very clear and I don't recall any large waves. Towards the end the captain hands out dead squid for you to feed the stingrays, this was a bit scary for my girlfriend because you have to get your hand close to the rays mouths, but there's no danger, kids were feeding them as well.

I wish I had a GoPro because I could have gotten some amazing shots. There was a family that had one and I can only image what they were able to capture. On the boat out to the sand bar we saw two sea turtles too. I remember when one of them popped up the whole boat was in awe I enjoyed Stingray City more than the Dolphin swim, my girlfriend preferred the dolphins. They were on her bucketlist.

 

[Michelle smith]

It seems like a lot of people had different experiences at Stingray city for some reason but ours was really awesome. We were there for at least an hour in the water with the Stingrays around us. There were baby stingrays, medium sized ones, and HUGE honking big momma stingrays, the bigger they were the more likely they would swim right up to you. There were also various tropical fish swimming in between the stingrays.

There were a couple of groups from different boats around the sandbar, but I want to say around 50+ stingrays. Around our group there were like 15 stingrays of various sizes. They swam right up to us as soon as we got off the boat. They obviously know they're going to get some food so they swim over.

You get some time wadding about admiring the stingrays and the boat captain/first mate help you pose for pictures with some of the bigger rays. The water was very clear and I don't recall any large waves. Towards the end the captain hands out dead squid for you to feed the stingrays, this was a bit scary for my girlfriend because you have to get your hand close to the rays mouths, but there's no danger, kids were feeding them as well.

I wish I had a GoPro because I could have gotten some amazing shots. There was a family that had one and I can only image what they were able to capture. On the boat out to the sand bar we saw two sea turtles too. I remember when one of them popped up the whole boat was in awe I enjoyed Stingray City more than the Dolphin swim, my girlfriend preferred the dolphins. They were on her bucketlist.

Thank you for your reply. I am really leaning toward this excursion with Disney Cruise line. I was a little sad when I read about other excursions and how Disney seemed to falsely advertise the experience. Can I ask you what other excursions you did while on your cruise. Any in Cozumel or Falmouth?

BTW DS got a Go Pro for Christmas so we are excited to use it.