Are the Stingrays at Stingray City (grand Cayman) safe?

Crocodile Hunter (Steve Irwin) comes to mind....I mean they are wild and still have their defense mechanisms...right? I'm concerned.

We did Sting Ray City prior to Irwin's death, but never felt we were not safe. It was incredible! We went just after hurricane Ivan so no other boats were there. It was amazing! One of our favorite excursions. Just be aware of your surroundings. You can be as close as you are comfortable. We got right in and swam/snorkeled with the rays. They swim by your legs and you can reach out and touch them. I am guessing they are not a risk if they feel no threat. Have fun!

Steve Irwin was killed by a larger ray -- I want to say manta ray, but I'm not sure that's true.

Few active excursions are 100% safe, but this is a relatively safe. I suspect you're more likely to get a minor cut or scrape than you are to be injured by one of the sting rays.

First of all when Steve Irwin was killed ,it was not an intentional sting , and it pierced his heart - 1 in a million instant. And we did the Sting ray excursion as have thousands every week , it ranks up with one of the coolest things I've ever done . They do still have their barb ,and they are wild, but they are conditioned to come there and get fed . There is always a chance that something could happen ,but that is with anything , personally I would be worried about the ride out there on those rinky dink overloaded boats they use. Relax and enjoy it, it is cool

We did this in the Caymans and it was fantastic! They are like big flat cats....they rub up against you begging for food. We were told to just shuffle our feet as we walked to avoid stepping on one, which would be the only reason they would become aggressive. We had no problems at all...it was a great experience I'll never forget.

I guess i'm just over protective sometimes...

I guess im just over protective sometimes...

Crocodile Hunter (Steve Irwin) comes to mind....I mean they are wild and still have their defense mechanisms...right? I'm concerned.

These are more like domestic cats and dogs...generally safe but yet they can still turn wild.

Steve Irwin was out with truly wild ones and just ended up too close. To the ray that hit him he was a huge threat. I've been bitten by small fish when I went too close to their home on the reef (scuba diving).

Follow the boat crew instructions and you will have an incredible time.

If you're going to be nervous, it's probably not worth it.

We have gone to Stingray city many times. We always take our children with us. This March our kids were 9, 8 and 4. We also took them last March. As a protective mother, I have never felt that my kids are in danger. It is so cool, we never tire of seeing the stingrays. I would highly recommend going to Stingray city with a small private company. We use Native Way, and they are awesome. The benefit of going with a smaller private tour is that you get more individual attention, smaller boats and fewer passengers and a much better experience.

The stingrays are very gentle and friendly.

Do it! One of the best excursions! If you are nervous, you don't have to feed them. They are VERY used to people being around them. I have done it in the Bahamas too. Sting Ray City is THE place to do it! :D

You've got to "Get Out There", right?!

I am not fond of animals (except cats) and don't swim, but I loved the stingrays. I had an odd thing happen to me, though. Stingrays have eyes on top of their bodies, mouths underneath, and they eat by drawing food into their mouths by suction. I was holding the food in my hand as instructed (in my closed fist, just under the surface of the water) when two huge stingrays approached at the same time. One of them bumped into the other just as it (he?) reached the food, so he accidentally latched onto my forearm instead of the food. It felt like my arm was being drawn up into a vacuum cleaner, and was frightening, shocking and funny at the same time. It was over in a few seconds, and I was left with a red mark (not painful at all) on the underside of my arm midway between my wrist and elbow. By that evening, I had a "stingray hickey" that extended most of the way around my arm, almost meeting on the other side. It was a conversation piece for a week or two; if you have ever returned from vacation with a sunburn in the winter that caught your coworkers' attention, imagine what it is like to go back to work with a stingray hickey :D I still had a wonderful time and intend to do the stingray tour again the next time we are in the Caymans.

Crocodile Hunter (Steve Irwin) comes to mind....I mean they are wild and still have their defense mechanisms...right? I'm concerned.

As others have said, the sting rays Steve Irwin encountered are far from the ones in Stingray City. They truly are more like domesticated dogs and cats.

I swam with the stingrays a few years ago and consider it the best excursion I have ever taken. I'm only 5-ft tall and terrified of water that's higher than my knees. The waves out there that day put the water up to my breast area but from my first touch of those velvety covered rays I felt a sense of calmness come over me.

Like others said, I listened to what the tour operators told us about how to walk along the sandbar, moving gently, just as the stingrays were moving.

If I can do this, anyone can do it and an excursion not to miss when in Grand Cayman.

Dianne

Don't miss it. We went last month and the pictures tell it all. At first we were apprehensive to say the least and by the end everyone had big smiles on their faces.

The sting rays are a blast. Most of the time there's never a problem, but latter in the afternoon, when the younger ones are looking to stir up some trouble you need to pay attention. A couple of key things to look out for, first if you see the rays gathering up in differant places with what looks like gang colors on. Maybe no big deal, but if the sound track from West Side Story starts playing someplace, then pull anchor, leave and don't look back. You'll have a really great story share if you heed these words, but if you think you'll have time for 1 more picture, well...:eek:

Dangerous Stingrays? (Bookbabe's standard answer to questions about stingray safety :D )

Stingrays are generally non-aggressive. When threatened, their first reaction is to swim away. This is easy for them to do at Stingray City, since it's just a section of open ocean and the stingrays aren't penned up in any way. They don't just attack you and sting you (although they can be fairly enthusiastic and/or boisterous in their quest for squid chunks). They may sting you by reflex/accident if you step on one. That's why you are not permitted to wear water shoes at Stingray City, and why you are told to shuffle your feet rather than lift them, so that you will not accidententally step on one.

There are many, many types of rays. Steve Irwin was stung by a bull ray, a totally different type than the southern rays at Stingray City. It is also suggested that what killed him wasn't the sting itself, but the fact that he was stung in the chest and then pulled out the barb. There is also the issue that the bull ray was a wild ray and unused to people, while the Stingray City southern rays have spent years and years learning that people are not the enemy, they're a ready source of squid snacks.

For most stings, which are extremely rare, Wikipedia says that the remedy is usually hot water to dilute the venom plus antibiotics. I don't personally know anyone who has ever been stung, so I just have to trust my research on that part of the issue.

From my experience at Stingray City, which is fairly extensive, the usual "injuries" from stingrays involve "hickeys" from the suction of their mouths during a search for squid (say when your DH has stuffed a chunk of squid down your bathing suit for fun) or accidental scrapes from their tails when they swim by you too fast looking for squid and the tail kind of whips against you. These injuries are very minor, though, and are far from life-threatening.

You'll notice the common element here is squid. Stingrays at Stingray City are only interested in one thing...the snacks that they know you've brought with you. No squid = no stingray attention at all. They're worse than cats that way. If you aren't giving them treats, they've got very little interest in you. They may swim by, just to double-check for squid, but as soon as they realize you haven't got any, they'll swim away again fairly quickly. If you are at all nervous about them, stay away from the squid and the stingrays will stay away from you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingrays

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Irwin#Death

I've been to Stingray City dozens of times, and never had a problem with the stingrays. (With my DH, sure, but never the rays. :D ) It's very safe as long as you behave with respect and common sense.

Family and I just returned from a cruise with Carnival to Cayman Islands. Took an excursions to Stingray City Sandbar with Caymaninanutshell(Capt. Marvin's), awesome company by the way. Let me just say that the stingrays are safe as can be. They are like cats in the water the way the nestle up close to as they swim by. Fantastic experience. Don't miss it, you won't regret it.

Do you need to sign a waiver?

We just went to Stingray City last week on the Carnival Valor. We did our shore excursion through the ship and had a GREAT experience. Our tour was called Stingray City and Turtle Swim. The best part was that our boat was the very first one out to Stingray City, so all of the stingrays were very happy to see us. They started flocking to the boat. We held male and female stingrays, and I never felt unsafe. We did not have to sign a waiver for this tour. We got great pictures and even found some conchs. We also did the swim with stingrays in Belize, but the ones in Grand Cayman seemed much more tame and more comfortable being held and touched. Although - hide your thumb when you feed them the squid. One of them caught my thumb because it thought it was another squid. I felt it for about 20 minutes. They have some serious suction power!

Completely safe. A great experience. Here's a video my wife took of me with the rays last month:

You'll never forget this experience.

We went with Moby Dick Tours. Highly recommended.

People in Cayman Islands are very friendly, and our tour guides were very nice.

Stingray City was one of the highlights of our family tour of the Caribbean. I must admit, the first encounter with the stingrays made us a little nervous: my little daughter was quite scared, she managed to "almost" touch one when we were about to leave! Then we went back to the Dolphin Cove park and we checked some beautiful photos of an exhibit from National Geographic. All wonderful, definitely recommended!

:):):)

We just returned from FOS and did a tour with stingray sailing. I admit was nervous at first, but it was an AWESOME EXPERIENCE!! I am so glad I did it. As others have said I felt very safe.

If you are visiting Grand Cayman, Stingray City is an absolute must do. Not much place probably in the world where you can be in sand bar and smothered with soft gentle friendly stingrays. Kids will love the place. No need to worry these are not the kind of stingrays which are dangerous. They totally love visitors. Especially when you brought squids with you. :):):):)

Dumb question but how are these stingrays not dangerous? I'm up for it but one in our group is already panicking :)

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