Grand Turk Gibbs Cay Stingray Encounter

I'm looking for some feedback on how family friendly this excursion is to help me try and figure out if it would be a good match for us!

Here's a little background: my husband and I will be cruising with our 4 kids, ages 5-14. We've only cruised once before about 10 years ago, and only had two littles at the time. We didn't do any planned shore excursions, just got off the ship in the ports and kind of wandered around...total bust. This time around I'm trying to be much more organized when it comes to planning.

So as far as the stingray encounter....I like that it's an organized activity, (we'll be doing beach sitting in half moon cay, and maybe also in Amber Cove), so this would be a nice change of pace. I also get the sense that the beach right off the ship gets crowded quickly and is hit or miss. We have no interest in hanging out at margaritaville...just not our thing. I like the idea of the stingray excursion boat ride that will take us straight to the shore of the beach, I think we'll all enjoy that. Two of my kids are looking forward to snorkeling, and one of the others will probably enjoy checking out the stingrays that go straight to the shore. One of my kids will most likely want nothing to do with interacting with the stingrays and if I know her as well as I think I do, she won't even stick a pinky toe in the water once she sets eyes on even one stingray. I'm not too worried about that...it's her usual MO and I'm used to handling it. (Good times.)

I really, really don't want to split our family up on excursions. Is the beach itself conducive to those who just want to hang out for a few hours? I notice that there are no lounge chairs, which isn't a big deal to us, and of course we'd pack snacks and small toys/games to keep us busy.

I'm also always hesitant to bring my brood to an activity/restaurant that may not be geared specifically towards young kids...for the benefit of other customers enjoying their experience as well as for the stress level of myself and my kids. I think this excursion may be a good idea for us, just looking for a little more feedback before I shell out what will be a nice chunk of money for this day!

We did this in April. You meet right in the courtyard area right after you go thru the big store there. They walk you over to the boat, which has plenty of room. We had maybe a half of boat full, which made it nice. You go around the island out to Gibbs Cay. The captain will circle the boat around letting the stingrays know you are there. There is a ladder off the front of the boat right onto the beach. There is nothing there, just a small beach area. The stingrays show right up beside the boat. The crew had a Baggie of fish to feed them. It was pretty cool having a stingrays take fish right out of your hand. You just had to be careful not to step on a tail. (Shuffle your feet) There was a small amount of time to walk around, but not a lot. There really isn't much to do there, but it is very pretty. They also had a conch they cleaned and cut up for everyone to try. Next, we loaded back up and took the boat to the snorkel area. You do not snorkel from land, you do it from the boat. We spend about 45 minutes there. It was a pretty good snorkel spot, interesting. After that it was back to the cruise terminal area. They sold pictures also. They had laptops right where you got on the boat. There was plenty of time to hit the beach by margaritaville after also.

If you or any family members opt to spend time at the beach, two things to keep in mind. The farther you walk away from the pier and Margaritaville , the better your chances are of finding a couple of lounge chairs. The swim area just off the beach can be a little rocky and uneven in some areas, so I would highly recommend wearing water shoes or beach shoes.

One word......................

GO! :)

We did this excursion on our last cruise to Grand Turk and would not hesitate in going again! It is a short boat ride to Gibbs Cay, the day we were there Carnival was the only cruise ship docked so it was not busy at the dock at all! The excursion we were on was full but that did not affect the fun we all had! The Sting Rays were right under your feet and so many, it was one of the coolest thing we did! Conch was not my favorite thing to eat but I did it. We snorkeled off of the beach and swam a good distance with so much to look at with the guides pointing out things along the way, so much fun, my son was 14 and LOVED it, he still talks about it, lots of cool pics, we took with our own camera, no pressure to buy their pics as mine were better any way, we spent quite a bit of time with the rays, 45 mins or so! My wife does not snorkel so she explored the island and had fun, she loved it as it was her and one other person were their. We got back to the dock we did do Margaritaville, wow what a party going on, had a "Cheeseburger in Paradise" and they have the best Margaritas, this place was hopping, man! Still had plenty of time to shop, if you are thinking of it then by all means book it you will LOVE IT!

How easy is it to get in and out of the boat (I'm a big guy)?

Thanks for the replies, Sounds like a fun day!

Just to clarify...the description on the website makes it seem like the excursion boat pulls up to the beach, and this is where you'll spend your time, interacting with the stingrays AND snorkeling, but one of the above posts states that they re-boarded the boat that then took them to a different snorkeling spot. Given that at least one, possible two of my kids will most likely not be interested in snorkeling off a boat, this may be a deal breaker for us [emoji20]

Also, just realized that this post probably belongs in the Grand Turk forum, I'm not sure how to move it??

How easy is it to get in and out of the boat (I'm a big guy)?

Thanks for the replies, Sounds like a fun day!

 

Just to clarify...the description on the website makes it seem like the excursion boat pulls up to the beach, and this is where you'll spend your time, interacting with the stingrays AND snorkeling, but one of the above posts states that they re-boarded the boat that then took them to a different snorkeling spot. Given that at least one, possible two of my kids will most likely not be interested in snorkeling off a boat, this may be a deal breaker for us [emoji20]

 

Also, just realized that this post probably belongs in the Grand Turk forum, I'm not sure how to move it??

We were docked at the beach the whole time for us, there was a step down to the water/beach and someone was there to help us. The water was calm, no issues on getting on or off from what I remember.

We did the Stingray encounter not far from the beach, waist water deep, even some were closer! We took pics with the rays, even licked a barb! I would ask carnival if it is off the beach or in deeper water, we did swim a bit to the snorkel area but spent a long time in the water, so much fun, we might even book it again when we go back in Jan!

One of the mods will prob move it in time.....

The day we did it we snorkeled off the boat. I'm guessing it was because the ocean was a tad bit rough that day. There probably is no way to know for sure if they will snorkel from shore or off boat.

Getting on and off is as easy as climbing a ladder.