Stingray excursion for 4 yr old

[cruisemomof2]

We will be traveling to the Caymens in March and are wanting to take the excursion to the stingray sandbar. Any suggestions on if we should take our 4 year old? I'm a little scared about leaving her on the ship while we're away. Any suggestions/advice on if we should and who we should book through would be greatly appreciated.:)

[dkjretired]

We will be traveling to the Caymens in March and are wanting to take the excursion to the stingray sandbar. Any suggestions on if we should take our 4 year old? I'm a little scared about leaving her on the ship while we're away. Any suggestions/advice on if we should and who we should book through would be greatly appreciated.:)

 

If I remember corrrectly there was an age limit on the shore excursion sponsored by the ship to Stingray City. I believe it was 12 but am not sure of that. I believe that some of the tour operators may have a lower age limit or no limit themselves. Why not check the board for the Caymans.

[Ehpride]

There were some young (maybe not 4 but probably 6 or so) kids on my excursion. They have life jackets for smaller kids too.

[kimmimom]

we did Sotos snorkeling and stingray. for the stingray part it is 3-4 feet deep. My 6 YO was a little scared of them, but dh held her and she enjoyed it. My11 YO was a little scared too (I was nervous at first too). My almost 3 YO was quite scared of them, but I held her and it was fine. We also did a snorkeling part that was 8-10 feet deep. 2 YO stayed on boat. The other 2 had life vests on (oldest is very good swimmer, but got tired wtih flippers). The 6 YO enjoyed it, as the 11 YO did.

[mom2cats]

We took our just 5 year old on Sotos in December. He was scared, but had fun! The water was a little rough that day, and an adult always held him. It was totally worth it & I"d take him again.

[cruisemomof2]

Would you recommend Sotos over the other tour groups?

[2boysmommy]

We took my almost 4 year old there in November with Moby Dick's tours. We didnt' have to pay for him....and he stayed on the boat. My husband and I took turns in the water while my son watched. I think that one of the things that turned him off of getting into the water was listening to all of the people screaming. Really. Once you dock, you look around and there are boats and tons of people in the water. It seems that the ladies are very nervous around them...so there's lots of screaming and screeching going on.

 

So like I said......my son stayed on the boat- he enjoyed the boat ride with us though. We paid $40 each (for me and dh) to go. My son was free.

[kimmimom]

I have never done any of the other tours, but I was very ahppy with Sotos. Prewarning, they take pics of you interacting with the rays that yuou can buy on CD. You must have cash though, so if you might be remotely interested, make sure you bring sme exttra $$$. A boy panicked while we were out snorkeling. Before any of the guests knee what was happening, the guy was in teh water getting the kid. I would do them again tomorrow.

[kimmimom]

my almost 3 YO was free (not sure of their cutoff age, i think 3 and under was free). We paid $30 per adult and $25 per child, so $110 for the 5 of us. The day we went I heard no screaming whatsoever. I have the link to our pics if you would like to see. My sister's daughter, 6 yrs, would not go in the water. It will depend on the individual child.

[cruisemomof2]

I would LOVE to see your pictures.

[Nebr.cruiser]

We took 3, 4, 5 and 5 year-olds on Captain Marvin's tour last year. The water was a little choppy and all the kids got out almost as fast as they got in for snorkeling. Only one of the 5-year-olds tried the stingrays--in Daddy's arms--the rest were uneasy with the waves and the stingrays; also it was a little cool that day. But they did have a lot of fun just riding the boat and watching the stingrays and snorkelers from the ship and drinking the free punch! Since we had 8 adults along in our group one or another of us took turns staying on the boat with the kids, but I'm not sure it was necessary. Capt. Marvin's crew was excellent and watched out for everyone, even helping me when I had to swim the 3-year-old back after he panicked in the waves while snorkeling. We brought their own life jackets along, but there were jackets on the boat. Our kids are very used to water ( we live on a lake) but not salty, cool, choppy water. If it had been very warm and calm, I think they'd have stayed in longer. Still, the excursion was worth it. I think the three year old was free.

[andnickali]

We used Nativeway to do the Rays, Reef and Rum Point tour- and took our 4, 8 and 10 yo. All of them can swim and did get in the water at both stops. My 4 yo was a little hesitant of the rays, but at the end she was touching them, of all things my 10 yo was the most hesitant! The reef is in much deeper water and we put vests on all three kids so they could get around. Nativeway has a videographer that goes along for the day and we did purchase the DVD $60- she did a great job of taking footage of everybody but I felt that she concentrated on my family and our companions because we had the kids. She probably realized we would be the most likely ones to purchase if she had enough tape of the kids. We just got the video and I LOVE IT!!!! It was well worth the $60.

[dianelevene]

We took my 4 and 5 year old daughters last year. We went with Nativeway and I would highly recommend them. The water was rough so we held the girls but they had a great time and both of them even fed the rays. We are going again on our cruise in April and we are using Nativeway again.

[kimmimom]

Here is the link to my pics...

 

http://photobucket.com/albums/c62/kimmimom/

[cruisemomof2]

Here is the link to my pics...

 

http://photobucket.com/albums/c62/kimmimom/

 

Thanks for the link. It looks as if your little one was a little scared. Would you take her again?

[kimmimom]

yes, I would definitely take them again. I was a little scared in the beginning too-LOL. Once we had been in a bit, she was okay wtih it as long as she didn't have to touch them (which we did not make her do)