GC stingray city ops question

[BrackaFish]

This is for those that have done or are familiar with the Stingray City ops. My son and I are going to be diving in the Brac over Thanksgiving and as he has never done Stingray City, I thought we might go to GC for a day and do it. Is there an op that treats the animals well ie doesn’t put the ray on your head for pictures etc. I know it is a feeding operation and I am ok with that. Also looking for a smaller op that is not filled with drunken cruise line people. Not that there is anything wrong with being drunk on a cruise, just not my thing. Also if anyone knows of ops to avoid. Thanks in advance. Be safe

 

[Diver Rick]

This is for those that have done or are familiar with the Stingray City ops. My son and I are going to be diving in the Brac over Thanksgiving and as he has never done Stingray City, I thought we might go to GC for a day and do it. Is there an op that treats the animals well ie doesn’t put the ray on your head for pictures etc. I know it is a feeding operation and I am ok with that. Also looking for a smaller op that is not filled with drunken cruise line people. Not that there is anything wrong with being drunk on a cruise, just not my thing. Also if anyone knows of ops to avoid. Thanks in advance. Be safe

You are flying back to GC for the day to dive Stingray City? Just wondering.

 

[Saboteur]

Ambassador divers afternoon Stingray city and coral head snorkel tour. Small boat, small group. I’ve done it several times with non divers. i recommend them.

 

[Doctorfish]

There is stingray city, which is a 10 foot dive with tanks and other divers so nobody putting rays on your head. There is also the sandbar which is a 3 foot snorkel which is full of booze cruisers. Some people confuse the two. IMO, neither compares to an extra day of diving on the Brac.


if you must do Stingray City dive, most of the ops do it as an afternoon event weekly.

Ambassador is good, as are DNS, Wall to Wall, Living the Dream and others. I would stay away from the hotel based ops as more likely to have a crowded boat and inexperienced divers.

If you are looking for the snorkel trip in 3 feet of water, I recommend Fantasea Tours. Dexter, has a one man op with a small catamaran. We have been out with him several times and enjoyed the experience.

 

[BrackaFish]

You are flying back to GC for the day to dive Stingray City? Just wondering.

While there is a direct flight from MIA to the Brac, all return flights are routed via Grand due to a higher Level of Security needed. I was planning to spend a night in Grand

 

[Diver Rick]

While there is a direct flight from MIA to the Brac, all return flights are routed via Grand due to a higher Level of Security needed. I was planning to spend a night in Grand

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, got it!

 

[ROUS]

My understanding is that the SC dive site isn't as populated with rays as it used to be. It was explained this way to me. During covid, snorkel trip operators kept feeding the rays at the snorkel site and the animals are still there in good numbers. But, no one really did the same for the dive site and the rays pretty much moved on.

But, if you've got a single dive day on Grand Cayman, there are some excellent sites there that you'd probably enjoy very much.

 

[Saboteur]

If you want to DIVE stingray city, I’d reach out to Brad Nelson at Cayman University divers. He has a smaller boat and small groups. Maximum 6 I think. The most divers I’ve been with is 3 total, but this was May and Sept/Oct trips. He’ll show you how to feed them, stay awhile then let you finish the dive on your own once the rays have been fed. No time limit when I was there. There’s a few coral heads there to explore.
If you want to do the snorkel type tour then my suggestion is as above.

 

[BrackaFish]

Sometimes the Dive Gods sort things out with zero input from mere mortals. First of all, a Big Thank You to everyone for their input. It turns out that my son would rather try to patch things up with his off/on girlfriend than go diving with his old man. While I will miss diving with him, it means an extra day in the Brac and I don’t have to listen to how hard it is to be a 16yo in Love . Be safe

 

[scubadada]

Hi @BrackaFish

As I did Stingray City in 2018 from the Aggressor, I would not have been able to help you with an operator.

I found the first part of the dive, the feeding, to be very disappointing and would not generally recommend it for that. On the other hand, I just went off by myself for the second half of the dive. Many of the southern stingrays continued to hang out in the general area and it was a very enjoyable swim.

Enjoy your trip to Brac, look forward to hearing about it.