Stingray city in caymans

[nshuff]

Any one have an opinion as to whether dive or snorkel stingray city in grand cayman? It seems to be very shallow so i am wondering if i should just snorkel it.

Also, can anyone recommend any dive operators in grand cayman? I am looking at diving with wall to wall divers. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[diversteve]

The snorkel (only) trips are done at the nearby SandBar. It's shallow enough so you can stand up.

We did the dive at Stingray City and it was a blast. There were also 4 snorkelers on our dive boat but I noticed that they didn't have the same degree of interaction since the rays seemed to focus on us - we were better "targets" since we didn't move much. The dive was 14' iirc.

 

[Jud1417]

Just stay away from Divers Down from personal experience. Many other good ops on the island.

 

[Big John]

The snorkel packages put you in water that is about chest deep and there is plenty of interaction at that depth. I found that the fins in that situation were more of a hinderance than help. Plenty of guides in the water will bring the rays right to you. Just a reminder, it is said that kissing a ray brings 7 years good luck, so you can make up for all the mirrors you have broken in short order. That said, I have not done the dive encounter but from my experience save the diving for some of the better dive spots on the island.

 

[gb_williams]

Diving with the rays used to be a lot of fun. It's done in 10' to 15' of water. Often, a Green Moray known as "Psycho" comes out to swim around and through the divers. He seems to like being touched. Just don't let him see your fingers. (Make a fist when he comes toward you.)

What's disappointing is that you're no longer allowed to feed the stingrays. Seems with all the dive operators coming to see them, they were getting too fat. So, now, feeding is kept to a minimum and only done by the DMs. For that reason, I think you'd be money ahead and have just as much fun doing the snorkel trip. Unless you want to play with Psycho.

As for dive operators, I highly recommend Divetech at Cobalt Coast and Lighthouse Point.

 

[dhkalb]

I had done the sting ray city dive trip - I would recommend the lower depth scuba dive it is only 10-15 feet but you need to be overweighted typically to keep on the surface bottom.

 

[ianr33]

What's disappointing is that you're no longer allowed to feed the stingrays. Seems with all the dive operators coming to see them, they were getting too fat. So, now, feeding is kept to a minimum and only done by the DMs. For that reason, I think you'd be money ahead and have just as much fun doing the snorkel trip. Unless you want to play with Psycho.

Some good reasons not to feed Morays. Does seem like an accident waiting to happen.
eel attack in Grand Cayman | Scuba Diving Magazine
UnderwaterTimes | Report: Moray Eel Attacks as Cayman Islands Watersport Operators Ignore Feeding Warning; 'A Major Panic'

 

[dhkalb]

While at Sting ray city I had moray eel pass bewteen my legs while I watching sting rays being fed - the eel touched my hand after passing through the legs. This was not an open water experience that I expected.

 

[LynnB]

We had fun with that eel also. He was awesome..Definatley was an experience I had never had before. I would recommend diving it even though it is shallow.

 

[potato cod]

What's disappointing is that you're no longer allowed to feed the stingrays. Seems with all the dive operators coming to see them, they were getting too fat. So, now, feeding is kept to a minimum and only done by the DMs. For that reason, I think you'd be money ahead and have just as much fun doing the snorkel trip. Unless you want to play with Psycho.
.

At least as recently as January (when I was there) divers were still allowed to feed the stingrays. The DMs control the amount, and I think only a few boats/day are allowed to feed them to control how much they get, but I'm pretty sure it's still possible--and a hoot! The DM will give you the squid and show you how to feed them. That said, even if you don't feed them, if everyone around you has food, they still come mob you without food.

Bring your camera if you have one! Many operators will have a photographer, but with the shallow, sunny, clear water you don't even need a flash to get nice shots. We did the dive with Sunset House and thought they were well run.