A Morning with Mr. Ray

Tiffini HensleyDecember 1, 2016For as long as I can remember I have loved adventure, and when a new adventure can be combined with an animal encounter, I am a very happy camper! When planning activities for a recent Disney Cruise Line cruise, I realized we’d have an opportunity to book a port excursion on Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay, which would allow us to feed, pet and snorkel with dozens of sting rays! Without even a moment’s hesitation, I signed us up.The morning of our excursion we were excited! Although I’ve snorkeled above a stray sting ray or two in my life, the knowledge that I was going to get to feed them and then snorkel with them seemed surreal. Prior to our encounter with the rays, we picked up our snorkeling gear from Gil’s Fins and Boats, then headed over for our brief training session on how to feed the sting rays . We learned what fish we would be feeding the rays, and that when we wanted to feed one, we needed to put the food sticking up between two of our fingers, and rest our hand on the “Mickey Board”. We were warned not to leave our hands sitting in the water with the food if a ray wasn’t on the ramp, or else the other fish would likely come steal the stingray’s dinner!After our training, we were lead to the ramps where we would be feeding the rays.  The rays would enter one side of the ramp swimming across the top and sucking the food out of our hands. It felt like a small vacuum cleaner was swimming over your hand! For those who weren’t quite comfortable with feeding the rays, they could still pet the backs of the rays as they swam by.After our group ran out of food, the rays swam away back into the lagoon. At that time we were welcome to go and snorkel. To say snorkeling with the rays was cool would be a major understatement! The rays were everywhere. You had to be careful not to step on them if you stood up, and then as you would swim above they would glide below, often within fingertips reach!We had an amazing morning with the stingrays at Castaway Cay, and I can truly say the adventure was great for people of all ages and swim skill levels. If your kiddo doesn’t yet know how to snorkel or isn’t a strong swimmer, no worries! They can wade in from the beach to see the rays without having to actually swim out into the lagoon.If you’d like to see more of what Castaway Cay has to offer, please be sure to check out my Facebook page, where I have videos and more photos. If you’d like to start planning your next Disney Cruise, please contact Tiffini@wishesfamilytravel.com for more information.