Disney Cruise Line's Castaway Ray’s Stingray Adventure
Disney Cruise Line guests clamor for all the time they can get relaxing and enjoying the Caribbean air on DCL's private island, Castaway Cay. When not soaking up the sun or enjoying a meal of delicious BBQ, one of the most popular activities with island guests is the exciting opportunity to swim and interact with Southern Stingrays in a private lagoon. This up-close encounter with the rays is part of a one-hour experience aptly named, Castaway Ray's Stingray Adventure, and is open to all guests 5-years of age or older.
Castaway Ray's Stingray Adventure Beach
Upon arrival at Ray's sunny spot of beach (located just to the right of the boat beach) guests will see their friendly swimming companions milling about in the shallows. Southern Stingrays are often found in pairs or schools, they are opportunistic feeders that use vacuum-like suction to eat their food. Guests are then engaged in a fun information session regarding stingrays, covering topics such as history, interesting facts and the biology of the animals. While the stingrays are usually nocturnal animals, some research has shown that organized feeding is effecting their natural sleep cycles, so the stingrays eat all day and sleep all night, even when in a more wild habitat than Disney offers.
Southern Stingray Swims off of Castaway Cay
After spending time learning about the animals guests head in the water where a marine specialist leads the group in an interaction experience, allowing guests to feed, touch and interact with the rays. Following the guided interaction, guests who want more time with the rays can snorkel in the approximately 40,000-square-foot area which is fenced off from the rest of the lagoon.
I'm hoping to add this fun excursion to my next Disney Cruise itinerary. Have you made a visit to Castaway Ray's Stingray Adventure? Leave a comment and let us know what you thought about it!
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Phil wrote on Thu, 08/30/2012 - 15:51:
We did this back in May.
It's a fun time. I will say that you aren't feeding the rays for all that long- everybody gets a chance to feed them, but you're only doing it once or twice. Then you get to snorkel with the rays. The rays will generally try to stay a bit away from you, but it's a nice time to just troll about and see them in their natural habitat.
One item of advice: Get a waterproof camera. I had a little waterproof Olympus and it worked great; it will help capture some nice underwater photos and videos to bring your memories home with you.
Paul wrote on Thu, 08/30/2012 - 18:56:
I did this experience with my little sister last year. It was a great time, well worth the money. Everyone in the group got to feed the rays multiple times, to the point where the CM was actually asking if any of us wanted to do it again, and we had all had our fill. Then we got plenty of time to swim with the rays, following them around in the lagoon. The water is shallow enough that you're sure to be seeing them, they're not going to duck down so far you can't see (like at Shark Reef at Typhoon Lagoon). I absolutely recommend this excursion for anyone even remotely interested in the rays.
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