Snorkeling Excursion with Captain Marvin’s Stingray City Tours

After reading several outstanding reviews, we decided to book a snorkeling excursion with Captain Marvin’s Stingray City Tours. A shuttle picked us up from the Ritz Carlton around 8:30 am and after a five minute drive, we arrived at the marina and were greeted by the friendliest crew, Eric and Michael, as we boarded a beautiful sailboat. We headed to the spacious upper deck to make the most of the stunning Caribbean views as we set sail for adventure.

Captain Eric immediately instructed Brooke, and she set sail for our 30 minute trip to our first stop–Stingray City Sandbar!

We had signed up for the three-stop stingray and snorkel tour which ventures to Stingray City, a sandbar with an abundance of stingrays, along with two other snorkeling stops-Barrier Reef and Coral Gardens. This excursion far surpassed our wildest dreams! It was a highlight of our trip to the Cayman Islands and is a must do if you’re visiting.

Learning how to properly feed squid to the stingray.

When we stopped at the Stingray City sandbar, the professional crew thoroughly instructed us on safety measures while swimming with stingrays. To be honest, we were a bit terrified at first, but within ten minutes we were being hugged and kissed by these lovable creatures. Freckles, as the guides aptly named the most lovable female, would approach us and literally bump into us asking for affection, hugs and kisses, and of course, food. There were about 30 stingrays swimming right around us, along with many tropical fish. The only time we felt a bit nervous was when the stingrays would get a bit excited about being fed and their tales would flail above the water, but they truly were domesticated and peaceful creatures–like puppies wagging their tails, although these tails just happened to be deadly. The confidence and calm demeanor of the crew is what truly reassured us that the stingrays would not harm us.

img_8979-1 — Brooke a bit apprehensive at first.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Brooke and Freckles after two minutes of high quality aquatic bonding.

Our next two stops were to snorkel at the Barrier Reef and Coral Gardens. I will let Brooke’s first video do the talking here: (We have not yet invested in high quality editing and sound software, so any advice and recommendations appreciated)

Without a doubt this excursion was a priceless experience for an extremely reasonable cost. Thank you for the extraordinary experience at Captain Marvin’s ! This was a life changer that we will always remember!