Two years ago, I took my 2 boys (ages 8 and 10 at the time) on a Captain Marvins tour to Stingray City. After all I read, I thought I was prepared. Regardless, my first few minutes in the water with the sting rays, I was scared myself! Even though I knew they wouldnt hurt me, it was still a little freaky. However, I wanted to do it, so I stayed in the water and was fine within just a few minutes. My boys, on the other hand, headed right back to the boat after about 2 minutes in the water lol. I never thought to prepare them ahead of time (silly me!) other than to just say "we're gonna swim with the sting rays, yippee!". There were 3 or 4 young men who took us on the tour, and one of them got my boys to sit on that ledge at the back of the boat, and he brought a sting ray over near the boat. He held it up, made it squirt water, pet it, played with it, fed it.... so my boys could just watch for a few minutes. After they were convinced it was ok, he asked if they wanted to touch it. They said yes, and only at that point did he bring it close enough for them to touch. They pet it for a while, and were quite pleased that although they were still too scared to get back into the water (which is not deep for us adults, but IS for children), they still at least got to touch and pet the stingray. It was just a terrific experience. My boyfriend and I got to stay in the water and enjoy what we went on the tour for, and the tour guide saw that my kids had a nice time too. I cant say enough about Capt Marvins, excellent service!
Post Edited (02-26-04 11:05)
