Swimming with Stingrays is Exciting and Captivating – Stingray City Antigua
Our adventure began with a Stingray City motorboat picking us up right on the beach next to our hotel. It was a nice scenic boat ride out to a man-made dock floating somewhere off the east coast of the island – This is Stingray City. I suspect that we were in or near Antigua’s North Sound Marine Park. What I know for sure is that we were a fair distance from shore – It seemed like we were more than a mile (>km) from the coast. Yet, it was amazing that the water was only waist deep and very calm. As with our other boating adventures in Antigua, the sea off the coast of the island was crystal clear and beautiful.
As soon as the boat was tied-up to the floating dock, we got out and watched the Caribbean’s Southern Stingrays swooping around under us. I’ll admit that the only reason I wasn’t too nervous was because I have been in the water with stingrays before. I recall the guide at my last encounter saying the stingrays weren’t comfortable around me, because they could sense my fear… This time was going to be different – I planned on relaxing and enjoying my experience at Stingray City in Antigua.
As we approached Stingray City, I was concerned to see a large ring of buoys in the water, however I soon realized that there were no nets attached to them. The buoys were there to mark the area that we were supposed to stay within, so the guides could easily keep track of us. That is, the people are corralled, while the Stingrays are free to come and go as they please. We were the second boat to arrive this morning, so there was only a handful of people there when we started out, however a couple other boats and more people were soon to join us.
Once I was in the water I quickly relaxed. I put on my mask and dropped to my knees in order to get a good look at the pre-historic creatures up-close and personal under the water. Wow – These guys are pretty big! Actually, the females are about 5 feet in diameter while the male of the species are about half the size. The females are very sociable as they slowly swim around and gently brushed up against our legs. I say swim, although watching their large round wing-like bodies rippling along or near the sea bottom, they appear to be flying underwater. Meanwhile the males swiftly dart around and through the crowd of people and female stingrays.
It was wild to touch the gentle giants as they effortlessly glided past us… They felt to me kind of like a mushroom – soft and almost furry, especially their underside. We were told that it’s OK to gently hold them, as long as we kept them in contact with the sea. The friendly Stingray City guides were in the water with us, and one-by one they helped us get face-to-face with a southern stingray. So, I spread out our arms fairly wide and softly held the ray in my hands – What an experience!
To think that these majestic animals, a distant cousin of the shark, have changed very little in the millions of years they’ve been on the planet, is just incredible. As land-based animals, stingrays look so foreign to us, yet they seem well designed to thrive in their equally alien underwater world.
After watching and interacting with the stingrays for a fair amount of time, I started to look around and explore more of the aquatic environment that we were visiting. I noticed several clumps of coral at the edge of buoys, so I snorkeled around in the shallow water and saw a number of different kinds of fish swimming around. I could never get tired of swimming and snorkeling in Antigua’s warm clear waters…
Eventually, our once in a life-time experience had to come to an end. We returned to our motorboat for a nice cruise along Antigua’s east coast. It’s great to get a different perspective of the island, viewing it from sea. The multiple shades of Antigua’s clear blue waters isn’t too hard on the eyes either. This boat ride took us to Stingray City’s land base, where we were to meet their sister company, Antigua Nature Tours, a little later in the day for more off-shore activities.
ACT Staff
Want to see more? Check out our Antigua’s Stingray City video on YouTube!
For more information about Stingray City, including material to help plan your own Antiguan adventure, you can contact the good folks directly by visiting their website (just click on the link) below:
For an overview of the “land of sun and sea”, feel free to check-out our Antigua & Barbuda Vacations page.
If you’re looking for more active things to do while vacationing on the island, click on our Antigua Adventures blog for more great ideas!
For popular Tourist Attractions on the island, check out our Things to Do in Antigua and Barbuda blog
