Stingray City

The waters around Antigua are teeming with marine life, none more impressive than the southern stingray, which can grow to be 1.5m wide. Stingray City, a patch of shallow water a short boat ride from the mainland, is a great place to get up close and personal with the rays. It is home to a number of stingrays that are still wild but have become accustomed to human contact.

When you arrive and your boat is moored, you'll be met by the friendliest southern stingrays, who will greet you with the comfortable familiarity of old friends. Whether you choose to stand or swim, you will have the rare chance to touch, feed, and play with stingrays while learning about these beautiful and mesmerizing species. They're at ease gliding up to you in the water, and you may feed them shrimp from your hand.

Gentle touching and contact with the stingray's body are permitted (even a kiss is acceptable), but do not touch the barbed tail. Manhandling a ray may cause it to go into defense mode. While stings from the barbed tail are uncommon, they can be extremely painful. Another safety suggestion is to shuffle your feet as you walk across the sand; this will prevent a person from stepping on a resting stingray and being injured by the startled creature.