This past weekend, the family and I headed to San Antonio to visit one of our favorite places in Texas — SeaWorld. This was our first trip of the year and we were ALL excited.
The children didn’t know, but we had a special surprise in store for them. SeaWorld’s new waterpark Aquatica offers Animal Encounters for people of all ages (even little ones that need to be held by mom or dad) and unbeknownst to my little ones, they were about to get REALLY close to the stingrays…all 150 of them.
My two boys absolutely LOVED feeding the stingrays. As you can see above, it looks fairly frightening but if my little guy can do it, it can’t be all that bad. My daughter who is the oldest was a bit more reserved and while she put her feet in the water, she wasn’t too excited about the stingrays getting close to her.
The Stingray Encounter at Aquatica is a rare up close encounter with the stingrays that is truly an unforgettable experience. While you’re in the water with the stingrays, you’ll have the opportunity to feed and touch them. The stingrays don’t understand personal space so be prepared to be politely nudged and sucked on by these curious little creatures.
The Stingray Encounter is incredibly fun and quite reasonably priced. For only $25 you get to experience an up close encounter with the stingrays and take home a picture taken by a SeaWorld associate while you are enjoying the encounter.
And don’t worry, it’s totally safe. The stingrays’ barbs (which is made up of a substance like our fingernails) is trimmed about every three months. It doesn’t hurt the animals and everyone is kept safe while interacting together.
Have you ever touched a stingray?
Jennifer The Quirky Momma says
What an awesome adventure! My daughter would love something like that, she loves being up close and personal with all animals. You have a lovely family!
Liz @ A Nut in a Nutshell says
Even though they remove the barbs, they still make me nervous. I usually reach my hand into the tank but then pull it back all wimpy-like.
Angela@AboutAMom says
That is such a neat experience for kids, and it looks like your kids were having a blast. My family went to Sea World in Orlando last fall and really enjoyed it.
Leilani says
How fun! I’ve always wanted to drive down to San Diego and visit the Sea World over there. We might actually get to do it this summer.
Kelly @ A Girl Worth Saving says
Holy smokes, how cool is it that you can get into the water with them.
Sheilacakes says
This looks so fun. Noah would love this. He loves stingrays.
HilLesha @To the Motherhood says
No, I’d be too chicken to touch one! ~lol~
LyndaS says
I think I may have touched one at the Tennessee Aquarium, but I definitely have not been sucked on by one. Yikes! That is a good price, though.
Lolo says
So much fun! They have them at the shark reef here. You can touch them, but not get in with them . That would be fun!
Lolo says
So much fun! They have them at the shark reef here. You can touch them, but not get in with them . That would be fun!
Colleen says
My daughter wouldn’t have gotten in that water for anything.
Donna says
My son has touched a stingray (briefly) at the TN Aquarium, but to be able to get into the water… my son would flip! 🙂 Great pics!
rachel @runningrachel says
What a super fun family trip!! Thank you for sharing your memories with us. 🙂
Elaina- @atimeout4mommy says
How cool! I would love to visit Sea World!
Marcie W. says
When I think of stingrays, I think of Steve Urwin, so of course I would naturally be nervous. I’m sure I would gather the courage to have some fun and put on a brave face so my kids could too!
Emily @FamilyNLifeLV says
I would LOVE to do this with my son in September when we go!
Rachel @ Following In My Shoes says
I have touched a stingray — actually, it was a few years ago at SeaWorld!
Robin Gagnon {Mom Foodie} says
That ray tank is way better than the one at our local aquarium!
Kathleen says
So fun! We fed them when we were at Sea World in Orlando last week.
April Golightly says
I think this is so cool. I went to string-ray city in the Caribbean and had a blast.
Toni says
Looks like they had such a great time 🙂
Mellisa says
Looks like so much fun!