Castaway Cay Snorkeling: Review + 8 Crucial Tips

Our first cruise aboard the Disney Wish had a port stop at Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island. I didn’t want to spend money on any excursions, so we decided to try out Castaway Cay snorkeling!

The Castaway Cay snorkeling lagoon is a surprisingly large 22-acre area off the coast of the island. It’s fairly close to where the ship docks and a tram will carry you a good part of the way there (if you don’t want to walk).

The lagoon is super-safe for snorkeling, too! There are lots of lifeguards, both on the beach and stationed in stands out in the water.

And there’s no need to worry about sharks or other scary sea creatures: the entire area is netted off to only allow smaller fish in. (Of course, nothing is foolproof, but you should be able to relax with this knowledge.)

My family and I all had a total blast snorkeling at Castaway Cay, and since our first time, I’ve learned a lot more about it. Everything below is what I wish I’d known before I went!

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Can you bring your own snorkel gear to Castaway Cay?

You absolutely can bring your own snorkel mask or snorkel and goggles, as well as your own fins, to Castaway Cay.

While we didn’t take our own fins, we did take two of our own full-face masks – one adult and one child. None of us had snorkeled before, so I wanted one of us to keep an eye on the snorkeling child at all times.

I highly recommend the masks above. The kids had no issues breathing and no water leaked in; if it does, you can simply raise your chin out of the water and any inside the mask will drain out.

The one thing you shouldn’t bring is a float or life vest.

Disney insists on all snorkelers wearing the bright yellow life vests hanging near the snorkel lagoon on the island. They come in all sizes from a child’s extra-small all the way up to an adult 3X.

The good news is, they are totally free and there are a ton available!

How much is snorkeling at Castaway Cay?

You might be wondering, do you have to pay to snorkel at Castaway Cay? The answer is no – unless you want to.

There are two reasons you might spend money to snorkel on Disney’s island:

• You want to rent snorkel equipment instead of bringing your own, or
• You want to experience the Snorkeling with Stingrays port adventure.

So how much is snorkeling at Castaway Cay?

Castaway Cay Snorkel Rental

You can dig through the port adventures listed on Disney’s website for all the info you need, but I’ve laid out the basics of what you need to know below.

The cheapest option is the basic Snorkel Lagoon Equipment Rental. It’s $34 for everyone aged 10 and up, and $18 for children between the ages of 5 and 9.

With this price, you’ll be given a face mask (with just eye and nose coverage), an in-mouth snorkel, and fins. The kids get child-sized equipment.

Disney thoroughly sanitizes the snorkel equipment after every use.

There is also the Castaway Cay Getaway Package ($46 for ages 10 and up, $26 for ages 5 to 9). In addition to getting snorkel gear for the day, you’ll also have access to floats, tubes, and a bicycle!

Snorkel with Stingrays Port Adventure

There are even more packages that include snorkel gear – and stingrays!

If you do the basic Snorkeling with Stingrays package, you’ll only have the snorkels for an hour and they can only be used in the Stingray Lagoon. This is $36 and $25 for adults and children, respectively.

The Stingray Adventure activity is pretty much the same, except you get a guided up-close encounter where you get to feed the stingrays (and it’s $20 more per person than casual snorkeling with stingrays).

For the adventurous family that wants to do it all – bicycling, floating, feeding stingrays up close, and exploring the snorkeling lagoon – you can get the Extreme Getaway Package. It’s $88 for everyone 10 and up, and $67 for everyone 5 to 9 years old.

Personally, our family could never do all of that in one day – we were exhausted after just trying to explore the snorkel lagoon. And we didn’t even get to all of it!

What is the age limit for snorkeling at Castaway Cay?

Everyone aged 5 and up can snorkel at Castaway Cay!

Even if your toddler has snorkeled before, it’s not going to happen on Castaway. This is for their safety as well as Disney’s.

But if they’re at least three years old, there’s a good chance they’ll prefer spending their time playing in Scuttle’s Cove (the island version of Oceaneer Club).

If they’re at least 38 inches tall, they can go down the slides at Pelican Plunge, a playground set in the water!

How early can you snorkel on Castaway Cay?

You can head out to snorkel as soon as the ship allows passengers off at Castaway Cay. Gil’s Fins and Boats will be open if you need to pick up equipment!

For our Disney Wish cruise, we could get off the boat at 8:30AM, but the Ashore time for our next cruise on the Fantasy is listed as 9:30AM.

You can find the Ashore time for your stop at Castaway Cay in your cruise itinerary.

Castaway Cay Snorkeling Map

The map above shows where the snorkel lagoon is located on Castaway Cay.

There is no map showing exactly where all of the hidden “treasures” under the water are. After all, they wouldn’t be “hidden” that way!

I can tell you that there are floats tied to each one. Just look for red and white buoys and swim toward those – you’ll find some really cool stuff that way.

(And I will hint at one: you may find a certain flying elephant at one of the first buoys you come to near the left-hand side of the lagoon.)

Castaway Cay Snorkeling Statues

Disney has rearranged the snorkeling lagoon and added a lot of stuff to look at under the water.

Here’s a list of some of the things you may find if you swim out far enough:

• An old Dumbo car from the Disney World ride
• Prince Eric’s iconic statue from The Little Mermaid
• A sunken ship
• Boo’s door from Monsters, Inc.
• The Nautilus submarine from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
• Mickey Mouse
• Cannons and cannonballs

Apart from statues, you’ll also find some artificial coral reefs, several types of fish, and maybe even a stingray that escaped the stingray lagoon. (I spotted one, but it was harmless.)

The farther out into the lagoon you swim – ie. the closer you get to the net surrounding it – the more fish you’re likely to see. The water will be clearer further out, too.

Can you take shells from Castaway Cay?

Unfortunately, the removal of shells is strictly prohibited at Castaway Cay.

Not only are they not allowed on the ship (and they are sometimes confiscated at customs – ask me how I know!), Disney does not restock the shells on the island.

While that sounds weird, Castaway Cay is actually a carefully crafted, constructed, and arranged island. The ocean bed near the island and the reef has been carefully designed, and the fish are even “stocked.”

So snap a picture instead, and leave those beautiful shells in the sand for the next visitor to admire.

Castaway Cay Snorkeling Review

Despite its size, my family and I totally passed up the snorkeling lagoon the first time we went to the island.

If you take the island tram, the very first stop is Scuttle’s Cove. This is where you’ll want to get off.

Despite us actually getting off here, we still walked straight past the snorkeling lagoon and into the “regular” part of the family beach ocean access.

After snorkeling in murky water with nothing but seaweed to look at for a while, I realized our mistake!

The snorkeling lagoon is the very first section of water past Gil’s Fins & Boats, where you can rent snorkel gear if needed. It is very clearly marked off with ropes. If you see Conched Out Bar, you’ve already walked too far!

Once we got to the right area, though, we had the best experience ever.

Both of my children, 5 and 8 at the time, had no trouble with the full-face masks we brought. My daughter happily swam far out into the water next to her dad; my son used the mask to keep his face in the shallow water while digging in the sand just under the water.

I went out the farthest and still didn’t make it to the far end! But I did spot a few cool sunken treasures. And the water was extremely clear the farther I went.

All in all, I would say snorkeling is a must-do at Castaway Cay – even for beginners! It was the first time for all of us, and we had no trouble.

Castaway Cay Snorkeling Tips

I have a LOT of tips I want to share to make your snorkeling experience on Castaway Cay as awesome as possible.

• If you’re bringing your own newly-bought snorkeling gear, have everyone practice with it before your vacation.
  
  I recommend starting in a shallow freshwater pool or tub, especially for children. We did this at bath time and I could tell it helped the kids be more comfortable with the idea.
  
  The practice also allowed us to learn how to drain the water if it did start to leak in. And when my children accidentally submerged the entire snorkel, we taught them to bring up their heads and pull the bottom of the face mask up so they could breathe.
  
  If we’d waited until we were in the ocean to try out our new snorkel masks, it would NOT have been a good day at the beach.
  
  
• Depending on the tide, you might be able to walk pretty far into the lagoon.
  
  The water is fairly shallow throughout the entire lagoon, but swimming might not be necessary for quite a while.
  
  If the tide is low, you’ll be able to walk across a good bit of it before kicking your feet up to float.
  
  
• The lagoon gets more crowded as the day goes on – but it’s not that bad.
  
  As long as you keep checking your sides or lifting your head out of the water on occasion, you shouldn’t bump into anybody.
  
  
• The water can get murky near the shore.
  
  The main issue with more people getting into the snorkeling lagoon is that the areas near the shore get murky. But since it gets deep enough that you have to float rather than walk, the areas where most of the statues are stay nice and clear.
  
  
• The good treasures are pretty far out.
  
  If your goal is to find as many statues and sunken treasures as possible, you’ll need to allow a lot of time. Be patient, swim slowly, and don’t go out hungry or already tired.
  
  Remember, however far out you swim, you have to swim again on the way back!
  
  
• Use reef-friendly sunscreen with jellyfish repellant.
  
  We used SafeSea 50+ SPF. It’s safe for marine life, including the natural coral reefs, and it claims to prevent pain from jellyfish stings or sea lice (jellyfish larvae).
  
  While I don’t think we actually came in contact with sea lice, I’ve heard it can pop up near Pelican Plunge and other parts of the island. I’d rather be safe than sorry!
  
  Also, we are some of the whitest white people, and we didn’t burn at all with this stuff (and we were snorkeling for about three hours).
  
  
• Avoid stepping in or stirring up the seaweed.
  
  If there are less desirable organisms to be found in the snorkeling lagoon – such as sea lice – it’s likely to be hiding in the seaweed. Just swim over it instead of trying to walk through it!
  
  
• Take a water bottle on land with you.
  
  While Cookie’s BBQ provides free water and soda to Disney cruisers, it’s a bit of a walk just to get a drink while you’re snorkeling.
  
  I was very glad I’d taken my Mickey Mouse Corksicle bottle on land with us. It kept our water nice and cold, and it was easy to grab a drink while resting between snorkel attempts.

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Snorkeling on our Disney cruise was definitely one of the highlights of our vacation. Whether you bring your own equipment or rent it on the island, it should be on your to-do list!

Is your Disney cruise going to be aboard their newest ship, the Disney Wish? Read through my complete guide and see what our deluxe family oceanview room with an *extended* verandah on the Wish looked like!

We’ve also got all the important details on Disney Wish characters, the Disney Wish dining rotation, and the changes to Pirate Night on the Disney Wish.

Curious what Halloween on the High Seas is like on the Disney Wish? Spoiler: it’s not like the older ships.

Make sure you check out our inside look at Olaf’s Royal Picnic, too.

Star Wars fans will also love our sneak peek inside the Hyperspace Lounge!