Disney Castaway Cay Snorkeling Tips and ALL Underwater Statues

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! We loved it so much, when we sailed again on the Disney Fantasy, snorkeling was my #1 priority when we went to Castaway Cay. I made it my mission to find ALL of the sunken treasure!

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 had a total blast snorkeling at Castaway Cay, and my second time was really successful. Everything below is what I wish I’d known before I went the first time!

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Bringing 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 both times – 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. But 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!

Cost of Snorkeling at Castaway Cay

You might be wondering if 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.

Castaway Cay Snorkel Rental Prices

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. The cheapest option is the basic Snorkel Lagoon Equipment Rental.

It’s $44 for everyone aged 10 and up, and $24 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 ($54 for ages 10 and up, $34 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 Stingray Adventure activity, you’ll only have the snorkels for an hour and they can only be used in the Stingray Lagoon. It’s a guided up-close encounter where you get to feed the singrays. This is $64 and $54 for adults and children, respectively.

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 $99 for everyone 10 and up, and $74 for everyone 5 to 9 years old. Personally, our family could never do all of that in one day – we’re exhausted after just trying to explore the snorkel lagoon.

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!

Start Times for Snorkeling

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 Fantasy cruise was 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. On my second snorkeling expedition at Castaway, I went all-in on swimming to every buoy to see what was there! Below is most of what I found.

Boo’s Door from Monsters Inc.

Artificial Coral Reef Balls

Minnie Mouse

Dumbo Ride Car

Tugboat

Prince Eric’s Statue

As a big Little Mermaid fan, this was my grail. I knew Prince Eric was in the lagoon the first time I went snorkeling, but I didn’t find him. He was my driving factor to spend so much time snorkeling on our second cruise!

Mickey Mouse

The Nautilus Submarine

This submarine is so big, by the time I was close enough to see it clearly, my camera couldn’t fit all of it in one shot! It’s from the classic Disney film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

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Apart from statues and reefs, you’ll also find several types of fish. You might even encounter a stingray that escaped the stingray lagoon! (I spotted one, but it was harmless.) The farther out into the lagoon you swim, the more fish you’re likely to see. The water will be clearer further out, too.

Taking Shells from the Island

Unfortunately, the removal of shells is strictly prohibited at Castaway Cay. Not only are they not allowed on the ship, Disney does not restock the shells on the island. They will be confiscated at customs when you get back to the port. 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 meticulously 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.

Honest Review of Castaway Cay Snorkeling

Despite its size, my family and I totally walked by 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. Even though we got 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 the first 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 my first try! But I did spot a few cool sunken treasures. And the water was extremely clear the farther I went. The second time, armed with more information about how to find the sunken treasure, I had a blast. It took me about an hour to go all the way to the last buoy and back to the beach at a slow, steady pace. I am not an athlete, but I never felt unsafe or overly tired.

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

Castaway Cay Snorkeling Tips

Practice with Your Snorkels

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.

The Decline is Gradual

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 is truly not 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 Early Bird Gets Empty Waters

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.

It’s Murkiest Near the Shore

You may be disappointed by how cloudy the water is when you start snorkeling, especially if you get a late start. But since the lagoon gets deep enough that you have to float rather than walk, the areas where most of the statues are stay nice and clear.

Stay in for the Long Haul

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 and conserve your energy. Be patient, swim slowly, and don’t go out hungry or already tired. Remember, however far out you swim, you have to swim that distance again on the way back!

Use Reef-Friendly Sunscreen with Sea Lice Repellant

After our first experience, my kids and husband now prefer to wear rash guards to protect their torsos. We use SafeSea 50+ SPF for everything else, like faces and legs. It’s safe for marine life, including the natural coral reefs. It also 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. A single application kept us safe for over three hours!

Avoid Stepping in the Seaweed

If there are sea lice or other undesirables to be found in the snorkeling lagoon, they’re likely to be hiding in the seaweed. Just swim over it instead of trying to walk through it!

Take a Full Water bottle on Land

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. We take our Mickey and Minnie Corksicle bottles with us and leave them inside a cheap reusable shopping bag. The bottles keep our water nice and cold, and it’s easy to grab a drink while resting between snorkel attempts.

More on Disney Cruises

Is your Disney cruise going to be aboard their newest ship, the Disney Wish? Check out all these articles for valuable tips!

• Comprehensive Disney Wish review
• Inside our Deluxe Family Oceanview Room with EXTENDED Verandah
• Rare Disney Wish characters
• All about Disney Wish dining
• Pirate Night on the Wish
• Halloween on the High Seas on the Wish
• Inside the exclusive Olaf’s Royal Picnic
• The hype behind Hyperspace Lounge