We stayed in a condo on Ft. MeyersBeach 3 years ago. (in the winter) It was a lovely vacation except that we were virtually unable to swim in the Gulf waters due to the stingrays! There were just dozens and dozens of them. We have young children and didn't want to risk having anyone get hurt. Are they always there? Has anyone been there and had the same experience?

Stingrays travel in schools so it is very possible to find oneself in the midst of a large school, as apparently happened to you. "Joan" (of Treasure Island fame) likes to wade into the middle of a school and freak out the tourists but I'm too timid for that. I found it exhilirating but I too am a little afraid of them, and I can see that it would be bothersome to someone like yourself with young children. As in any natural environment, they need to be precautious. Teach them to do the stingray shuffle. Shuffling your feet creates a cloud and the rays will gladly move out of your way.

It is not so common an occurence so I would venture back into the water if I were you. Chances are they won't be anywhere around next time.

And consider yourself lucky to have witnessed this phenomena. Once I happened upon a thousand or more mating horseshoe crabs all splayed over the shoreline, doing the nasty in the littoral zora. I've not yet seen that again in spite of living in Florida for more than 40 years.

I agree with the previous poster. Please don't let your experience sway you. What you saw was awesome and probably rare. In the early 80's we drove from Naples to Captiva (via Fort Myers Beach) to have dinner at the Bubble Room. Just before we got to Fort Myers Beach we saw a flock of pink flamingos! I kid you not...it was definitely the most outstanding thing I have ever seen in the "wild" and certainly have never seen anything like it since.

Here's a thought, stjohnbound. Maybe those weren't flamingos at all. Perhaps they were just regular white egrets who were all blushing at having seen that huge herd of mating horseshoe crabs, Tandoori Girl was talking about?

Whatever-flamingos, horseshoe crabs, or sting-rays,(I've never seen them, and I go there frequently) you can't beat the Ft. Myers Beach area, IMO, for a wonderful relaxing beach vacation, beautiful Gulf sunsets, bathtub warm water in the Gulf, white powder sand, intercoastal or Gulf-take your pick-if you go out on the intercoastal you WILL see dolphins, maybe manatees (I haven't yet seen a manatee, but am still hoping to!) -AND it's relatively inexpensive. I know I sure wouldn't let the possibility of some sting-rays in the Gulf keep me from going there!

LOL Patrick!!! And is that you, "our" beloved Patrick, dispenser of all things wise and wonderful?? Are you back in the usa from your three (4?) month long adventure in europe or are you still posting from across the big pond? Sounds like you've been keeping up with some of the convos here

Either way, it's great to 'see' you! You've been missed!! And when you post your trip report, pleeeeease let us know here so we can travel vicariously with you!

xoxo

Ditto to ellen griswolds post. Patrick! Hope you are "home". I think those were roseate spoonbills not flamingos....Ding Darling rangers said that happens all the time.

Patrick! Glad you made it back and can't wait to hear about your travels!

jcjc, the ocean is a wonderful, beautiful thing that is filled with living creatures. Yes, you will encounter all kinds of potentially dangerous things that you will probably never ever see but they will certainly see you and stay out of your way.

Consider yourself lucky to have witnessed the stingrays.

Patrick, can't wait to hear about your Wales trip, restaurants, Snowdonia, etc. We are going in Sept.

Thanks for all of your responses to my inquiry. It's interesting that no one else has witnessed this gathering of stingrays. It was a totally awesome sight...on the first day we were there...but after a while the novelty wore off. We stayed 9 days and they were there each and every day. And as I said it wasn't just a few. There were dozens and dozens. The people who ran the condo we stayed at said that a "sting" from a stingray can be extremely painful. No one was in the water. (except for us! And even we stopped going in after being warned of the danger.) I think we will re-visit in Feb. I'm now hopeful that it was a freak thing that we were "lucky" enough to witness!

I've seen them too. They really seem to congregate more around dusk. Or, it could have been because we were in meetings during the day. Co-workers and I always chose Ft. Myers for our "toes in the sand" meeting locations. Now, we go to Asheville, NC more often. But, I have indeed seen the large groupings of sting rays. We just shuffled our feet as we waded in the water - we didn't want to step on one and risk a sting!