Native Way Watersports Tours Georgetown Caymen Islands

[haytay]

Can anyone tell me if they have used this company, and what their experince was like? It's half the price then what RCI is offereing. Thanks

[cb at sea]

What does the "tour" offer?

[Jan_In_Maine]

We have used Nativeway for their Rays, Reef & Rum Point tour. I really enjoyed the tour with them. It was a smaller boat with approx 10-15 people. We had a great time. Jan

[haytay]

Here is their website www.nativewaywatersports.com

[subtchr]

We also did the Rays, Reef, & Rum Point tour with them and had a blast. Some pics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BleednBlu]

I agree that the RR & R tour is awesome. Less money and less people on your boat at the Rays, then the time at Rum Point is very nice. The employees were great. Id go with them again in a heart beat.

Tom

[marci22]

We have done Rays, Reef and Rumpoint and Starfish Snorkel with them. They are very pleasant to deal with and the guys on the boat are very nice and helpful.

[DEERINH2O]

They are wonderful. Have done 3 tours with them... They are professional and less crowded.....

 

Kathy

[HorrorFan]

Yup, we did the R,R&R with them last spring. Excellent day.

[abhb]

I think that we are not the "norm". We had a very bad expereince with them and would never use them again. They put us on the wrong bus. When they figured out that we were on the wrong bus, they dropped us at the side of the road. They said someone would be by in 10 minutes to pick us up.

 

10 minutes turned into over and hour. We tried to make a phone call at this bar at the beach and were told they never heard of them. When we finally got picked up, the bus didn't have enough room for the 4 of us. My husband and son had to sit on the floor. One of the men on the bus offered me his seat since I had a broken arm. Another man offered my daughter his. They sat on the floor with my DS and DH.

 

We never got to shop at all and we almost missed the ship. We were on the last tender back.

 

Most people have been pleased with them. After this experience, we could not recommend them.

[jonsmom]

We used them back in 2005 and again next month - We loved loved this excursion.

[mh15]

We booked their RRR excursion for our spring break cruise last year and couldn't say enough great things about the day. It was the highlight of our cruise!

[SliderNc]

Used them back in 2008 for the RR&R tour. We had a blast with a few set backs:

 

If the seas are rough, the government will shut down the sandbar. This happened to us. Our boat's captain and crew decided we'd go out there anyway and not swim, but they were able to get them close to the boat with us. They did take us to two nice snorkel spots to make up for it and we saw some great fish. Then we went to Rum Point and spent the rest of the tour there. We also had the option of taking the bus back or go back on the boat. On the way back on the boat, we stopped at the sandbar to see if it was open and got chased away by the sea patrol.

 

Either way, the crew was great and we had a blast. I'd highly recommend them.

[J&DrCruisin]

We used Nativeway last December when we went to the GC for the very first time. We did the RR&R tour and were very pleased with them. On the boat I think we had only 3 couples, plus the 2 guides. Not very crowded at all. We saw alot of other tour groups that were packed on their boats like sardines and once in the water, not all of them had a chance to interact with the rays. We had well over an hour with them before we went snorkeling. Once we got the Rum point, our lunch was ready and waiting. Our tour guides were Thomas and Moses and they were totally awesome. On the way back to the pier area, they let me drive the boat. Would do/recommend this tour in a heart beat. They had us back to the pier in plenty of time to do a little shopping and catch a tender back to the ship.

[marci22]

I think that we are not the "norm". We had a very bad expereince with them and would never use them again. They put us on the wrong bus. When they figured out that we were on the wrong bus, they dropped us at the side of the road. They said someone would be by in 10 minutes to pick us up.

 

10 minutes turned into over and hour. We tried to make a phone call at this bar at the beach and were told they never heard of them. When we finally got picked up, the bus didn't have enough room for the 4 of us. My husband and son had to sit on the floor. One of the men on the bus offered me his seat since I had a broken arm. Another man offered my daughter his. They sat on the floor with my DS and DH.

 

We never got to shop at all and we almost missed the ship. We were on the last tender back.

 

Most people have been pleased with them. After this experience, we could not recommend them.

 

Did you email a complaint to them? Did they adjust your price in any way?

 

I have had two unfortunate incidents with other well-known operators and each time I emailed my complaint and I was offered some amount of restitution. Most of the well-regarded tour operators have good reviews but mistakes do happen, and I would hope that they would try to make it right for you.

 

I wanted to add that a review like yours above is something they really do not want to see come up on message boards and so they do try to be fair.

[haytay]

I am a little confused, some of you said you had to take a bus back to the pier and others said they took the boat back. Do they give you an option?

 

I have another question before I book with this company. I have 2 girls aged 12 & 14 do you think they would enjoy the starfish, coral snorkling or the reef snorkling.

[marci22]

Nativeway picked us up in a bus at the cruise port and took us to the dock from which their boat left. Returned the same way.

 

Do you mean the RRR tour compared to the Starfish Snorkel tour?

[Moeve]

We too have used them twice the last time in Jan this year and both times we have been very happy. The trick is to do the offers on the site - this is their every day bread and butter business and you cannot go wrong with them. If you want to do something else find someone else or just hitch a taxi.

 

We had them close the port on us this Jan and they moved the ships to spots bay. I was worried because there were 30 of us - there was no reason at all the guides with the bus were already waiting for us at spots bay as they already knew the port had been closed. We tried the sand bar anyway and by the time we got there the wind situation had completely changed and we could get into the water safely. Others had their tours cancelled before even leaving the port and they were very disappointed to hear others had been safely.

 

If it is rays you are looking into you cannot go wrong with Nativeway.

[haytay]

Yes, I am trying to decide between the RR&R and the ray, starfish, coral snorkelling. I know the kids will love the rays but I hear the snorkelling with the RR&R is out in the open ocean. I am not sure if the kids will be scared to get in the water in the open ocean. Is the starfish and coral snorkelling in shallow water?

[OttoCal]

We used them for the stingray/snorkel combo tour- I think it was 2 snorkel stops & Stingray City Sandbar.

 

What we liked- fun boat, we had about 16 in our immediate group so the video was worth purchasing (and copying to distribute to the group members...). They were also gracious and allowed us to drop one person off of our reservation (sick and stayed on the ship) without paying for that pre-reserved spot. Check-in was easy and convenient.

 

What we didn't like- there were probably 30 people on our boat, more than we were expecting.

Lack of instruction about snorkeling- in our group of 16, there weren't many experienced snorkelers. The 'instruction' consisted pretty much of 'what size are your feet? OK, here's your fins. Pool's Open!' We brought our own gear and knew what we were doing, but the others would have benefitted from basic assistance like letting them know it doesn't work to try to walk across the entire boat with your fins on, and some very basic general tips for being in the water- like don't try to stand in the water or flail around, or even how to breathe properly.

 

Don't get me wrong, everyone had fun, but I think people who didn't know how to snorkel may have had more fun if they were given a bit of instruction. :rolleyes: And this is marketed as a family excursion, where you would expect that many of the snorkelers don't have much experience. The experienced snorkelers did fine.

 

They did give ample instruction on the sandbar about shuffling your feet so as not to step on any of the rays and how not to agitate them. This was our third stop of the trip, after the two snorkels.

 

I would probably choose a different excursion & company for a return visit.

[marci22]

Yes, I am trying to decide between the RR&R and the ray, starfish, coral snorkelling. I know the kids will love the rays but I hear the snorkelling with the RR&R is out in the open ocean. I am not sure if the kids will be scared to get in the water in the open ocean. Is the starfish and coral snorkelling in shallow water?

 

We did both tours. Both snorkels are in open water. It was about 8-10 feet deep, estimate.

 

I liked the RRR tour better overall, but it is a longer, and more expensive tour. Lunch at Rum Point at the end was relaxing and beautiful. My kids also tried snorkeling around the small pier area at that stop. I don't remember if they saw much.

 

The Starfish snorkel tour we did because we wanted a shorter tour. I do not remember the Coral Gardens :( We mainly wanted to see the stingrays, and I knew the boat ride out with Nativeway would be nice. The snorkeling, to me, was not stellar. We did see some starfish but they were not wildly colorful or that abundant, as the description implies. My experience.

 

Part of the appeal to me is that you are on a private boat with limited guests and the hosts are very helpful. They stopped along the way to pick some conch out of the water and show us some starfish.

 

It depends on what you want to do. If you like the beach/lunch stop, choose the RRR. If you want to see stingrays on a shorter, cheaper tour with another snorkel stop, choose Starfish Snorkel.

 

I do agree with a previous poster who said they did not give a lot of instruction to beginning snorkelers. But, if you asked them for any additional help, or wanted them to get something for you out of your bag, etc, they were extremely nice and willing to help.

 

I think it's just luck how many people you get on your boat: some report a dozen, others 30. Each time, we had in the mid-20s and I thought it was fine although it's always better with less people.

[PattyG12]

We used them in October. The RRR tour as well. It was funny ... we went to the reef and on the way out, our little boat of 11 people waved at the cruise ship tour boat that was "standing room only" ... Probably 100 people on that tour! Definitely will call them again the next time we're in Grand Cayman. Darn, wish I were going there soon :D

[marci22]

And in their defense I would add that this is not a learn to snorkel tour, it is a snorkeling tour. Practice in a pool, before you leave home. I don't think you are going to get more personalized or better instruction by going on a ship's tour; quite the opposite.

[Beachbound2006]

We did the Rays, Reef and Rum Point last summer, I have to agree it was fabulous. A lot less people and the crew was nothing but professional. Got us back to the ship in plenty of time.:)

[joyride21]

I can't say enough good things about this company. We booked the RRR tour through them for our cruise last November. Our ship ended up having to dock on the other side of GC due to the harbor in Georgetown being closed (rough seas). As a result we were almost two hours getting off the boat. The folks at Nativeway were waiting for us at the new location. They explained that the Rum Point part of the trip had to be cancelled or we would not make it back to the ship on time. If we still wanted to do the tour they would add another snorkeling stop instead and knock $30 per person off the price. We agreed. It was a fabulous time, and the crew was professional and courteous. (And when it came time to pay they discounted the price another $10!) I would definitely book with them again!