Is there a tour to Stingray City without snorkeling?

[disneyden]

We are interested in going to stingray city, but don't want to do the snorkeling part of the excursion. Are there any excursions that you know of that JUST do stingray city then take you back? We want to do several things in Grand Cayman and are afraid that we will run out of time if we stay out there with everyone that snorkels. I personally don't want to be in water snorkeling (Jaws scares me) and my DH can't. He has really bad ears and can't go under the water more than a few inches without pain. (He had tubes over 12 times when he was little and it took it's toll on his poor eardrums.) Any advice would be greatly appreciated.:o

[Green4me]

You should post this question in the ports of call thread for Grand Cayman, but my suggestion is to email one or several of the providers you will find on that thread with your question.

 

I would think they could make arrangements for you. best of luck

[firefly333]

Not that I know of. People dont all snorkel. The water is about chest deep and you can just put your face in the water if you want. If you are that scared of the water because of jaws, stay in the boat.

 

Captain Marvins will take you out and do one stop or two, your choice (2 stops is about $5 more) and then take you on land to see the turtle farm and some other stuff.

[firefly333]

You should post this question in the ports of call thread for Grand Cayman, but my suggestion is to email one or several of the providers you will find on that thread with your question.

 

I would think they could make arrangements for you. best of luck

 

Sounds to me like the OP would need a private boat, as if they go out, they allow you to borrow their equipment for the sting ray city stop .. or not. The OP doesnt want anyone snorkeling.

[Kurbanfan]

We are interested in going to stingray city, but don't want to do the snorkeling part of the excursion. Are there any excursions that you know of that JUST do stingray city then take you back? We want to do several things in Grand Cayman and are afraid that we will run out of time if we stay out there with everyone that snorkels. I personally don't want to be in water snorkeling (Jaws scares me) and my DH can't. He has really bad ears and can't go under the water more than a few inches without pain. (He had tubes over 12 times when he was little and it took it's toll on his poor eardrums.) Any advice would be greatly appreciated.:o

 

Just do one of the earliest tours. You don't have to snorkel you can stay on the boat.......

 

Good luck!

[sharecruises]

Take a shorter tour and just don't snorkel

 

they probably have rum punch for you ..that is what I did :) kick back and enjoy the rum punch, talk with other non snorkelers

 

you can get info on the ports boards...

 

the more expensive the tour the longer it will be out there for snorkeling so take the cheaper tour

 

you can also pick up a tour right at the docks and I doubt they have a long snorkel time

 

to avoid : rum point is lovely I hear but usually those tours involve a lot more time and more snorkeling, visiting several reefs

 

after you come off your (short) stingray tour I would suggest going to Royal Palm Beach on 7 mile, even though the driver will probably try to take you to the more crowded Sea Grape (where all the carnival tours go too)

 

Go to Royal Palm and enjoy...lots of vans there to take you back to town

 

get some free rum samples, get your picture taken with the ..um.."pirate" statues, and enjoy

 

the stingrays are really fantastic...not to be missed...a lot of fun

hth

[Grits53]

We consider a visit to Stingray City a "MUST DO" for any first timer at Grand Cayman. We've been there several times. LOVE those friendly stingrays! I thought I'd give you a little description of the experience. "Stingray City" is actually nothing more than a shallow area of the sea (caused by a sand bar), where a bunch of stingrays hang out. You travel by boat to reach this area. I'm guessing it is about a 20 minute boat ride.

Several tour boats will back up to the area where the water is shallow....usually about waist to chest deep on the average adult. They end up forming a large circle around where the stingrays are. (Picture a wagon train circling around the campfire.) When the stingrays see a boat pull up, they all head toward the boat, eager to greet their guests and receive the treats offered them. Please note that these stingrays are not in any way confined to this area. They are "wild", but due to being fed this way every day, they are very friendly. There is NOTHING to indicate that this is a tourist attraction.....just crystal clear blue water with huge stingrays swimming around.....

You have the option of going into the water with the stingrays or watching from the boat. However, the experience is so much richer when you get in the water with them. They call it a snorkel tour and offer snorkel equipment on most tour boats. However, the vast majority of people don't use the snorkel equipment, as it is not needed. The stingrays come right up to the top of the water and sometimes actually "climb" on you. The guides will "catch" a stingray by holding their hands under it and will allow you to "hold" and pet the stingray. (See my avatar.) Like I said, there is no snorkeling needed, and certainly no swimming is required. As for sharks in this area.... Not a chance.

If you do the tour that also goes to the Turtle Farm, you will leave the stingray area and go directly back to the dock, where you will board your tour bus and go to the Turtle Farm for an interesting guided tour.

[dan40]

We are interested in going to stingray city, but don't want to do the snorkeling part of the excursion. Are there any excursions that you know of that JUST do stingray city then take you back? We want to do several things in Grand Cayman and are afraid that we will run out of time if we stay out there with everyone that snorkels. I personally don't want to be in water snorkeling (Jaws scares me) and my DH can't. He has really bad ears and can't go under the water more than a few inches without pain. (He had tubes over 12 times when he was little and it took it's toll on his poor eardrums.) Any advice would be greatly appreciated.:o

 

Don't know if there is a StingRay City only tour. First check how many ships will be in GC when you are. Some days the ship passengers outnumber the native pop., on those days GC roads are gridlocked and doing more than one excursion would be unwise if not impossible.

[moran4carnival]

We are interested in going to stingray city, but don't want to do the snorkeling part of the excursion. Are there any excursions that you know of that JUST do stingray city then take you back? We want to do several things in Grand Cayman and are afraid that we will run out of time if we stay out there with everyone that snorkels. I personally don't want to be in water snorkeling (Jaws scares me) and my DH can't. He has really bad ears and can't go under the water more than a few inches without pain. (He had tubes over 12 times when he was little and it took it's toll on his poor eardrums.) Any advice would be greatly appreciated.:o

Yes there is. We did it when we sailed on the Valor last April. I think it was like $45 pp. It was fun.

[mskaufman]

No problem. We had four people go on the tour and only three went in the water. The fourth actually ran the video camera of the others in the water.

[JohninDC]

"they probably have rum punch for you ..that is what I did :) kick back and enjoy the rum punch, talk with other non snorkelers"

Doubt you will find any "free" rum punch on any GC tour - booze is highly taxed there. Cozumel is a different story...:rolleyes:

[Sargent_Schultz]

The ship will certainly have a stingray sandbar only tour.

[disneyden]

You should post this question in the ports of call thread for Grand Cayman, but my suggestion is to email one or several of the providers you will find on that thread with your question.

 

I would think they could make arrangements for you. best of luck

 

 

Thanks for the suggestion, but I already posted it in the Grand Cayman thread, but didn't get any responses. So, I thought that I would try my fellow Carnvial "buddies". :)

[disneyden]

Thanks for all of the responses! I knew my Carnival "buddies" wouldn't let me down!!:D

Stingrays and rum punch...here we come!!:p

[Talli]

I don't know what other things you want to do in GC but we are doing a tour through Island Marketing where we are taking a waverunner to Stingray City and then to some secluded beaches in the Rum Point area as well as Rum Point beach. We are taking the first tour which is at 9am and tour is 2 hours beach to beach. So I think we will have plenty of time after to other things after the tour.

 

Also try to google stingray city tours and see what tour guides come up and what they offer.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Talli

[disneyden]

I don't know what other things you want to do in GC but we are doing a tour through Island Marketing where we are taking a waverunner to Stingray City and then to some secluded beaches in the Rum Point area as well as Rum Point beach. We are taking the first tour which is at 9am and tour is 2 hours beach to beach. So I think we will have plenty of time after to other things after the tour.

 

Also try to google stingray city tours and see what tour guides come up and what they offer.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Talli

 

That sounds good! We would like to visit any of the beach areas and the Hell post office as well. I want to send my family a postcard from Hell. He! He!;)

I also want to get some rum cakes, but someone told me that I can buy those anywhere in Grand Cayman and don't necessarily have to visit the rum outlet to get them. That should save a little time for us.

Thanks for the advice!:)

[wavecruiser]

We just booked a stingray tour with no snorkeling stop through Nativeways. It's called the Stingray and Island tour, and supposedly takes you to the turtle farm, the rum factory and other tourist spots. Think it was $60. Carnival also offers just the stingray and island tour but it was a bit more.

[disneyden]

We just booked a stingray tour with no snorkeling stop through Nativeways. It's called the Stingray and Island tour, and supposedly takes you to the turtle farm, the rum factory and other tourist spots. Think it was $60. Carnival also offers just the stingray and island tour but it was a bit more.

 

Thank you!

[blindhrtd]

We are booked with Native Way Watersports Stingray and Island Tour for when we will be there on the Freedom in a couple of weeks. Can't wait!

 

We really didn't want to snorkel, but wanted to see the Stingrays and get an overview of the island. This might be a good choice for you :)

[Talli]

I'm glad I could help :). I was going to offer to give you a review after I went, but looks like I am leaving two weeks after you.... Anyway let us know what you decide to do.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

 

Talli

[disneyden]

I'm glad I could help :). I was going to offer to give you a review after I went, but looks like I am leaving two weeks after you.... Anyway let us know what you decide to do.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

 

Talli

 

...just wanted to let you know that I DID IT!! I swam with the stingrays! :D:eek: It was an awesome experience! We booked the excursion through Carnival that took us to see Hell, the turtle farm, and the stingrays. Our guide also made a quick stop at Tortuga rum outlet. I did a review of our trip if any of you would like to read it. The link is listed below under my previous cruises. I just wanted to thank all of you for your suggestions. ;)