What Snorkel Exursion???

[chach123]

My boyfriend and I will be in GT this august on the Carnival Pride...We definitely want to do a snorkel excursion but don't know which to do! There's the Ultimate Snorkeling, the Catamaran Sail and Snorkel, and a few others...what are your opinions? We are both good swimmers and want to see some great fish and coral etc!

[WillieD13]

Both are good, and both go to the same area. We took the "Ultimate Snorkel" last year, and were delighted with it. The biggest difference I saw was that the Cat sailed over, so you spend a lot more time in transit, and less time in the water. Also not sure if the Cat does 1 or 2 stops. Ultimate does 2, one at a shallow reef (about 10'), the other out at "The Wall" where it was about 25'. Both places had a lot of fish.

Check out the pics I took at both places -

[Putterdude]

Check out Blue Water Divers, I have gone with them and Oasis....but the difference is that with BWD you are with 6 or 8 people and with Oasis you are with 50.

[scb1959]

We just used Grand Turk Divers for a snorkeling trip. They were awesome! Easy to deal with....Kevino and Logan were our guides...Chris worked in the office. It's all right there within feet of the dock so you get on your way quickly. Best snorkeling equipment I've ever had the opportunity to use on an excursion. Have fun! It was awesome snorkeling at the wall!

[2mom]

We just used Grand Turk Divers for a snorkeling trip. They were awesome! Easy to deal with....Kevino and Logan were our guides...Chris worked in the office. It's all right there within feet of the dock so you get on your way quickly. Best snorkeling equipment I've ever had the opportunity to use on an excursion. Have fun! It was awesome snorkeling at the wall!

Did you book ahead of time with them or just show up the day of? Do they do the same tour as the ultimate snorkeling that is offered by the ship?

[mitsguy2001]

My wife and I are also booked on a Carnival cruise, and we are also interested in a snorkeling excursion at Grand Turk. We are possibly interested in one of the combination snorkeling / stingray excursions. Either "Gibbs Cay Beach & Stingray Encounter" or "Reef & Rays". Has anyone ever been on either of those excursions? Which one would you recommend? Thanks.

[Travalot]

I don't know when you are going, but we will be in Grand Turk on Monday, March 21st. I debated between the two excursions and chose Reef & Rays in hopes of great snorkeling. I'll report back on our experience.

[WillieD13]

My wife and I are also booked on a Carnival cruise, and we are also interested in a snorkeling excursion at Grand Turk. We are possibly interested in one of the combination snorkeling / stingray excursions. Either "Gibbs Cay Beach & Stingray Encounter" or "Reef & Rays". Has anyone ever been on either of those excursions? Which one would you recommend? Thanks.

 

We debated between the two as well, and decided on the Gibb's Cay, afternoon excursion, since it leaves an hour later than the Reef & Rays, which will allow us to do the "Ultimate Snorkel" in the morning (did that one last year and really enjoyed it, so really want to do it again), that and DW wasn't too sure she wanted to meet "Shaun, a 3½ foot docile nurse shark, and Harry, a 3 foot long curious barracuda". I think that would be neat, but for us the timing works better for Gibb's Cay.

[sharks48]

I second the recommendation for Blue Ray Divers. They were terrific when we were there last year. Four of us and the boat driver, who took us to some great sites - and left one when the bit "party boat" with the loud, offensive music pulled up. Even took us back as far as Jack's and then we walked back to the ship [it's not really that far].

 

They wanted minimum of four, so we teamed up with a couple from our "Roll Call" board. $50 bucks each and a short, cheap cab ride to BRD office.

[mitsguy2001]

I don't know when you are going, but we will be in Grand Turk on Monday, March 21st. I debated between the two excursions and chose Reef & Rays in hopes of great snorkeling. I'll report back on our experience.

 

Travalot: Hope you enjoyed your cruise. My wife and I are cruising June 25, 2011, so it's quite a while after your cruise. How did you like the Reef & Rays excursion? You said you were going to report back on it; I am looking forward to seeing that whenever you have a chance? Would you recommend that excursion? Thanks.

[Travalot]

We LOVED the cruise. I rented a Lido Cabana for the week and it was the best money I've ever spent. This cruise was ideal for taking advantage of it, since we were able to use it every day of the cruise for a nice amount of time.

 

We really enjoyed the Reef and Ray excursion in Grand Turk. The seas were a little rough, but the coral was beautiful, the barracuda was present, and there was a nice variety of fish. The crew did a good job of letting people play with the stingrays at the second stop.

[mitsguy2001]

By the way, we decided to sign up for Reef and Rays. It seemed from the description that of the two excursions, this one spent more time in the water, while the Gibbs Cay excursion seemed to be more about hiking the island. Hopefully we will enjoy this excursion.

[Travalot]

We ended up right next to the other excursion on the beach, so those who didn't want to get kissed, and washed, and up close with the stingrays, still had time to walk a little. It is a very small cay. I think you'll be happy with your choice!

[BDMom]

We also did Grand Turk diving, we watched the Oasis boats come and go all day. We were there for many hours leaving from time to time by boat to go out to the reef, then return to Gibbs Cay for the rays, lunch, or some beach time. It was a great day and we felt bad for the 50-100 or so folks who paid more than we did, had less time and less flexibility. If you really want to do some great snorkeling and have an amazing day go with Grand Turk diving. You do need to contact them before hand and make an arrangement.

[jpatg]

We, my wife & I, just got back from a Grand Princess cruise that was at Grand Turk on March 26, 2011. We used Blue Water Divers for their “Snorkel Only” trip. See Blue Water Divers, Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos Islands, 649-946-2432 (phone & fax), info@grandturkscuba.com and www.grandturkscuba.com . It was a great trip and the snorkeling was very good. They require a minimum of 4 people so we used Cruise Critic to see if anyone else would join us. Happily, another couple signed up and it was just the 4 of us on the trip. Audrey at BWD was very helpful in getting us together with the other couple so we could share a taxi with them to/from BWD. I can recommend this trip.

[ShrajoGator]

We, my wife & I, just got back from a Grand Princess cruise that was at Grand Turk on March 26, 2011. We used Blue Water Divers for their “Snorkel Only” trip. See Blue Water Divers, Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos Islands, 649-946-2432 (phone & fax), info@grandturkscuba.com and www.grandturkscuba.com . It was a great trip and the snorkeling was very good. They require a minimum of 4 people so we used Cruise Critic to see if anyone else would join us. Happily, another couple signed up and it was just the 4 of us on the trip. Audrey at BWD was very helpful in getting us together with the other couple so we could share a taxi with them to/from BWD. I can recommend this trip.

I'm guessing Blue Water Divers do no offer transportation from the pier?? Also, was the price still $50 per person??

[gemsm]

I'm guessing Blue Water Divers do no offer transportation from the pier?? Also, was the price still $50 per person??

 

Also it looks like if you miss port for whatever reason, blue water divers don't refund your $50 per person....Cruise ship excursion does

[WillieD13]

Check out Blue Water Divers, I have gone with them and Oasis....but the difference is that with BWD you are with 6 or 8 people and with Oasis you are with 50.

 

Not necessarily. We had only about 15 of us on our trip. Depends on how many ships are in port, and how many sign up. Granted it will probably be more than 6 or 8, but may not be a large group.

[mitsguy2001]

We ended up right next to the other excursion on the beach, so those who didn't want to get kissed, and washed, and up close with the stingrays, still had time to walk a little. It is a very small cay. I think you'll be happy with your choice!

 

So are you saying that both excursions (Reef and Ray, and Gibbs Cay) go to Gibbs Cay?

[Travalot]

So are you saying that both excursions (Reef and Ray, and Gibbs Cay) go to Gibbs Cay?

 

Yes. The Gibbs excursion was there before us and we were anchored about 100 yards from them. There were not a large number of stingrays that day, so the other excursion "had" them first. We had plenty of time with them anyway.

[mitsguy2001]

Yes. The Gibbs excursion was there before us and we were anchored about 100 yards from them. There were not a large number of stingrays that day, so the other excursion "had" them first. We had plenty of time with them anyway.

 

What is the difference between the 2 excursions? We are interested in being in the water, so does one excursion have more time in the water? Thanks.

[LynnAnne]

Question?? Been to Grand Caymen and swam with the rays, loved that they were wild and not in a cage. Is it the same in Grand Turk?? Thinking about the Reef and Rays excurtion.

[Travalot]

What is the difference between the 2 excursions? We are interested in being in the water, so does one excursion have more time in the water? Thanks.

 

Question?? Been to Grand Caymen and swam with the rays, loved that they were wild and not in a cage. Is it the same in Grand Turk?? Thinking about the Reef and Rays excurtion.

 

I've only been on the Reef and Ray excursion, so my comments are based on very limited experience, but from what I observed...

 

We (on the Reef and Ray) went snorkeling out from Gibbs Cay for about 45 minutes. It was quite nice. Then we pulled up to Gibbs Cay where the other excursion was already interacting with the stingray. On our day, it was NOT like Grand Cayman, which I've done several times. There were just a few of the rays. Other posters have reported many more. I did not see many (if any) people snorkeling from the beach (which is where the snorkeling for this excursion takes place).

 

The Reef and Ray people did seem to have plenty of time to interact with the Ray the guide brought. There was holding, getting washed by the ray, and kissing. Our group did not feed them.

 

Gibbs Cay is pretty small and some people walked along the water a little. I'm not sure I would want to spend much time hiking on the Cay.

 

I really am uncomfortable generalizing based on such limited experience, but if snorkeling is important, I would definitely go with the Reef and Ray or the Ultimate Snorkeling excursion, if you don't care about the Rays. The Gibbs Cay excursion probably had a slightly better (longer) Ray interaction.

 

I hope someone who has done the Gibbs Cay excursion will weigh in.

[maxxdout]

BWD, only way to go!!

 

 

 

[mitsguy2001]

BWD, only way to go!!

 

What is BWD?