Stingray City & Soto

[wgeddings]

Biggest Note - DO NOT MISS THIS EXCURSION and go with Soto's to do more than the ship tour and pay MUCH less!

On Monday we anchored at the Grand Caymans. We were to meet Soto’s at 8:45-9:15 and we boarded at tender at 8:15. We sat in the tender waiting as it slowly loaded. Although we were far from the first on the tender, they kept taking in people and we did not make it to the shore until about 8:45. Finding the meeting spot was easy and we saw our Cruise Critic friends there while we all waited (apparently Soto’s is the excursion of choice, for good reason). The van arrived and took us to the Soto’s office located on a canal and behind which the boats were located. We paid our balances, got our fins and masks and got on board the boat. There were 2 boats but the one we were on was most like a pontoon boat. That means it was an open deck with a railing around it and a partial roof and a driving console in the center. There was a bathroom/changing room on board. There was a cooler with water and one with lemonade along with cups. The coolers were like the ones you see on the sidelines at football games and they kept the water and lemonade very cool. Our “Captian” was Willie and his mate was Earl (or Errol, I was not sure how to spell it). Willie told us a lot about the island and the real estate values (and we saw where Michael Jordan used to have a house) as we went out to the first dive spot, called the Aquarium. It was incredible! There were fish everywhere. The water was crystal clear and although the water was cool at first, it quickly felt fine and we got the hang of how to snorkel after only swallowing 20-30 gallons of seawater. Thank heavens for the lemonade to help but the taste.

The next stop was close to the drop off. As close as I can remember it (in other words, please don’t flame me if I misstate some small fact or type of formation), Grand Cayman is a horseshoe shaped island and the middle portion is like a bay about 15 feet deep mostly. Where that “bay” ends, there is a reef all along the edge and then it drops to about 6000 feet in an almost sheer wall. There are some gaps in the reef where current “sucks” water through the reef and out into the big ocean and our guides were kind enough to warn us that if we got in such a current, the sharks and such would be waiting for us on the other side. We stayed close to the boat! This was also an incredible area. All types of other fish were present and Earl was able to coax a moray eel out of the rocks and let everyone see it while he made sure it did not bother us. Here, the bottom was very shallow and often the coral rose to the surface or within a foot of the surface so it was an excellent place to snorkel. We were all really thrilled and could not wait for the grand finale.

We went to Stingray City. This is so hard to explain until you have seen it. It is a very sandy bottomed “sandbar” close to the bottom ocean end of the horseshoe and there are lots of stingrays. There are also lots of other tour boats but it causes NO problems. This is a big enough area and the boats basically park in a circle. Here is where Willie and Earl really shined. They were wonderful throughout but they were out of the boat and in the water making sure everyone got to hold a stingray (yes, hold), pet a stingray and feed a stingray. First, they gave a wonderful lecture about the stingrays and how to touch, pet and hold them. They demonstrated that the stingrays are safe. The spike starts about the last 2/3 of the tail and points back to the body so for one to sting, it has to sting back over its body. They cannot accidentally bump you and sting you or things like that. The stingrays seems very used to people and showed no fear or reluctance to the presence of all the people. They also did not appear to mind being held or touched. I have no idea whether they liked it or not, but they sure never tried to avoid it or rush away. Feeding the rays was impossible to describe so I will just say that it was very fun. Willie and Earl would sneak up behind people and brush them with the rays or hold the stingray up and have it spit at people. Again, although it may sound rough with the rays, there was no sign the rays disliked it. I never realized the rays had bulbous eyes on the top like an alligator and holding a ray in your arms as you stare it in the eye is just a neat experience.

I cannot say enough good things about the Soto tour. This was as good as it could have been. There were lifejackets for those who needed them. The crew was very attentive and great with kids. We saw some other tour boats, and especially the ship tours in their giant boats (who did not stop but twice whereas we got an extra stop) and I know they did not get the special attention we got even though they paid twice as much or more.

If you only do one excursion, do this one! I could not believe how great it was and how much all of my family liked it. I am not a big spender (my wife says I am cheap) but this was a terrific bang for the buck that went unmatched on the cruise. I would love to do this one again some time.

Biggest regret about the Grand Caymans was that as soon as we got back from the tour, it was time to re-board the ship so we never got to shop in Grand Cayman. The few Grand Cayman people we saw were very nice and I would love to have had more time here. Overall, this started our cruise on a wonderful note and we could not wait for the other stops in Costa Maya, Cozumel and Belize.

<See the full post of the May 23, 2004 Inspiration cruise under the Carnival heading>

Tommy
May 23, 2004 Carnival Inspiration
January 29, 2003 Disney Magic
August 10, 1986 some Carnival ship

[KimmyinLA]

Sounds like you had a blast. We used Soto's last Sept and cannot say enough good things about them.

As for:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Biggest regret about the Grand Caymans was that as soon as we got back from the tour, it was time to re-board the ship so we never got to shop in Grand Cayman. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Don't feel bad. We finished and had time to have lunch and shop but there wasn't anything that I think you truly "missed" on such a short stop. We ended up going back to the ship an hour earlier than intended.

But I'll definitely chime in on how great that excursion is. After we finished it - we talked to our tablemates about their excursions and turns out the ones booked through the ship were much more costly and they were on the tour with close to 50 or more ppl on the same boat versus our 8 -- they didn't get the one on one time like Soto's provides. Oh, I was also told the one booked through Zuiderdam did not stop at other snorkeling spots.

I'm really grateful we found the original info here on these boards so I hope someone else will be able to use this information.

[geogeek94]

Thanks for the great review of Soto's. My family and I will be on their tour during the 6/20 sailing of Explorer. We are all very excited.

[wgeddings]

My only real regret (especially now after hearing things were not that great with shopping in Grand Cayman) was that I wish I had not swallowed all that seawater! It was an outstanding trip!

Tommy
May 23, 2004 Carnival Inspiration
January 29, 2003 Disney Magic
August 10, 1986 some Carnival ship

[kapcruiser]

how much is the excursion, and where do you book it? We were planning on just going to the 7 mile beach, but your review has me interested in doing something else.

Inspiration - August 2004

[wgeddings]

Soto's website is [url="http://www.sotoscruises.com/"]http://www.sotoscruises.com/[/url]

The tour is $24.

Tommy
May 23, 2004 Carnival Inspiration
January 29, 2003 Disney Magic
August 10, 1986 some Carnival ship

[MartiniMama]

Would you recommend this excursion for a 4 year old who is a good swimmer?

[wgeddings]

There is nowhere to touch (unless you want to stand on the coral and destroy some nature which will result in a large fine) except at the Stingray City. For the Stingray portion, definitely even a 4 year old should find it great. A 4 year old who is a really good swimmer may still lack the snokelling skills though for the other stops. Test the 4 year old in a pool and see how they do then use your own judgment. My family and I are very good swimmer but extreme novices at snorkeling and in addition to swallowing a few gallons of seawater (it seemed), we struggled at times when we would accidentally get a gulp of seawater, our mask would slide, etc. Even with a life jacket, I would watch a 4 year old very closely.

Hope that answered you.

Tommy
May 23, 2004 Carnival Inspiration
January 29, 2003 Disney Magic
August 10, 1986 some Carnival ship

[afaulkner]

The soto tour sounds great..I have a few questions thatmay sound dumb..but I would really like answered.


I would love to see the stingrays How I dont swim very well. Is this possible? can I snorkle with a life jacket? Should I plan to do the turtle farm on dry land? Thanks in advance for the reply

enchantment 10/2
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[dfgf]

Just signed-up for the Soto cruise on advice of another cruise critic, then stumbled across this post. I'm going in September, but can answer your question about snorkeling with a life jacket.

The most important part about snorkeling is NOT standing on the coral. Poor swimmers (or non-swimmers) are strongly encouraged to wear a lifevest. I'm a poor swimmer myself, and have snorkeled before in a life jacket. I had no problems at all.

Dave

[wendya2J]

i have snorkeled with a 4 yo before. he tended to just use his mask and duck his head into and out of the water. part of the time he laid over a water noodle untill he felt secure. then he used it again after he got a little tired,,,,easier than him hanging onto me when he got tired...it was so much fun to snorkel with him though as everything was exciting!!!