Grand Cayman Stingray Adventure

[pinkroses]

We used Stingray Sailings a few years ago. We had 23 people. It was great! Not only did we visit Stingray City but we also did snorkeling in two other sports. It was terrific!!

[debbs0723]

I would say book private as well. You can see reviews on trip advisor. We used captain marvin and were happy. It is extremely easy to get off the ship and get to the private tours. Private tours take less passengers and are cheaper. Not only that but some private tours will get to stingray cove much earlier before it's too crowded.

 

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[wvufan]

We have gone several times with both Captain Marvin and Native Way. We suggest a combined snorkel/stingray city trip.

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE :D:D Bob and Phyl

[brimwithjoy]

Wait, a ship leaving from the east coast can have a different time than an island in EST? Does DST play a factor?

 

Yes, as another poster mentioned--they don't observe daylight savings time. So, that means that (for part of the year) Grand Cayman is the same time as the Central Time Zone on daylight savings time. We sailed from Galveston in late April and were on the same time our entire trip (stops in Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel). It was great to not have to worry about time changes. :)

 

Also--another vote for Stingray Sailing. They were great--that excursion was one of the highlights of our trip. It was an amazing experience and we loved the sailboat. It was also handy to be able to pay ahead of time through PayPal.

[CruzieSue]

Another vote for Moby Dick! They are so much fun and a great group of guys. We went with them both times we have cruised so far. Maybe it depends on the time of day, but we had GREAT interaction with the rays. Definitely something you need to do at least once. Highly recommend it.

[Mango Tango]

We have done Nativeway twice and we are going with them again in January.

[JamesEM]

There are several great private tours, however I would go with a ships tour if this is your first visit to the island.

[SnakeBitten]

We used Island Marketing and are using them again on our upcoming cruise. You take a waverunner to the stingrays rather than a catamaran and then you shoot over to Rum Point Beach.

Great excursion! We have done it twice and plan on doing it again in the fall. SB

[debbs0723]

The time thing is always confusing. However a good independent company will explain over email before hand the difference and assure you that you will get back to the boat on time. Make sure when you inquire you let them know the ship and the day. It is ultimately your responsibility, but their entire business relies on getting people back to their ship in time. With all due respect, I also do not think you have to take a ship excursion just because you have not been there. The cayman port is incredible easy. I did ship excursions for years. Once I started booking with private companies, I never looked back. Trip advisor and the cruise critic forum for the ports are a great resource. There are always going to be 2 to 3 standout companies that most use and recommend.

 

Debbie

 

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Edited May 28, 2014 by debbs0723

[ttnc4me]

We used Native Way several years ago. For this tour, I'd book private. The RC excursions have about 100 people on them.

Ditto. We would book with them again in a heartbeat.

[ttnc4me]

We used Island Marketing and are using them again on our upcoming cruise. You take a waverunner to the stingrays rather than a catamaran and then you shoot over to Rum Point Beach.

We considered taking the waverunner tour, but in seeing others do it (while we were on our comfortable private boat) am glad we didn't. Others should be aware that it's quite far & one must be prepared to be agile on the waverunners and enjoy having water sprayed in your face for at least 20 mins going quite fast.

[Maticus22]

Yes, as another poster mentioned--they don't observe daylight savings time. So, that means that (for part of the year) Grand Cayman is the same time as the Central Time Zone on daylight savings time. We sailed from Galveston in late April and were on the same time our entire trip (stops in Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel). It was great to not have to worry about time changes. :)

 

Also--another vote for Stingray Sailing. They were great--that excursion was one of the highlights of our trip. It was an amazing experience and we loved the sailboat. It was also handy to be able to pay ahead of time through PayPal.

 

Another vote for Stingray Sailing. This was the highlight of our last cruise. Like others have said there is many great private tours. Do your research and make sure you go with one that will get there early before all the big boats come out with 100+ people on them. By the time they got there we were finishing up with the Stingrays and moved on to do some snorkeling.

[oracer]

Another positive (++++++) about Skip and Stingray Sailings. His catamaran only holds about 20 people (we went out with 12), and he parks his catamaran way up towards the top of the point away from the 100's that might be on the other boats (Capt. Marvin, etc). When you have only 15 to 25 people in the water over towards the top of the point instead of 300 people at the bottom, the time with the rays is more enjoyable. The wave runners usually park at the top as well, so only smaller boats usually go there.

 

The catamaran with Stingray Sailings is really nice, he motors out, goes to the sandbar at Stingray city, then goes out to the reef for snorkeling and then sails back with no motor. Very enjoyable, fruit, beer drinks for sale during it.

[WonderousBlue]

Following

[rednose83]

Any vendors where you can just do the Rays and not snorkel?

[K1200S]

Another vote for native way. We had a total of 9 on our boat vs the hoard on RCI and I believe it was cheaper.