Grand Cayman / Native Way- Just Back

[CaribbeanBound]

George Town, Grand Cayman

You have to tender at this port, which means securing a “tender ticket” for your chance to leave the ship in a lifeboat for a quick trip to shore.

We had prearranged with Native Way Watersports for their Rays, Reef and Rum Point Tour ($60/pp including lunch). Upon arrival we were informed the south wind and waves were to heavy to dock and Rum Point, so we only did the Stingray City Sandbar and Coral Reef Snorkel portions of the tour ($35/pp without lunch, or $40 pp if not arranged in advance). We did some shopping and returned to the pickup point at 11:30am to board a small bus. It took but 15 minutes to get to the marina where we boarded a boat. The trip to the sandbar took about 30 minutes. Our tour group consisted of 7 passengers and 3 crew. Once at the sandbar we had plenty of time to feed, pet, hold, and swim with the stingrays. About a dozen rays with 16” to 3’ wingspans greeted us. They would swim close by and brush the back of your legs with a wing. It is very exciting. Question: were we concerned that the stingrays might hurt us? Answer: never! These are very tame rays that have been in close contact with several hundred humans a day for the past several years. No worries. Next we headed to the Coral Reef where we snorkeled with fish and rays amongst the coral garden. 30 minutes later we were back in the marina. We recommend this excursion!

 

We tipped the crew and were back in town by 2:30pm. We were hungry so we checked out the new Margaritaville Café. A raspberry margarita and a basket of fries set us back $18 including tip. Won’t do that again. The menu prices were displayed in Cayman dollars which are worth 20% more than US dollars, and we didn’t realize it until the adjusted bill with itemized tip arrived. We bought gifts at the conveniently located Tortuga Rum Company. They have a very nicely bottled Tortuga Citrus Honey for $8. They will also arrange to get any liquor you purchase delivered to the ship for free. We bought a couple bottles of Margaritaville Island Lime/Tequila Liqueur for $11 each as gifts.

 

Complete review of recent 14-day / 9 port Caribbean cruise: http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/zenith14.html