Who to snorkel with in G.C ?

[piratesparrow]

I want to do some snorkeling in January any recommendations with who to go with? other than the cruise ship.

[twinkletoes4445]

We always use Captain Marvin's. http://www.captainmarvins.com :)

[piratesparrow]

Hi Twinkletoe,

 

Is captain Marvin far from where the ships drop you off?

[twinkletoes4445]

CM's office is very close to the port area. Once you get off the ship, you'd walk to your left (toward 7MB). It's a short 3-5 minute walk. I've got arthritis in my knee, and I had no problem walking there. There's also a gift shop right next door to their office, which was nice since we were pinched for time (the first time we were there). CM's also has a small gift shop inside their offices.

 

We did an island tour and then did the short snorkel excursion (I think it was 10:30 to 1:30-or something like that). We had the driver drop us off at Rackum's for a late lunch and then we just walked back to the port area.

 

The first time we were visiting GC on a cruise. We were there on New Year's Day and ship time and island time were the same (we sailed out of Miami). Ruth or Joan at CM's can help you with any scheduling questions you have.

 

Your day will go by very quickly. We thought we'd have enough time to do some more shopping in port, but we didn't. We were there from 7-4:30 (the last tender was at 3:45). We did an island tour from 8-10 (through the ship-CM's didn't have their island tour available at that time) then walked to CM's and I think it was around 1:30 or so that we were dropped at Rackum's for lunch. The service was pretty slow...the place was packed since it was a holiday and not much else was open.

 

Anyway...just make a list and start with what's the most important to you and go from there. We never get tired of doing the stingray excursion. One time we were there we were the only boat there for about 30 minutes until a couple of other ones showed up. We always do the excursion on a day when there are no ships in port. It's an amazing experience. :)

 

I'd avoid the cruise ship excursion. I don't know who's tour it is, but there are a couple of double-decker boats that say "Kirk" on the side. They have to hold 100 people or more. We've never had more than 15-20 people on our excursion. Another thing I couldn't figure out what to do with is our "stuff." We just shove it under the bench on the boat and have had no issues with anyone messing with anything. I'd never leave my things unattended on one of those larger boats.

 

CM's will hold your spot with a credit card, but they won't charge your card until you arrive at their location. You can also pay cash (USD) at that time if you'd rather not use a credit card. But it's perfectly safe to use a credit card there (there are some island I won't do this on). We use ours as much as possible and have never had any issues.

 

One more thing...There's a company that does video of the excursions. For around $60 or so you can get a DVD of the excursion. It's really cool. I can't find the e-mail from this company, that I had, but CM's can give you their name, if you're interested, and you can contact them in advance to make sure they'll be on your excursion. The first time we were there, they weren't, so I wanted to make sure they were the next time, so I contacted them myself. :)