Outrage Eco Tour-Island Marketing

[LJC1861]

We have the 5 hour tour booked next week on May 6. I have been in contact with the Captain, John Michael via e-mail.

 

I expressed concern about the 8:30 a.m. meeting time and being able to get an early tender. He assured me that if the ship is able to dock, he will wait as long as it takes for us to show up.

 

I also asked about which lunch spot he prefers. He actually told me that we could stop at a grocery store or even Subway before getting to the boat if we wanted to pick up some things for lunch, rather than spending big bucks at either Kaibo or Rum Point.

 

He seems VERY flexible and is all about making the tour exactly what we want it to be.

 

I will post a full review of the tour after we return from our cruise on May 12.

 

Linda

[nybumpkin]

We did the 3-hour tour with John Michael in February and it was great. He is very flexible; I liked that you could spend more or less time at a particular place, depending on what your interests were. We went first to Stingray City; John Michael had a supply of squid to feed the stingrays, and we had no trouble attracting them even though we were a fair distance from the large tour groups. Then we went to a reef to snorkel; DH, oldest son and I spent some time here, while our younger sons stayed on the boat and watched. John Michael brought up a conch to show to them. Finally, we went to Starfish Beach; the starfish we saw looked just like the ones in barvn's photo, and the sand on the beach was probably the softest sand I've ever walked on. I've attached a few photos; most of our photos are still in the underwater camera, though.:o I've already said that if we go back to Grand cayman, we'll definitely sign on for the 5-hour tour!

 

I think John Michael can be pretty flexible about meeting times; there are several excursions that book through grandcaymancruiseexcursions that meet at the same place. John Michael had a sheet with our names on it, although we didn't need it. Our tendering experience was pretty easy; we were ashore in less than 20 minutes from the time we went down to get the tender. The meeting place is less than a 5-minute walk from the tender piers.

[snausman]

We have the 5 hour tour booked next week on May 6. I have been in contact with the Captain, John Michael via e-mail.

 

I expressed concern about the 8:30 a.m. meeting time and being able to get an early tender. He assured me that if the ship is able to dock, he will wait as long as it takes for us to show up.

 

I also asked about which lunch spot he prefers. He actually told me that we could stop at a grocery store or even Subway before getting to the boat if we wanted to pick up some things for lunch, rather than spending big bucks at either Kaibo or Rum Point.

 

He seems VERY flexible and is all about making the tour exactly what we want it to be.

 

I will post a full review of the tour after we return from our cruise on May 12.

 

Linda

 

I am so looking forward to your review when you get back! Could I please ask a huge favor, could I please get Capt. John's email from you. Or could I ask where did you find his email address? I have a couple of question that I would really like to get answered. You have a wonderful cruise!

 

Laura

[snausman]

We did the 3-hour tour with John Michael in February and it was great. He is very flexible; I liked that you could spend more or less time at a particular place, depending on what your interests were. We went first to Stingray City; John Michael had a supply of squid to feed the stingrays, and we had no trouble attracting them even though we were a fair distance from the large tour groups. Then we went to a reef to snorkel; DH, oldest son and I spent some time here, while our younger sons stayed on the boat and watched. John Michael brought up a conch to show to them. Finally, we went to Starfish Beach; the starfish we saw looked just like the ones in barvn's photo, and the sand on the beach was probably the softest sand I've ever walked on. I've attached a few photos; most of our photos are still in the underwater camera, though.:o I've already said that if we go back to Grand cayman, we'll definitely sign on for the 5-hour tour!

 

I think John Michael can be pretty flexible about meeting times; there are several excursions that book through grandcaymancruiseexcursions that meet at the same place. John Michael had a sheet with our names on it, although we didn't need it. Our tendering experience was pretty easy; we were ashore in less than 20 minutes from the time we went down to get the tender. The meeting place is less than a 5-minute walk from the tender piers.

 

So glad to hear how much you all enjoyed the trip. Is there anything you can think of that would make our trip outstanding just like yours or any tips you can give. I have been out to Stingray city 4 times but I am taking my nieces with me and it will be there first time there. Did you by any chance use the tubing on the way back in? Or did he offer any fishing?

 

Laura

[nybumpkin]

So glad to hear how much you all enjoyed the trip. Is there anything you can think of that would make our trip outstanding just like yours or any tips you can give. I have been out to Stingray city 4 times but I am taking my nieces with me and it will be there first time there. Did you by any chance use the tubing on the way back in? Or did he offer any fishing?

 

Laura

The only time we used the tube was as a platform while we were snorkeling. We were too tired to even think about tubing on the way back.:o However, the boat ride itself is great when he opens up the engines and you speed across the water. John Michael had the fishing gear, but we really didn't have time on the 3-hour tour. As for Stingray City, John Michael works well with the kids to show them how to feed the stingrays, and at Starfish Beach he showed them how to pick up a starfish.

 

John Michael's e-mail is jmvbs@candw.ky

[snausman]

The only time we used the tube was as a platform while we were snorkeling. We were too tired to even think about tubing on the way back.:o However, the boat ride itself is great when he opens up the engines and you speed across the water. John Michael had the fishing gear, but we really didn't have time on the 3-hour tour. As for Stingray City, John Michael works well with the kids to show them how to feed the stingrays, and at Starfish Beach he showed them how to pick up a starfish.

 

John Michael's e-mail is jmvbs@candw.ky

 

Wow that was quick! Thank you for the info. I just thought my nieces would enjoy riding the tubes back since we will be with John for the 5 hour tour. I bet all the kids slepted very well that night, after such a full day. I am just really looking forward to this trip as it SNOWED here today.

 

Thanks again...

 

Laura

[jmet]

Hello...

I normally don't post here - but I had to chime in here since we too did this tour on 4/1. Our group was myself, my husband, our sons ages 9 and 15 and also my two adult brothers. This tour was the highlight of our whole cruise! Jon Michael was wonderful. He met us exactly when/where he said he would and was very friendly and easy going.

 

We booked the 3 hour tour, but he was so relaxed I believe we were actually gone for closer to 5! He took us out to Stingray City and anchored far enough way from the crowds that we had a whole area all to our selves. He had his supply of squid so we had plenty of stringrays around us to interact with. It was great to be able to stay there as long as we wanted and then just be able to move on!

 

Next he took us to a fabulous snorkeling reef. My husband, older son and one of my brothers snorkled for the longest time (I stayed on the boat with my 9 year old mostly since I was having trouble with my mask and he was nervous about trying snorkling for the first time). Jon Michael went out with the guys and showed them some of his favorite underwater sites. They were exhuasted after that - but couldn't stop raving about it (my husband still is!).

 

When we were all back on board he headed for Starfish Beach - wow! Beautiful is an understatement. He anchored there and suggested we take the 10 minute or so walk up to check out Rum Point. He told us to take our time and even encouraged us to have lunch there - which we did. I was surprised at this because as I said, we booked the shorter tour and by the time we got to Rum Point we should have already been done! I mentioned it to him, but he assured me it was fine and he was in no hurry. Needless to say I was VERY impressed (and we did reflect that in his tip)!

While we ate lunch Jon Michael stayed with the boat and searched for some starfish for us to see. What a treat - they were the coolest color (red!) and just huge!

 

At that point we headed back through the mangroves and Jon Michael gave us a glimpse of yet another part of the island. Very Cool. I could go on and on I guess. We loved everything about it - the boat was great, Jon Michael was wonderful and the sites were amazing. Like I said, it was amoung one of the most memorable days any of us had ever had. I highly recommend it.

[familycruising4us]

Oh, I cannot wait for our cruise to do this!! I knew it was going to be perfect, so altho our cruise isn't until Jan 09, I booked the 5 hr tour back in Sept 07! :D

I love reading everyones' reviews, it sounds so wonderful. We will love it even more since there will be 6 ships in port the day we are to be there!! :eek:

Can't wait!!

Thanks all for posting your reviews, it is so much fun reading them!!

[snausman]

Hello...

I normally don't post here - but I had to chime in here since we too did this tour on 4/1. Our group was myself, my husband, our sons ages 9 and 15 and also my two adult brothers. This tour was the highlight of our whole cruise! Jon Michael was wonderful. He met us exactly when/where he said he would and was very friendly and easy going.

 

We booked the 3 hour tour, but he was so relaxed I believe we were actually gone for closer to 5! He took us out to Stingray City and anchored far enough way from the crowds that we had a whole area all to our selves. He had his supply of squid so we had plenty of stringrays around us to interact with. It was great to be able to stay there as long as we wanted and then just be able to move on!

 

Next he took us to a fabulous snorkeling reef. My husband, older son and one of my brothers snorkled for the longest time (I stayed on the boat with my 9 year old mostly since I was having trouble with my mask and he was nervous about trying snorkling for the first time). Jon Michael went out with the guys and showed them some of his favorite underwater sites. They were exhuasted after that - but couldn't stop raving about it (my husband still is!).

 

When we were all back on board he headed for Starfish Beach - wow! Beautiful is an understatement. He anchored there and suggested we take the 10 minute or so walk up to check out Rum Point. He told us to take our time and even encouraged us to have lunch there - which we did. I was surprised at this because as I said, we booked the shorter tour and by the time we got to Rum Point we should have already been done! I mentioned it to him, but he assured me it was fine and he was in no hurry. Needless to say I was VERY impressed (and we did reflect that in his tip)!

While we ate lunch Jon Michael stayed with the boat and searched for some starfish for us to see. What a treat - they were the coolest color (red!) and just huge!

 

At that point we headed back through the mangroves and Jon Michael gave us a glimpse of yet another part of the island. Very Cool. I could go on and on I guess. We loved everything about it - the boat was great, Jon Michael was wonderful and the sites were amazing. Like I said, it was amoung one of the most memorable days any of us had ever had. I highly recommend it.

 

Thank you for the wonderful review! You have made me more excited than I was. I was kinda second guess myself as in did I make the right choice here...should I have gone with someone else.....so these reviews really help. I would love to hear more .......

 

Laura

[snausman]

I sent a email to island marketing about the time to meet. Wanted to it the 8:30am meeting time was ship time of island time. And it was island time which is central time. So now my question to future cruisers is what time did your watch say when you meet up with Capt. John? Hope that just made sense to everyone.

 

Laura

[nybumpkin]

Laura, it does make sense - but I'm afraid I can't be much help. Since we sailed in February, before DST, we were on the same time as Grand Cayman.

[jmet]

Well, I must say I understand the second guessing thing. We very nearly cancelled this tour ourselves. We got nervous when we realized there was a good chance my husband might get sea sick - as he normally does on smaller boats - and that would make for 3 looong hours. I had heard so many good things about Native Way I was very torn. We knew the boat would bigger and that might be better, liked the idea of having more staff and a photographer - not to mention it was waaay cheaper. I actually booked w/Native Way and intended to cancel this tour, but my husband insisted I e-mail NW first and ask how many would be on our boat. Well, he didn't like the answer (30 ish?) and decided he would risk the sea sickness factor (armed with some good drugs of course).

Needless to say we didn't regret that decsion. We LOVED having that boat all to ourselves. It was sooo much fun when he opens up those motors (2 250 hp) you just FLY across the water!! He showed us flying fish and conch shells, took pictures of us and answered any question we could think up. It was just very cool to have such a personalized experience. You will not regret it.

 

As far as the time thing goes I wouldn't worry about it too much. I think it's much more a factor with a large tour group because they have lots of other people to keep on a schedule. JM is not going to leave without YOU - cuz you're it! I felt slightly nervous about making it on time too, but I knew that as long as we got there asap after the ship docked we would be fine - and we were. I think we actually must have arrived at almost the exact time as he did as he asked us if we had been waiting long for him? To answer your question though I believe GC was one hour behind ship time. This actually ended up making me more nervous at the END of the excursion as we got back quite a bit later than we thought we would and didn't have much time before we had to be back on board - can you say speed shopping?! LOL!

[snausman]

Well, I must say I understand the second guessing thing. We very nearly cancelled this tour ourselves. We got nervous when we realized there was a good chance my husband might get sea sick - as he normally does on smaller boats - and that would make for 3 looong hours. I had heard so many good things about Native Way I was very torn. We knew the boat would bigger and that might be better, liked the idea of having more staff and a photographer - not to mention it was waaay cheaper. I actually booked w/Native Way and intended to cancel this tour, but my husband insisted I e-mail NW first and ask how many would be on our boat. Well, he didn't like the answer (30 ish?) and decided he would risk the sea sickness factor (armed with some good drugs of course).

Needless to say we didn't regret that decsion. We LOVED having that boat all to ourselves. It was sooo much fun when he opens up those motors (2 250 hp) you just FLY across the water!! He showed us flying fish and conch shells, took pictures of us and answered any question we could think up. It was just very cool to have such a personalized experience. You will not regret it.

 

As far as the time thing goes I wouldn't worry about it too much. I think it's much more a factor with a large tour group because they have lots of other people to keep on a schedule. JM is not going to leave without YOU - cuz you're it! I felt slightly nervous about making it on time too, but I knew that as long as we got there asap after the ship docked we would be fine - and we were. I think we actually must have arrived at almost the exact time as he did as he asked us if we had been waiting long for him? To answer your question though I believe GC was one hour behind ship time. This actually ended up making me more nervous at the END of the excursion as we got back quite a bit later than we thought we would and didn't have much time before we had to be back on board - can you say speed shopping?! LOL!

 

Thank you Thank you Thank YOU... you just made me feel sooooo much better. I have gone with Capt. Marvins tour and yes there are a lot of people but nowhere near as many as the ships tours. Did that once and there must have been a hundred people of the boat. Ok maybe less but it felt that way. This tour is just what we need, I now my nieces will love it and my little brother can get a little fishing in (just throwing a fishing line in will make him happy).

 

I must admit that getting back to the ship is always my main concern. But sounds like you still got to do a little shopping there.

 

Thanks again

 

Laura

[jmet]

I'm so glad I could help! Have a wonderful trip!

[nybumpkin]

We LOVED having that boat all to ourselves. It was sooo much fun when he opens up those motors (2 250 hp) you just FLY across the water!! He showed us flying fish and conch shells, took pictures of us and answered any question we could think up. It was just very cool to have such a personalized experience. You will not regret it.

 

As far as the time thing goes I wouldn't worry about it too much. I think it's much more a factor with a large tour group because they have lots of other people to keep on a schedule. JM is not going to leave without YOU - cuz you're it! I felt slightly nervous about making it on time too, but I knew that as long as we got there asap after the ship docked we would be fine - and we were. I think we actually must have arrived at almost the exact time as he did as he asked us if we had been waiting long for him? To answer your question though I believe GC was one hour behind ship time. This actually ended up making me more nervous at the END of the excursion as we got back quite a bit later than we thought we would and didn't have much time before we had to be back on board - can you say speed shopping?! LOL!

 

I forgot about the flying fish! They were really neat to see. My oldest son fell in love with John Michael's boat and its twin Hondas.:cool:

 

We did our shopping right at the Blue Iguana, near the pick-up place - they had some good deals on tee shirts and I bought my obligatory shot glass. (GC, Roatan and Cozumel on this trip - but I missed one in Belize.) The map that Island Marketing refers you to has a coupon for 10% off, too!

[snausman]

Has anyone just gotten back and taken this tour???

 

Love to read the reviews!

 

Laura

[LJC1861]

I had the 5 hour ( all day ) tour booked. We could have stayed out longer if we had wanted to as we were his only charter that day.

 

He met us at the Blue Iguana...a 2 minute walk from the pier. We were early, having caught the first tender. He was earlier. He was also waiting with a large sign with my name on it. We hopped on board his mini van and headed out to his private dock. He had soft drinks and water and asked if there was anything else we needed or wanted before we got to the pier. I had e-mailed him regarding lunch, and he remembered and asked what we wanted....to stop for picnic supplies, or a restaurant lunch. He was totally flexible with either choice.

 

Once at the pier we boarded his 27 ft. Boston Whaler and headed right out to Stingray City. We were the second boat there, having been preceded only by another smaller charter boat. He taught us how to interact with the rays and in the water we went. He was able to teach us all about these beautiful creatures and how to feed them. There were dozens of rays all around us and he helped us hold, feed and pet them all before any other boat arrived. He talked about stingrays and was able to answer every question that we had. He held them, and taught us to do the same. His ease with these creatures put us at ease as well. He explained about some of their markings and injuries, and was careful to educate us as well so we would not injure the ray any further. We were there for almost 40 minutes before he ran out of bait and another boat arrived. It was so quiet and the water was crystal clear.

 

When we were done, and we were the ones who decided that, not him....he took us out into some deeper water to see flying fish. They were quick and hard to spot, but incredible. Following that he took us to his favorite reef to snorkel, again for as long as we wanted. There was no one else around for the entire time we were in the water. He taught all of us what to do and put a tube out on a tether in case we needed it if we were tired. He showed us the best places to look for fish. He got into the water with us to insure that we were okay. He also dove down to the bottom several times and brought up conch for us to see. Once again we spent about 45 minutes in the water.

 

Following that we did a tour of some of the lesser seen areas of the island which was beautiful. He took us to a beautiful beach with a pure white sand bar that was ankle deep. In the slightly deeper water he pointed out several enormous starfish. Rum Point was just a bit farther down and he asked us if we wanted to have lunch there, which we did. He stayed with the boat while we had a wonderful lunch. When we got back he had gathered 4 starfish that were as big as a dinner plate.

 

After lunch he brought out the tube again and I had an opportunity to do some tubing off the back of the boat. After that he took us through the mangrove preserve. These beautiful plants live in the water and are a truly beautiful eco-system. We cruised for quite awhile up the natural canal. John Michael was very knowledgeable about the system. The most fascinating part was seeing beautiful starfish that looked liked snowflakes resting on the bottom. After spending about 30 minutes in this part of the island we headed back to the dock. After explaining about the starfish he shut off the boat and let it drift. He was quiet, we were quiet and there was not a sound to be heard. We were totally at peace for several minutes, and he instinctively knew not to break the silence. It was so special!

 

The most wonderful part of this tour is that what we did was entirely up to us. He gave us suggestions, but WE called the shots. He talked to us about what we were experiencing all throughout the tour. The service was impeccable and so personalized. I would recommend this tour to anyone and would not hesitate to do it again.

 

Sunscreen......$8

Lunch at Rum Point.......$52

Cost of 5 hour tour......$450

Day spent in paradise....PRICELESS!!!!!!!!

 

Linda

[snausman]

WOW Linda, it sounds like you had a wonderful time!!

 

I can't wait now, I am sooooo excited.

 

Thank you for taking the time to write the review.

 

If you think of anything else please tell us...

 

Laura

[snausman]

I just thought of something...Did the captain ask if you would like to fish???

 

Laura

[LJC1861]

No he did not. I had told him in advance that we would not be interested in fishing.

 

Linda

[snausman]

No he did not. I had told him in advance that we would not be interested in fishing.

 

Linda

 

OK thanks for the quick answer.

 

Laura

[teachnh]

I booked this tour for my family for January '09. I am already excited and it is 8 months away! :) Thanks for all the information here.

[powerjames]

Just booked this for October! I am so excited about this and after reading the reviews, I am even more excited! We have been to Cayman several times, but have never experienced the island like this.

[Rylisal]

We're a party of 6 made up of me, DH, DS14,DS3 and my parents 75+

How do you think we would get on doing this?

Would our 3 yr old be too young AND the Oldies too old?

I'm very tempted as all your reviews sound FAB!!

Between the 6 of us it would be a great value excursion too!:)

[KimS.]

Would someone please share the web address so I can read about his tour. Thanks!