Nativeway - stingrays, coral and starfish

[Springbreak08]

Has anyone ever taken the tour with Nativeway that includes Stingray Island, Coral Gardens and Star Fish Snorkel?

[Cruisekrazy63]

We were in Grand cayman for 9 days and just returned. We did this tour with alot of cruise passengers with Nativeways. We always book through Nativeways after one bad experiebce with another company. You will love the employees at Nativeways. It was a great tour again!!!

[moya]

Does anyone know how long it usually takes Nativeway to respond to a request?

 

We have sent requests with no response and nothing in our Spam folder.

 

Thanks

[Springbreak08]

I emailed them on Friday and received a response today (Monday). In it, they confirmed my request and gave me instructions of putting down a credit card number to hold our reservations.

[Springbreak08]

This trip seems shorter than some of the other trips. Did you feel you had enough time at each place? Did you get to feed the stingrays? How many people were on the tour? Did you then go to 7-mile beach? How much "extra" time did you have? As far as the starfish portion of the trip went, did you actually get to dive down and pick up starfish? What were the times of your tour? On another board, we have been discussing GC time vs. ship time. Was that a problem? I think we are there from 7 a.m. - 2 p.m. and the tour leaves at 8:30 (which is really 9:30 ship time). It is over at 11:45 (which will be 12:45 ship time). When we went to GC last year, we had booked a tour with Moby Dick Tours and the starfish were not an option. Unfortunately, the tour we booked (and all others going to Stingray Island) was cancelled because of high winds.

Sorry about all the questions. . .I just want to make sure I am making the best possible choice for my family.

[kalikiana]

I'm looking into this tour too and wondering if anyone knew answers to these questions?

[sunnychick75]

Just back from the Navigator of the Seas, 12/6-12/11. We did the Rays, Reefs and Rum Point tour with Nativeways. This was by far the highlight of our cruise. We can't wait to do this excursion again with our 13 year old son. We had about 26 people on our tour and the boat was big enough that everyone was comfortable. Some of the other boats at the sandbar were so overcrowded, we quickly realized how lucky we were. Our guides were awesome, the food at Rum Point was great and the Stingrays of course were amazing, they are so friendly! We had swam with stingrays before in the bahamas, but not in their natural environment like you do at the sandbar. We all had a chance to feed them and take plenty of pictures. When we got to the reef for snorkeling our guide made sure to save some fish so that he could lure some of the fish up to the surface so that those of us with underwater cameras could get some up close shots. It was also nice to be able to ride up on the bow of the boat for the ride out to rum point and back. It truly was a memorable experience that I can't wait to have again! I can't say enough about the great service from Nativeways. If you are considering this tour, do it, you won't be disappointed!

[bigal3967]

We will be taking this trip on Jan 19th. Any suggestions you can give my wife and I. She is a liitle anxious about the snorkling and the playing witht the rays. She says she might just stay on the boat. Any way I am so glad you had a good trip and I am real excited about the tour.

[sunnychick75]

You will have a great time! There were a couple of people that were a little apprehensive about getting off the boat at the sandbar but everyone eventually did get out and play with the rays. The guides will "catch" a ray for the photos, but will also explain them to you and give you a chance to get acquainted with them. They really are very friendly creatures and it is so cool to interact with them in their environment. Before you leave the sandbar you will have a chance to feed them, which is fun!

If you can, bring an underwater camera so you can get some good pics of the rays and the reef! Have fun and if you have any more questions just ask!

[Caribbean Sunsets]

I went with Nativeway on 11/26. We had the best time!!! Our driver was Chris, and he was wonderful. The other gentlemen on the boat was in the water with us and catching the stingrays. At one point, I felt somthing soft and wet on my shoulder. The guide had lifted the stingray up onto my back, and it was so cool!!!!!! I also got to hold one and feed one.

 

Rum Point Beach was very nice with plenty of sun or shade depending on what you wanted. The food was fresh and delicious, too.

 

On the way back, Chris stopped the boat and jumped in the water. He came up with two starfish for all of us to see and hold.

 

I would absolutely go again with Nativeway if my travels take me back to GC.

[Isailaway]

Here is another positive review. We did Rays, Reefs and Rum Point with NativWay last week. I am a little squeamish about things, but the stringrays truly were awesome. Soft and silkly - very graceful gliding about in the water. They are also very friendly -- not aggressive. It's an experience that shouldn't be missed. The guides will show you exactly how to hold them -- we even got to kiss them if we wanted to. There is someone taking photos -- they come on a CD and cost $50 if you want to order one.

The snorkeling was very good. Lots to see. Another awesome experience. We got some rain at Rum Point, but then it started to clear up. Without the rain, it would have been a perfect beach day. We had blackened mahi-mahi sandwiches and fries -- very good. It was a very enjoyable day and we were glad that we booked this excursion.

[Isailaway]

Oh, forgot to mention. We also stopped in the water on our way back from Rum Point and got to see a couple of starfish up close. Everyone enjoyed that too.

 

Also, NativWay was not hard to find when we got off the tender. Someone was standing there with a sign and he had us wait at the pavillion. Then we boarded a van to take us to the boat for our excursion. Very easy.

[lillygator]

does this tour include food and drinks?

[Caribbean Sunsets]

Nativeway's RRR tour includes lunch and ice tea or water at the Rum Point Beach stop, and you can purchase cocktails, ice cream, candy, etc. at the beach. They had a cooler with water and fruit punch on the boat and could help yourself.

[moya]

We have booked this tour for or cruise in a few weeks.

 

Can someone tell us what time you were back at the tender pier?

 

Thanks

[Caribbean Sunsets]

We have booked this tour for or cruise in a few weeks.

 

Can someone tell us what time you were back at the tender pier?

 

Thanks

 

We got back about 3:15PM. The day we went, there were 5 or 6 ships in port and at that point in the afternoon, the lines for the various ships were very long but did move along.

[sunnychick75]

We got back at 3:45. We were the only ship in port that day though, besides a Carnival ship which left port at 3pm. We left for the tour at 10:30am. We had enough time to walk around and shop a bit before tendering back to the ship.

[daryleann]

It was mentioned that there is someone taking photos. Can we take our own? I thought I read something about not being able to at the sandbar. Info please.

Thanks.

[sunnychick75]

Yes, one of the guides took pictures and you could buy the CD on the boat. We have an underwater digital camera and we used it at the sandbar without any issues.

[Caribbean Sunsets]

Nativeway didn't have anyone taking photos (or video) when we were there. Fortunately, one of our friends had an underwater camera and got some great photos.

[calazula]

I just booked a trip w/ Nativeway for a RR&R tour. Am I suppose to get a confirmation?

 

Btw, REALLY looking forward to this trip. GF has a waterproof camera so it should be awesome.

[Caribbean Sunsets]

I just booked a trip w/ Nativeway for a RR&R tour. Am I suppose to get a confirmation?

 

Btw, REALLY looking forward to this trip. GF has a waterproof camera so it should be awesome.

 

If you booked on line through their website, you will receive a confirmation. They will also ask that you provide your credit card #, if you haven't already. They won't post a charge on it but it just secures your reservation.

 

Once on the tour, you can pay by cash or cc. If the ship can't tender in GC that day, you will not be charged.

 

Have fun...you won't be disappointed!:)

[daryleann]

Thanks for the camera info. Daughter has several underwater cameras... ones you can reload with film. This is a good place to take it.

[subtchr]

We just got back Saturday and did the RRR tour with Native Way. It was also the total highlight of our trip. All the other tours canceled the stingray option because of high winds, but Chris got us there and we were able to see them. It was simply incredible. Snorkeling and Rum Point were great as well. There were 5 ships in port that day, and we got back to the port about 2:45 since one of the other ships had an earlier departure time than we did.

 

I HIGHLY recommend this tour. We had Chris as a captain and J.C. and Andrew along to help. We would do it again in a minute.

 

We brought underwater disposable cameras and got some great shots. I will try to post some when I get them up on photobucket.

 

Happy cruising

 

Sue in Ohio

[moya]

We got back about 3:15PM. The day we went, there were 5 or 6 ships in port and at that point in the afternoon, the lines for the various ships were very long but did move along.

 

Thanks for the info- we were told we would be back by 2:15 but DH is always hyper about being late .

 

Moya