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Capt. Bryans's and Grand Cayman!!!

matndrew

By matndrew,
in Cayman Islands

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matndrew

matndrew

Posted
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We just arrived home from our cruise on the Carnival Inspiration (11/8 sail date). Grand Cayman was WONDERFUL!! Our favorite stop. You can still see signs of the devastation from Ivan and there are still parts of the island without electricity.

 

We cannot say enough good things about Capt. Bryan's Stingray City and Snorkeling Tour. This was the highlight of our trip. The sailboat was wonderful and best of all, only 15 people were on board with us. And we knew most of them!! The crew was wonderful. The capt. and the first mate (?) both got into the water at each stop. They Stingray Sandbar was scary at first. Those rays are HUGE!!! And yes...they do swim between your legs. But the captain was wonderful and everyone in our group got the chance to hold and kiss a stingray. The crew was even in the water on our next stop to snorkel. The captain actually coaxed an eel out of the coral reef for us to see. The first mate did try to dive and find a pretty seashell for my son. But was unsuccessful. Everything had a living creature in it and he was very adament about not taking the critters home!!

 

They have a crew of two women in scuba gear who filmed everthing for us with the underwater camera. The DVD was $50 and the VHS was $35 (I think). We bought the DVD and it was well worth every dollar.

 

If you want a great excursion that is far superior to the ones offered by the cruise, book this one. You will not be disappointed. By the way, I was traveling with my husband and 2 children (ages 8 and 4) and my 60 year old Mother-in-law. We also had a woman on the boat with MS. Capt. Bryan's was wonderful and helpful with everyone on board. My husband enjoyed the sailing the best. The boat was very big and we had more than enough room to move around.T I kind of felt sorry for the folks on the overcrowded double decker boats.

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Isla Mike

Isla Mike

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We also just returned tonight from the Inspiration and happened to be on the same Capt. Bryans trip as matndrew. I could not agree with them more! This is the way to go when visiting Sting Ray City. Out boat had about 15 people on it and was a large comfortable sailboat unlike the tours booked through the cruise.

 

 

We also bought the DVD and thought the whole adventure could not have been better.

 

 

Use Capt. Bryan's if you want to do a Sting Ray City and snorkeling tour. You will not regret it!

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sandsand

sandsand

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I'm about to book this tour for next month. About how long did it take to sail to the sandbar and back? My husband thinks we're taking the "slow boat". We did this excursion through the ship previously and want to try something new.

 

Thanks.

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Isla Mike

Isla Mike

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After the sand bar Sting Ray City we went snorkeling at what I believe they called the fish bowl ( it is not very far from the sand bar). after snorkeling for 1/2 hour we headed back. the whole trip was about 2 hours and 20 minutes or so. They raised the sails on the way back and it was a very enjoyable and relaxing ride back to the dock.

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Isla Mike

Isla Mike

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You bet. We only had from 8-2 on the island and had a harder time seeing the town (we did stop and have a drink or two at a waterside bar) but your 7-4 should definately give you time to do both. Book the early Capt. Bryan's tour. We did the early trip and where back downtown by 12:20.

 

Have Fun!

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ladycaveat

ladycaveat

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Matndrew thank you so much for the review . . . and you, Mike, for confirming it. I think you have me convinced to go with Capt. Bryan's Stingray City and Snorling Tour. I'll be in Grand Cayman (on Carnaval's Truimph) April 4th from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and have been doing a lot of reading on here as well as a book I picked up on Ports of Call in the Western Caribbean.

 

I got to swim with dolphins in Cosumel on my last cruise in 2003 and snorkle with stingrays in Belize. Loved the dolphins (so friendly and gentle) but didn't feel as if I really got to "experience" stingrays. The water was so deep and there were only a couple stingrays that sort of swam nearby. One of our "guides" did hold one and let us feel it but . . . it just wasn't as "personal" as it was with the dolphins.

 

Please tell me more about Stingray City . . . was it the sandbar where you can stand or was it where you get off the boat in deeper water? How long did it take you to get to Stingray City? Was it under sail or by power? How long were you there? Also, the second stop . . . please tell me more about it. How deep? Were you able to snokle "down" . . . what exactly were you able to see?

 

Sorry for all the questions but I've found that I learn more about shore excursions from those that have been on them than from anything I read in a book. I'm a 57 year old divorced female and am not into "high adventure" but have never taken an excursion from any ship I'ver ever sailed on. Would much rather plan my own and, with the help of those from these boards, have never been disappointed. Please tell me more . . . and any suggestion as to time/tour (as in . . . When does the tour start and will Capt. Bryan meet you at the pier? Will there be enough time after the tour to check out any shopping before returning to the ship?) Thanks bunches . . . Tammy

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Isla Mike

Isla Mike

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Hi,

 

I hope I cover everything:

 

1) Stingray City is a sandbar only 4 to 5 feet deep pretty far out into the water. The water is crystal clear and from the boat you see the beautiful blue color. You stand out on the sandbar with water up to your chest and the stingrays are all around you. They range in size from 2 1/2 feet round to 4 feet round so they are pretty big stingrays. They will come up to you and brush you and after you get used to it you can actually hold them. The captain and 1st mate are great and are in the water with you the entire time holding the sting rays and showing you how to hold them. Capt. Bryan's is very concerned with you having a good experience. Take a mask from the boat because it is really cool to look under the water and see the wrays swimming around everybody. My wife even got the opportunity to feed the rays some squid.

 

2) For the snorkeling you get back on the boat and the captain motors up and and takes us maybe 5-10 minutes from Stingray city. The water there is about 15 feet deep or so. They make sure to bring you over to a coral reef. At the reef the captain and both the videographers dove into the water. The captin took some squid with him and swam down to an small cave in the reef and lured a eel out for us to see (he actually did this about 4 times so everyone could see the eel. Other things we saw while snorkeling were tons of colorful fish, rays (differnt kinds then at stingray City) and l held some large conch shells with creatures still in them.

 

3) The catamaran motored out to stingray city because the captain said the wind was against us but we sailed back. Both on the way out and way back it was nice and quiet.

 

4) 9:30AM (8:45am meeting) Snorkel Tour: A morning 2.5hr halfHannibal_Stingray_City_small.jpg day Stingray City Excursion, approximately 2.5 hours long.

 

This is a picture of the boat.

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sandsand

sandsand

Posted
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Thank you Isla Mike, for the information. This is the tour I want to take. But if it starts at 8:45 we won't make it. Scheduled port time is 9:30. Maybe I will write to them and see what they say. You never know.

 

Su

 

They also have an afternoon trip. We're signed up for 1:30.

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BobbieSu

BobbieSu

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Sandsand

I went back to their website to check them out again and noticed that. It also seemed like they were able to adjust the times somewhat depending on who is in port. The afternoon time schedule then makes catching the tender a tight proposition. I'm hoping they will adjust the morning schedule for a later time.

 

Su

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JillB

JillB

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We would love to use Capt. Bryan's next month but I have sent them two e-mails and filled out the reservation form on-line two separate times about two weeks apart and have heard nothing back from them.

Has anyone else encountered this problem?

The trip sounds great and my family really wants to sail on a catamaran, but I am concerned that there has been no follow up to my e-mails.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Thank you,

Jillb

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red32

red32

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I kept checking for e-mails back as well then checked my spam filter and found their response in the spam box. I have AOL. If your internet provider blocks e-mails that they think are spam, you might want to check there

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