Nativeway Snorkel and Rays - The Best!

[snedecor]

Today was our gambling day. We gambled that a local tour operator would give us better value than we would have gotten through Princess. Guess what, we hit the jackpot!

 

We dressed and packed our excursion bags and got to the tender ticket area about 9:30, for a 10:00 time. We got the first number, and went down to deck 5 to wait for the tenders. We chatted for a few minutes with the hypnotist, who was leaving the ship. After the Princess tour group boarded, we also got on the first tender, and were among the first to see this wonderful island, so terribly wounded by hurricane Ivan, but recovering nicely. We went around picking up souvenirs, and found some nice prices on handmade wooden and ceramic pieces. We ate lunch at an outdoor lunch shack with outrageous prices, and went to the pier to meet with Edwin, our Nativeway driver.

 

Eleven of us showed up, and boarded the white bus for the trip to the dock. Sheldon and Charlie, both young strapping Caymanians, welcomed us aboard for the snorkeling and stingray trip. After about a 20 minute trip, we anchored at the coral gardens snorkeling spot, and we entered the warm clear water. The coral gardens are in about 8-10 feet of white sand, but the coral humps sometimes come within 2-3 feet of the surface. There were lots of types of fish, including some amazing neon colored spotted fish, and some conks, along with empty conk shells. We just about used up our disposable camera. My only regret was that we forgot to bring some cereal from the ship to use as fish food. After about an hour of snorkeling, we were called back into the boat to make our way to Stingray City, about a 5 minute idle over the coral banks.

 

As we approached, there were several boats all backed up to a shallow sandbar area, ranging from 2 to 4.5 feet deep. Several of the boats were large, with about 150 people behind some of the boats. These were the Princess tours. They were laughing and giggling, and we were feeling a little let down, because our little area of sandbar was bare. Sheldon and Charlie would soon remedy this situation. Charlie went and picked up a stingray and gave us a quick anatomy lesson, and let several of us pet the gentle creatures. He showed us the proper way to catch, support, and pet them. Sheldon dove down, got us 5-6 conks, and began preparing a repast for our friends. As the large ship’s tours left, we were almost alone on the bar. Charlie let us each pose with him as he held the ray above and behind our heads! As part of their breathing rhythm, they would shower the person with water! Dinner was then served, as Sheldon gave each of us who wanted to pieces of Conk, and showed us how to feed the gentle giants. One of our guests was not as careful with her hand as she should have been and was slightly bitten. Sheldon took care of her washing and disinfecting the scrape. As the water was filled with the scent of conk, the rays stormed the boat, bumping and rubbing against everyone. Everyone got to feed several rays, and in fact there was so much conk left over that we tossed it overboard, where it was quickly scarfed up by one huge female ray. I got several pictures of Belinda shrieking and eventually floating on the surface to avoid getting “rubbed”! Sheldon then showed us the special part of the conk that they call Camaynian *****, and offered anyone to take a bite. I took him up on his offer, we’ll find out later if the name is correct! As we boarded the boat and began the 20 minute ride back to shore, he cleaned and disinfected conk shells for anyone who wanted them.

 

Nativeway provided probably the best way to see both the Coral Gardens and Stingray City. The group was small (11), the tour operators gave service above and beyond, and we got to do much more than the ship’s tours were able to do. Equipment, food for the rays, refreshments, and transportation to and from the pier were provided. Both guides were always aware of the last tender time, and timed the tour such that we were back with 30 minutes to spare. All this cost about one half the cost of the ship’s tour! We booked on the internet, and not only did they not require a deposit, they didn’t even take payment until the tour was almost over.

 

There may be other competent tour operators in Grand Cayman, but according to our experience, you can't go wrong with Nativeway.

[ladycaveat]

Thank you so much for your wonderful review. I'll be leaving on my cruise on the 30th of this month and I can't wait for my trip with Nativeway in the Grand Caymans. Got to swim with stingrays in Belize but I've heard that GC is even better!

[KamloopsCruisers]

We did an excursion with Nativeway in February. Charlie & Sheldon was fantastic guides, and our day with Nativeway, was the absolutely perfect. Our Nativeway experience was, without a doubt, the best excursion we have ever taken while cruising. While we don't have any immediate plans to return to the Caribbean, I would book again with Nativeway in a heart-beat.

[ISLABONITA]

Hi does any of you happen to have their website, all I keep getting are reviews when I do a google search... thank you! :confused:

[pshaze]

Try this

 

http://www.nativewaywatersports.com/

 

Pam

[snedecor]

I had some delays when I originally e-mailed them with some questions. However, some have told me that internet access in Grand Cayman is not yet perfect, after the hurricane. Just call them! It's an easy call (no country codes, etc, just 1-345-946-8656. They took my reservation, and then matched my name to the e-mail I had sent and set me the confirmation to my e-mail account.

 

(suffering from cruise withdrawal.....)

[xynewbie]

I had some delays when I originally e-mailed them with some questions. However, some have told me that internet access in Grand Cayman is not yet perfect, after the hurricane. Just call them! It's an easy call (no country codes, etc, just 1-345-946-8656. They took my reservation, and then matched my name to the e-mail I had sent and set me the confirmation to my e-mail account.

 

(suffering from cruise withdrawal.....)

 

This is a guy from the college.

[swom]

Thanks so much for the review on Nativeway for the Snorkle and Rays tour. Because of it, I've already reserved my space for Sept 27th and received my confirmation.

Again, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge on different tours.

[snedecor]

Yup, it's me (Gayle)

 

I just found something that speaks to the safety/security of Grand Cayman.

 

I was unwrapping my wooden dolphin desk thingy, which was wrapped in the local newspaper. In it was a column labeled

 

POLICE REPORT and under that Car Stolen.

 

Reading the report, someone left their keys in Toyota Corolla, went into the store, and found their car missing when the came out of the store. Sitting right beside the spot where his beloved Corolla was there was, you guessed it, a Toyota Corolla of the same color, sitting with the keys in the ignition.

 

The police found the wayward owner (after all, it is an island) and the cars were returned to their rightful owners!

 

That was the only entry in the police report.

 

Snedecor

[Jacquelyn11]

I was judging from your post that your tour took about 3-4 hours. Your post said you made it back with about 30 min to spare for the last tender. We have the same tour booked and according to the e-mail I got from Native Way that the tour would conclude about 12:15 ship time. I don't know what ship you were on, but I wanted a little shopping time after the tour. Did you get an extended time because your tourmates wanted to be out there longer?

 

(BTW GREAT REVIEW!! :) )

 

The Mariner of the Seas is due to depart at 4pm with the last tender at 3:30.

 

Hey, I'm a woman who's middle name is "shopping"! :)

 

Jacquelyn :D

[rarodg2]

I also enjoyed your review. Could you tell me how long your tour lasted? How long were you at each spot? Thanks, I want to get the most time for my money. Thanks again for the great review.

Rebecca

[snedecor]

To answer a couple of questions: Our tour lasted about 3 1/2 hours. It started at 1:00 and ended about 4:15. We spent about 1 hour at snorkeling, and about 1 hour at Stingray City. The rest of the time was driving to the marina, getting on the boat, a safety talk, cruising to the sites, loading and unloading at the sites, cruising back, and the drive back to the dock.

 

Nativeway offers several tours, some starting in the morning and ending after noon, and some starting after noon and ending later that afternoon. Look at the web site for exactly what they offer, or just call them up. We took our tour based on our ship's timing (getting there just before noon, and leaving about 5:30). They also offer just Stingray city, I believe, and other combinations of these two sites and some land-based tour destinations, such as rum point, Hell, turtle farm, etc.

 

Hope this helps....

 

Snedecor

[Jacquelyn11]

We are booked for the morning tour. That should leave me time to shop!

 

BTW, did they have a fresh water hose or area to change in on the tour boat? I can do without the change, but rinsing off the salt water is a must!

 

Jacquelyn :D

[SomewhereBeyondTheSea]

I'm a little confused with DST. I know Grand Cayman is not on Daylight Savings Time. But, does this mean that we lose an hour or gain? I will be on Carnival which will be on DST (correct me if I'm wrong) We are scheduled to leave at 5:30 pm. Is that our time or Grand Cayman time?

[Jacquelyn11]

The ship usually stays on EST in port, so you are an "hour" ahead of the islands. They usually remind you of this several times via anouncements or your ships daily activities paper.

 

The folks doing the tours know our "9:30" is their "8:30". Just use your own watch instead of the clocks in port and you won't miss the last tender to the ship. I was on the NCL Seaward (now the Majesty) several years ago and we saw two folks run up to the dock when the tender had pulled about 30 feet away. Our tour excursion ran late so they had a tender wait for us. They DID NOT go back for them!! :eek:

 

Jacquelyn :D