Nativeway or Capt Marvin for stingray tour?

[micmacmissy]

Want to save some $, and hopefully avoid some crowding, by booking a tour outside of our ship.

 

Which company would you recommend?

 

Thanks!

[happymom88]

I am wondering the same thing. I have heard many good things about both, so now I can't decide :o Would love to hear any comparisons from anyone that has done both.

[SHERRIFL]

me too! :)

[TheBigFig]

I just got back from my cruise where I used Capt Marvin's for the Stingray excursion and it was a great time. He has a good staff who are friendly and knowledgeable. I have not done Nativeway so I couldn't offer a comparison, but at least I can vouch that if you go with Capt Marvin, you'll have a good time.

[mechcc]

Have done Capt Marvin twice and they are great. That said, I have read many positive reviews about Nativeway and would not hesitate doing an excursion with them if they offered something Capt Marvin didn't or they had times that worked better with my schedule. If timing and cost are comparitive, I would choose Capt Marvin.

[TakeMeAway1001]

We have used Capt Marvin's twice and loved it both times, super friendly staff and we met the owner of this company on our last visit and he was such a nice man. We always take their first tour, it's nice to get out to the sandbar before the ship tours start arriving.

[rjhollan]

We just got back from Grand Cayman this week, and I can't recommend Nativway highly enough. Being the "stormy" season in January, you never know what the winds will be like, and how choppy the sand bar will be. That was our biggest fear - that we'd book a stingray city tour and end up being cancelled, or beat up by the waves, and have nothing else to do.

 

Nativeway arranged a tour for us that covered Stingray City as well as a land-based tour of the Turtle farm, Hell, the governor's house, etc.

 

We started off by meeting at the pier, and our guide (Sharon) drove us to the yacht club on the north end of the island, near 7-mile beach. She gave us a lot of information about the islands, history, etc. She's from NYC so SUPER easy to understand. She left us with Chris, who took us out on their boat to the sandbar. The boat would probably hold 25-30 people comfortably, and has a head we were able to use to change in easily enough. We were the only ones on the boat which was nice. We got to spend about 45 minutes on the sandbar with the rays, and Chris helped everyone take all the pictures they wanted holding and kissing the rays, then got the squid bucket out to start feeding. We fed the rays for about 15 minutes toward the end, which was pretty neat - everyone got to participate as fully as they wanted since there were only 5 of us on boat. We also had a close encounter with a male dolphin that's been frequenting the sandbar the last few weeks... he swam around our boat a bit, and right up next to us once we were in the water, then swam off to uproot some anchors of the other boats for fun - he's apparently a bit of a trouble maker! Drinks (ice, water, punch) were available on the boat, and Chris had some jugs of fresh water to "shower" off with right on the boat, so you don't end up drying with salt all over you.

 

After the sandbar portion, Chris shuttled us back to the island where Sharon was waiting for us. My daughter was hungry so Sharon suggested a couple of places - a local dive off 7-mile beach that served local food like conch fritters, or the local grocery store for something more "back home" (she chose the grocery store). Luckily, the store also served "jamacian patties" which are like little hot pockets - crescent roll type dough wrapped around spicy beef or chicken. I'm still craving them a week later they were so good!

 

Sharon took us to Hell for some souveniers, a history lesson, and we mailed our post cards. Then we stopped at the Tortuga Rum Cake factory to get some MORE souveniers (I think they put crack in those rum cakes they're so tasty and you crave them until the next cruise!).... then off to the Turtle Farm where we met Eldon, who was ready for us with wrist bands. We went right in and Eldon and JC (another guide) wandered around with us, explaining all the exhibits, telling us about the turtles, etc. They cracked open some almonds for us along the path from an almond tree, to taste. At the end of the tour, they took us back outside where Sharon was waiting for us to take us back to the pier.

 

Nativeway GUARANTEES you will make it back to the pier before your last tender. We went down and managed to get on the first tender to the island (group #3) and waited about 30 minutes once we got there because we were supposed to meet at 7:55 for the 8am tour (and got there around 7:30).

 

Once we met up with Sharon, she was able to coordinate all the legs of our tour so that we missed all the other tourists, which was incredible. When Chris dropped us back off after the Stingrays, there was another family being dropped off to go out to the sandbar - they could have just jammed us all on the boat together as one big group, but they didn't, which was REALLY cool.

 

EVERY stop we made (Hell, Tortuga, Turtle farm), we'd just be finishing up our purchases or whatever when the tour busses would pull up and unload a hundred people or so. It was nice to just wisk in and out away from the crowds.

 

All this was only $60/person and there was no additional fee for the Turtle Farm - it was included in the $60/person. I don't know how they're able to make any money at that rate... burning gas to get you to the sandbar and back, and all over the island (at $5+/gallon), and paying your way into the turtle farm, etc.

 

They're just a great group of people. They all spoke excellent English, whether they were from Honduras, Grand Cayman, or NYC - everybody was very easy to understand, and bent over backwards to make sure we had the best tour EVER.

 

The Carnival Stingray City tour had 97 people on the boat. We had 5 and paid a LOT less, and Nativeway had us back to the pier to tender 2 hours before the last tender. Plenty of time to grab some t-shirts, have a drink at Margaritaville, and head back to the ship!

[kyangel]

We had an awesome experience with Native Way..was the highlight of our trip when we were on the Mariner in 2008. We did the 3 stop tour-stingray city, coral gardens and then the starfish. There were maybe 12 people on our boat, avoided the crowds, they were fun and helpful with the kids. We got back in town in time to have lunch on the beach. It was absolutley fantastic!! We are booked again on our cruise first week of April on the Freedom.

[SkiQueen2007]

We had a great experience last year with Capt Marvins. I thought it was a great value, the price is so reasonable. The staff was great at stingray city and at the snorkeling stops. At the coral gardens they through the food out to the fish and it was great to watch the feeding frenzy. I would highly recommend them!

[Pookeybear1966]

We also had an excellent time with Nativeways. Everyone was so nice!!!:)

[pambud96]

Just returned and we used Native Way, very nice trip. Only 12 people on our boat. Lots of interaction, Also went to Rum Point!!It is as beautiful as HMC. Well almost!!

[zzupschuck]

Went on the Native Ways Rays Reef and Rum Point excursion last week. It was wonderful. I was with a group of 22, and we were the only ones on our boat. Excellent crew and a great bargain for the price. All 22 people said it was the absolute best excursion they had ever been on.

[Colorado Kat]

I think you would be happy with either Capt Marvin's, or NativeWay. Both sound like good operations. We went with NativeWays, and were very happy with them.

[TexasAggieCruiser]

Went on the Native Ways Rays Reef and Rum Point excursion last week. It was wonderful. I was with a group of 22, and we were the only ones on our boat. Excellent crew and a great bargain for the price. All 22 people said it was the absolute best excursion they had ever been on.

We are booking this tour in April...can you tell me about the meal that is included in this tour? Also, were you able to see any starfish? Thanks!

[dz63]

Want to save some $, and hopefully avoid some crowding, by booking a tour outside of our ship.

 

Which company would you recommend?

 

Thanks!

 

We toured with Nativeways on their Rays, Reef and Rum Point excursion and had a very positive experience with them.

 

For more information about our day with Nativeways, check out my review with photos at this link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1704270&page=7. (Our excursion with Nativeways begins at post #137 and ends at post #145).

[dz63]

We are booking this tour in April...can you tell me about the meal that is included in this tour? Also, were you able to see any starfish? Thanks!

 

At the beginning of the day, we were given a lunch menu to look over. Then our lunch order was taken and called in, so that by the time we got to the beach, our lunch was ready. Lunch was included with the price of this tour and it was all very good.

 

Nativeways Menu

 

My eldest DS ordered the Traditional Style Jerk Pork

 

The rest of us ordered the Cheeseburger with Fries

 

We did not see any starfish on our excursion.

[drog]

Want to save some $, and hopefully avoid some crowding, by booking a tour outside of our ship.

 

Which company would you recommend?

 

Thanks!

 

If you are up for doing it on a Jet Ski check out Fat Fish Adventures, we just did it last month and it was amazing! It is going to be more money than a boat ride there but the experience is incredible! No crowds as it is a small group, a 10 mile Jet Ski ride across crystal clear Caribbean waters and none of this single file stuff you are pretty much free to do as you please, we even encountered a curious dolphin on the way back. There were nine of us age 21 to 51 and we all agreed it was the highlight of our cruise.

[djkoz]

I went with a group of 8 who enjoyed a wonderful time on the Stingray Sandbar, Coral garden & Stingray Snorkel tour on January 29, 2013. This is a perfect tour for beginner snorkelers, spending about 30 minutes at each area. The boat was impeccably clean and well maintained. Complimentary water & fruit punch provided. There was a nice mix of families and couples with a total of 24 of us on the boat. All friendly people we enjoyed chatting with. The highlight for me was holding, feeding & swimming with the stingrays! The stingrays are amazingly graceful and a joy to watch. The coral reef was spectacular with many varieties of coral and lots of colorful fish. While there were only a few starfish, it was so nice to hold one and see them in their natural environment. The staff were kind, entertaining and helpful. We wanted to visit the Cayman Brewery after the tour and, for a nominal charge, Sharon personally drove us to the brewery. We didn't have time for a free tour (offered on the hour) but sampled beers on tap for $5. Sharon was so kind to take us to a local grocery store for lunch where we purchased delicious local cuisine and stopped by the Hard Rock Cafe for a quick pin purchase! During the ride she told us all about Grand Cayman. Her personal service and love of Grand Cayman made our excursion the highlight of our trip!

[fletch1027]

Excellent review! Was this a custom tour or their "Rays, Reef, and Rum Point" tour? If it was custom, how much did they charge per person? I am trying to decide between them and Capt. Marvins for something for my wife and I to do...

 

 

 

We just got back from Grand Cayman this week, and I can't recommend Nativway highly enough. Being the "stormy" season in January, you never know what the winds will be like, and how choppy the sand bar will be. That was our biggest fear - that we'd book a stingray city tour and end up being cancelled, or beat up by the waves, and have nothing else to do.

 

Nativeway arranged a tour for us that covered Stingray City as well as a land-based tour of the Turtle farm, Hell, the governor's house, etc.

 

We started off by meeting at the pier, and our guide (Sharon) drove us to the yacht club on the north end of the island, near 7-mile beach. She gave us a lot of information about the islands, history, etc. She's from NYC so SUPER easy to understand. She left us with Chris, who took us out on their boat to the sandbar. The boat would probably hold 25-30 people comfortably, and has a head we were able to use to change in easily enough. We were the only ones on the boat which was nice. We got to spend about 45 minutes on the sandbar with the rays, and Chris helped everyone take all the pictures they wanted holding and kissing the rays, then got the squid bucket out to start feeding. We fed the rays for about 15 minutes toward the end, which was pretty neat - everyone got to participate as fully as they wanted since there were only 5 of us on boat. We also had a close encounter with a male dolphin that's been frequenting the sandbar the last few weeks... he swam around our boat a bit, and right up next to us once we were in the water, then swam off to uproot some anchors of the other boats for fun - he's apparently a bit of a trouble maker! Drinks (ice, water, punch) were available on the boat, and Chris had some jugs of fresh water to "shower" off with right on the boat, so you don't end up drying with salt all over you.

 

After the sandbar portion, Chris shuttled us back to the island where Sharon was waiting for us. My daughter was hungry so Sharon suggested a couple of places - a local dive off 7-mile beach that served local food like conch fritters, or the local grocery store for something more "back home" (she chose the grocery store). Luckily, the store also served "jamacian patties" which are like little hot pockets - crescent roll type dough wrapped around spicy beef or chicken. I'm still craving them a week later they were so good!

 

Sharon took us to Hell for some souveniers, a history lesson, and we mailed our post cards. Then we stopped at the Tortuga Rum Cake factory to get some MORE souveniers (I think they put crack in those rum cakes they're so tasty and you crave them until the next cruise!).... then off to the Turtle Farm where we met Eldon, who was ready for us with wrist bands. We went right in and Eldon and JC (another guide) wandered around with us, explaining all the exhibits, telling us about the turtles, etc. They cracked open some almonds for us along the path from an almond tree, to taste. At the end of the tour, they took us back outside where Sharon was waiting for us to take us back to the pier.

 

Nativeway GUARANTEES you will make it back to the pier before your last tender. We went down and managed to get on the first tender to the island (group #3) and waited about 30 minutes once we got there because we were supposed to meet at 7:55 for the 8am tour (and got there around 7:30).

 

Once we met up with Sharon, she was able to coordinate all the legs of our tour so that we missed all the other tourists, which was incredible. When Chris dropped us back off after the Stingrays, there was another family being dropped off to go out to the sandbar - they could have just jammed us all on the boat together as one big group, but they didn't, which was REALLY cool.

 

EVERY stop we made (Hell, Tortuga, Turtle farm), we'd just be finishing up our purchases or whatever when the tour busses would pull up and unload a hundred people or so. It was nice to just wisk in and out away from the crowds.

 

All this was only $60/person and there was no additional fee for the Turtle Farm - it was included in the $60/person. I don't know how they're able to make any money at that rate... burning gas to get you to the sandbar and back, and all over the island (at $5+/gallon), and paying your way into the turtle farm, etc.

 

They're just a great group of people. They all spoke excellent English, whether they were from Honduras, Grand Cayman, or NYC - everybody was very easy to understand, and bent over backwards to make sure we had the best tour EVER.

 

The Carnival Stingray City tour had 97 people on the boat. We had 5 and paid a LOT less, and Nativeway had us back to the pier to tender 2 hours before the last tender. Plenty of time to grab some t-shirts, have a drink at Margaritaville, and head back to the ship!