What are the best Grand Cayman excursions?

[kimala]

I can't say enough about Cayman Sea Elements

Mangrove Kayak Tour, We had a great time and its something that you can basically only experience in the Caymans since we learned there are 3 different types of mangroves some of them only found here. Also since the water is so clear you can see fish and other little critters swimming by under your kayak...We loved this and it was affordable at just $40.00/pp.

[littlerockboys]

Another vote for Nativeways - have done them 5 times in the past!

I really like the Rays, Reef, Rumpoint tour. After the Stingray City and snorkel stop, you are boated over to Rumpoint, a very nice beach area, for a few hours of chill time. While on the boat, lunch is ordered and cell phoned over, and ready for you on arrival.

 

Is the lunch included in the $50 cost for this tour....or additional?

 

I like the idea of Stngray City and then time in the beach. Is this the best tour anyone knows for that?

[ahecht]

Is the lunch included in the $50 cost for this tour....or additional?

 

I like the idea of Stngray City and then time in the beach. Is this the best tour anyone knows for that?

 

I haven't personally taken it, but the Reef, Rays and Rum Point tour is $62.50 for adults and $50 for kids. Lunch is included, but after you allow time for eating you don't get a huge amount of time on the beach.

 

If beach time is important you might try a shorter tour such as the "Stingray Sandbar, Coral Gardens and Star Fish Snorkel" (which is $40 for adults and $30 for children) and have them drop you off afterwards at Seven Mile beach. The tour is a little over two hours, so you would get to the beach by noon. A cab back to the ship takes about 5 minutes and costs $5/person, or you can take the bus back for $2.50/person.

[oscarbuzz]

stingraysailing did a fantastic job and we are going back in July. Chip and his dad were awesome. They do charge a little bit more than the cram 'em all in' tours, but it is like sailing with a buddy. Not crowded, clean and very nice people. He even dropped us at a Roti stand for my Caribbean fix. Have fun and DON'T book on the ship. Heard good things about Marvin as well, but have never gone with him.

[mm1251]

We used Native Way and it was great. Here are our comments from our Freedom OTS cruise in August. I tried to post it as a review but it was deleted. But since you asked . . . fair game, I think!?

 

Grand Cayman

 

We had a great time in Grand Cayman. Haiti and Jamaica look beautiful from the ship as you are pulling in. Grand Cayman is flat without the “curb appeal” but nonetheless beautiful.

 

We booked the 4 hour “Stingray and Island” excursion with Native Way Watersports for $60 each. I had great email communication with Sharon when we booked and when I followed up right before the cruise. This was my daughters’ favorite day of the cruise. Wear your bathing suits because you are going to get wet!

 

We caught a Tender from the ship at about 9:00 am. There was a line but it moved quickly and we were ashore within 15 minutes of leaving our cabin. We were early (meeting time was 9:45 am), so we walked to a coffee shop in town and messed. We met up with the Native Way folks back at the pier and waited for another family that never showed up. It turned out to be just us and one other family – 9 total. We walked over to our little bus and were on our way! Our bus driver was Eldon, Sharon’s husband, and Sharon was narrating as he drove. Eldon is a native of the island and Sharon is a New York transplant and has lived there for 10 years. I can’t say enough about how friendly these two were. It just couldn’t have been any better.

 

We drove by a few sites for some pictures and got out by the 7 mile beach. Such beautiful water. Pictures don’t do it justice. We live right by a beautiful beach (Boca Grande, FL) but this water was gorgeous.

 

We then stopped by the Tortuga Rum Cake factory. Basically a gift shop, but you can see them bagging and boxing the Rum Cakes in the back. Prices for the cakes were no cheaper than the cruise ship, but the variety was huge. I sampled lots of rum: gold, coffee, pineapple, vanilla . . . good stuff! I purchased a couple of bottles that they sent to the ship. They were delivered Saturday afternoon to our cabin (with our onboard liquor purchases). They also have a snack bar that serves what look like hot pockets. We weren’t smart enough (like another cc member who was on the tour with us) to buy a couple to eat later, but I would do so if given the chance again! No lunch is included on the tour, and when they pulled out their hot pockets on the boat ride back I thought, “Man, what a smart idea!”

 

Next we went to Hell. It is the name of a rock formation that looks like . . . hell. I guess. Very cool. Eldon showed us around and told us stories. He also talked about some of the plant life. Then it was off to the oh-so-pleasantly-tacky gift shop. A cute old timer looked at me and said, “Welcome to Hell” with a devilish grin. Loved it. Tacky - yes. Loved it. Bought a hat from Hell.

 

Next it was a drive to the Turtle Farm. Very, very cool. Eldon gave us the tour here. It was great to have a guy who knew what he was talking about. He knew the history; he had caught and ate the turtles when he was younger. We were petting and holding turtles of all ages. It was great!

 

We then drove to board our boat for the ride to Stingray City. There were 2 crew members and our group. Sharon and Eldon were not with us, but would be there when we got back. It is a quick 10-15 minute ride to the middle of the bay to the sandbar where the rays hang out. Pretty amazing place.

 

When we first arrived, there were several large boats and probably 100 people in the water. Our guys (Thomas and JC) found us a spot on the end of the sand bar and put down the anchor (actually JC hopped in the water and placed the anchor). Within a few minutes most of the other people had packed up and left. Thomas and JC will dive down a grab a ray for you to pet, hold and kiss (yuck – but I did it after my kids forced me). There are rays swimming all around your feet. Some huge, some small. All completely wild. It was awesome! Never have we experienced something like this.

 

Some people might freak out a bit when a stingray knocks into them (my DW did), but you don’t have to jump in the water if you don’t want to. We stayed about 30 minutes or so. It was fantastic.

 

JC took pictures of us and then showed them to us on our ride back. I bought all of them on a CD for $50. Pretty ingenious way to make an extra buck! The pics are really good. We had bought a cheap disposable underwater camera for $12 at one of the gift shops (35 mm). We were surprised how good the pictures turned out when we had them developed!

 

A quick ride back to the bus on the boat (with a slight detour to show us homes in a canal and some of the iguanas sunning themselves). That’s something a big tour could never do for you.

 

We were dropped off back at the pier at about 2:30 or so. Said our goodbyes to Sharon and Eldon, and headed towards our Tender. There was no line – which I thought was amazing – and as we walked through the gate a guy started yelling at us. Turns out we were heading to the Carnival Tender! He pointed us in the right direction and that’s when we saw it . . . the line . . . the line of all lines . . . the twisting, turning, where-the-hell-is-the-end . . . line. Must have been 500 or more people in this line. We finally found the end and my daughter noticed a lemonade stand that also sold the hot pocket things. They stayed in line and I went to the lemonade line. By the time I got 2 lemonades and a couple of the sandwiches, they were almost through the gate! A quick moving line! We downed the drinks, ate the last bites as we scanned our seapass cards and were back on the ship in no time.

 

It was a wonderful day! Thank you so much Sharon and Eldon! You guys are the best!

 

Thanks for this and the pics.