Grand Cayman Excursions

[Epinz300]

I heard a lot of good comments about stingray sailings tour. I contacted them, and they unfortunately are booked for a private charter tour the day I would possibly be in port. Are there any other tours that anyone has taken that would highly recommend it? I would like to see the stingrays and snorkel if possible. Rather not take the expensive rushed cruise excursion

[KOOLBEANS]

The port of call portion of this website, then to grand caymen, will give lots of info. Personally, I have used Native Way Watersports several times and they are outstanding and very reasonable. Awesome company!! Enjoy!!

[dmdicato]

I'd recommended something that includes the turtle farm and a visit to "Hell"!

[Epinz300]

I have heard that the turtle farm is good but that it may be a little much since its far away from port and takes a lot of time out of the day? Plus I would rather go to stingray city and snorkel

[agreenway6]

I have heard that the turtle farm is good but that it may be a little much since its far away from port and takes a lot of time out of the day? Plus I would rather go to stingray city and snorkel

 

I used grand cayman excursions through island marketing... It was pretty cheap, and our group was small (10 people) so we didn't have to split time with alot of other people to experience the stingrays. After the stingray stop, you had two options: snorkel, or go to rum point beach. We chose to snorkel, and our guide brought us to a great spot and we loved it! If you have any questions about it let me know!

[OCruisers]

We'd avoid going to HELL and that Turtle Farm.

 

Lots of independents offer stingray excursions. Try to make sure you go there on a sailing catamaran.

Please do check out the Ports of Call Board here on Cruise Critic under Cayman Islands.

 

Have fun planning your trip! :)

 

LuLu

~~~~

[masonpips]

Captain Marvin's. Have gone 3 times. Excellent service and smaller boats each time so you have about 20 people versus 60+ on the big ones!

[mailmama]

Ditto. Captain Marvin. We had 6 people on our boat. Was excellent tour and had lunch at the beach break. Fun day for all of us.

[CyberTag]

Find another company who does the sting ray and snorkeling tour. There are quite a few and it's definitely worth it. We went with one a few years back, and it was enjoyed by ages 5-70!

[griffy116]

There are loads of reputable private excursion companies that can arrange this for you. The Turtle Farm and Hell are completely different excursion and if you are looking for snorkeling and sting rays, the Turtle Farm and Hell will not make you happy.

[RhondaC]

Another vote for Captain Marvin's!

[ahecht]

I heard a lot of good comments about stingray sailings tour. I contacted them, and they unfortunately are booked for a private charter tour the day I would possibly be in port. Are there any other tours that anyone has taken that would highly recommend it? I would like to see the stingrays and snorkel if possible. Rather not take the expensive rushed cruise excursion

 

I had a great time on the Nativeway "Stingray Sandbar, Coral Gardens and Star Fish Snorkel" tour. It includes a stop at Stingray City, a stop at a great snorkeling spot with lots of live coral (not the barrier reef near the stingrays that most tours use), and a stop at an area with a few large starfish. They dropped us at Seven Mile Beach after we got back, and we got a couple hours there before heading back to the ship. The best part was that there were only us and one other family on our boat (most people did the excursion that included Rum Point), so we never felt crowded or rushed.

 

You can check out my pictures and videos of that excursion in the Independence of the Seas review in my signature (it was Day 3, I think).

[marjosagb]

Another +1 for Captain Marvin's

 

$40 gets you a 2.5 hour tour that includes stingray interaction at Stingry City...as well as 1 snorkelling stop, with all gear rentals included.

 

Walking distance from the cruise ship port

 

Great value imo

[micmacmissy]

I had a great time on the Nativeway "Stingray Sandbar, Coral Gardens and Star Fish Snorkel" tour. It includes a stop at Stingray City, a stop at a great snorkeling spot with lots of live coral (not the barrier reef near the stingrays that most tours use), and a stop at an area with a few large starfish. They dropped us at Seven Mile Beach after we got back, and we got a couple hours there before heading back to the ship. The best part was that there were only us and one other family on our boat (most people did the excursion that included Rum Point), so we never felt crowded or rushed.

 

You can check out my pictures and videos of that excursion in the Independence of the Seas review in my signature (it was Day 3, I think).

 

We did this same tour with Nativeway We were disappointed in a few things:

 

*They waited at the port for two other ships to come in, which meant we left 45 min late. 45 minutes feels like FOREVER when you are standing around a 90 degree port and have kids eager to get going!

*The Toyota van they used for transport to the boat was very old, with broken seats. I was fine sitting on the floor, but your 65 year old mom may not be.

* We got to stingray city 45 min late, and there was little "parking" and people everywhere.

* Other snorkel stops were disorganized...they just threw fins/masks on the floor of the boat and people scrambled to find their size. And no kids sizes (luckily I brought goggles for the kids)

* They took photos of us, but the photographer got on another boat for the ride home...and we never saw him, nor our photos, again

* Late start meant late getting back, which meant NO time for Seven Mile Beach.

 

Wouldn't use Nativeway again.

[CyberTag]

I just looked it up and we used Moby Dick Tours. The tour was about 3 hours with a stop at stingray city and a separate snorkeling stop. All of the snorkeling gear was included in the price. They were really good about giving instructions on how to interact with the stingrays. We would highly recommend them.

[JenLovesToTravel]

We LOVED the Captain Marvin's Stingray City with a snorkel stop tour. Just the right amount of time and the people running it were great!!

[DrD]

We did fat fish adventures and they were great. we did jet ski tour to stingray city: huge fun! and unlike RCCL we didn't have to pay until the day of.