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Stingray City Tours

ColSavLan

By ColSavLan,
in Cayman Islands

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ColSavLan

ColSavLan

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I am trying to decide on who to use for a Stingray City Tour with snorkeling. I am getting very confused from reading posts and just trying to figure out which company to go with. Any help would be greatly appreciated! There will be 5 in our party, my husband and I and an 18,15 and 9 year old.

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tgunn1978

tgunn1978

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I am trying to decide on who to use for a Stingray City Tour with snorkeling. I am getting very confused from reading posts and just trying to figure out which company to go with. Any help would be greatly appreciated! There will be 5 in our party, my husband and I and an 18,15 and 9 year old.

 

In May, I did the Stingray City tour in Grand Cayman! It was perfect! I was on a Carnival ship, and booked an excursion called Deluxe Stingray City Sandbar through Carnival. The company they use is called MarineLand Tours. They have contracts with Carnival, but I don't know about other cruise lines. The tour was the coolest thing I have ever done. I have a sever low back injury, so the appeal for me was the boat they use. it has steps on the back that go all the way down to the sand bar. Its very easy to get into the water and very easy to get out. The people that operate the tour are amazing! Here is where they differ from other companies: You are allowed to take all of your own pics, and videos!!!! On the ride out, they had workers walking around on the boat asking us if we wanted them to take a pic of us with our cameras! Then after helping everyone get into the water, they took pics of us holding and feeding, and kissing the stingrays, and they gave us information about the rays, and how they live, their predators, etc. it was awesome. They sell beverages onboard, but you can bring your own food and drinks. THEY HAVE CLEAN RESTROOMS ONBOARD THE SHIP AND SHOWERS OUTSIDE AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS TO RINSE THE SALT WATER OFF WHEN YOU ARE DONE!!! I live in Texas, and I do not work for them. I kinda wish I did! It was an amazing experience!

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CDNJehn

CDNJehn

Posted
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I am trying to decide on who to use for a Stingray City Tour with snorkeling. I am getting very confused from reading posts and just trying to figure out which company to go with. Any help would be greatly appreciated! There will be 5 in our party, my husband and I and an 18,15 and 9 year old.

 

 

We used ToursCayman dot net. They were great, and very reasonably priced.

We did three stops...stingray city, northern reef and starfish point.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Edited by CDNJehn
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mitsugirly Great Review Rare

mitsugirly

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I highly recommend Nativeways. They are absolutely wonderful and not crowded like you would get with a cruiseship.

 

If you go to my signature line (for my Jewel cruise), I have a complete review with tons of pictures of our day with Nativeway.

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ABQmom

ABQmom

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We have done Stingray City twice, once on a private Zodiac Eco tour with Captain Neal (great experience, but really pricey) and last time we booked with Soto's Cruises and loved it! For only $35 per adult they picked us up at the port, provided snorkel equipment, took us to Stingray City sandbar, a snorkel stop on the way back, and transportation back to the port. The boat was great, with both shade and a potty, and they limit the number they will take to around 20, so the experience was personal. We ended up with only 9 on our tour.

 

We have a trip planned to GC in November and I have already booked again with Soto's.

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LetTheGoodTimesCruise

LetTheGoodTimesCruise

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No you are not overthinking this because it does happen but not much you can do about it. We arrived at 8:00 am, the rep walked us over to a big tent area where we were told to come back to that same spot by 9:00. We returned at 9:00 and more waiting as the different tour operators tried to get their groups together. We left in a vehicle by 9:30ish to go to the area where we board the boat. Now more waiting on the boat because some folks from Carnival were booked but were late. We didn't get going until 10:30ish. We had a wonderful time with Nativeway's Rays, Reef and Rum Point tour but not happy at all with the waiting around. If people are reasonably late that’s fine but unacceptable to keep a boatload of people waiting around. It was a very busy port the day were there at around 5 or 6 ships and so that may have made a difference to the chaos that day because Nativeway does have really good reviews.

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Marie51

Marie51

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No you are not overthinking this because it does happen but not much you can do about it. We arrived at 8:00 am, the rep walked us over to a big tent area where we were told to come back to that same spot by 9:00. We returned at 9:00 and more waiting as the different tour operators tried to get their groups together. We left in a vehicle by 9:30ish to go to the area where we board the boat. Now more waiting on the boat because some folks from Carnival were booked but were late. We didn't get going until 10:30ish. We had a wonderful time with Nativeway's Rays, Reef and Rum Point tour but not happy at all with the waiting around. If people are reasonably late that’s fine but unacceptable to keep a boatload of people waiting around. It was a very busy port the day were there at around 5 or 6 ships and so that may have made a difference to the chaos that day because Nativeway does have really good reviews.

 

Well it would seem better if the tour operator told you to be there at 9 instead of 8.

Thanks for the info.

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