Sotos or Nativeway for Stingray City Sandbar Tour?

[jazzbird925]

Hi.

 

My husband and I are making a Valor stop in GC in 11 days and would like to take the highly recommended Stingray City Sandbar tour. After much research, it appears that 2 of the most popular tour operators are Sotos and Nativeway. What, if any are the differences, pros and cons etc. Also, I can't find an email address for Nativeway and don't feel comfortable making reservations without email contact.

 

I am not a swimmer or water-lover but from all postings read, it seems that swimmers and non-swimmers alike adore this tour. Some even consider it a "must do."

 

Lastly, any possibility of getting to the Turtle farm after the Stingray tour or is that calling it too close for tenderin? We are scheduled to be in GC from 9-5:30. Any input and suggestions to help us avoid mistakes and problems will be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks in advance.

Gayle

[zydecocruiser]

I've been on both Soto's and Nativeway's and liked both. If I had to pick one, I think I might go with Soto's, BUT... when I went with Soto's last November (on Conquest) it was a 3 stop trip instead of 2 and there 4 cruise ships in port and when I went with Nativeway last March (on Valor), there were 8 ships in port.

 

I don't think Valor gets to GC in time for you to do Soto's morning trip - 9:30-11:30, but you can check. You could do the afternoon trip with them.

 

Nativeway's morning trip starts at 10:30am, I believe.

 

Nativeway email is nativway@candw.ky

(no E in the email address)

 

There would be time after Nativeway for the turtle farm and time before the afternoon Soto tour for the farm.

 

http://sotoscruises.com/index.shtml

http://www.nativewaywatersports.com/

 

I will also add the Soto's, Nativeway, and probably all other non-ship tours also make a snorkel stop or two, so if you don't swim at all, you would probably just stay on the boat for those.

 

There are "Island" tours that you can purchase for $15pp.

 

Some operators will also add on an island tour package if you wish.

[trish99]

We just got back and used Soto's. They were great! The boat was very easy to get in and out of. The guides were very helpful and friendly. My husband had gone with Captain Bryan on our last trip and he felt that this group was much better.

 

Trish

[dyanna72]

We booked thru Nativeway after we have heard such great things about them. Looking forward to the trip!

 

Dyanna

[ccrn]

We loved Soto's as well. The guides were excellent at making my kids comfortable with the rays. They dropped us off at the Hyatt afterwards, and we took a cab for $10 per person to the turtle farm and Hell. Admission to the the turtle farm was $21 for a family of 5. If you are unsure of timing, e-mail Kerry at Soto's cruises. She is very helpful.

[tokanm]

Has anyone here ever used WWW.SHORETRIPS.COM before? They seem to

offer exactly what we are looking for, the stingrays, 7 mile beach, turtles,

govenors mansion, Hell and shopping all in one package. The others all

sound good too, but we are trying to keep *everybody* in the family happy

and this fits the bill. I would love to hear if anyone has used them and about

their experience both good and/or bad. We are sailing with RCCL on the

VOS and will be in GC on 9/14/05. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I've checked out all the other excursions and nobody else seems to be

offering all of these things in one tour..just some of those things. I did email

them and of course they sound perfect but of course they are in the business

of sales:p

[bgomes]

tokanm: I have not used shoretrips, but I have an excursion booked with Nativeway http://www.nativewaywatersports.com whose itinerary is the same as what you are looking for. It is called their Stingray City and Island Tour. You can find it under Tours for cruise ship passengers. 4 hours $40 pp

 

We went with Nativeway several years ago, they were great!!!!

 

Good luck

[mrh]

We just got back and went with Nativeway. Did the Rays Reef & Rum Point trip. We had a fantastic time. The rays were awesome. Snorkeling, we saw nurse sharks & Moray eels as well as the usual. The beach was the most beautiful beach we saw on the entire cruise. And I cant say enough about the Nativeway crew. They go the extra mile for you. Very helpful, informative and fun to be with. They found my niece a great big conch shell & let her & her friend drive the boat. I highly recommend them.

[cruisereddy]

MRH,

 

Did y'all stop at Coral Gardens or Barrier Reef? Wondering how swift the water is as my 10yo son and 6yo daughter will be with my DH and I! We snorkeled the barrier reef in belize last year, but too swift for my kiddos to keep up...it wasn't too easy for me either!!

 

How was Rum Point? Good food/nice beach?

[mrh]

We snorkeled right near the sand bar. If your son can swim he can do this. The beach was gorgeous, the nicest looking beach on the cruise. The food was real good too.:)

[Ripley]

Just back from our cruise on the Mariner. The Nativeway tour was the highlight of our cruise! Stingray City was a delight for all of us,and our guides Sheldon and Mike couldn't have been more helpful. They were especially attentive to the kids, making sure everyone gets "up close and personal"time with the rays. The snorkeling was easy and calm. My kids and I chose to wear floatation jackets which I would recommend for your little ones...not necessary for more experienced snorkelers. Rum point was beautiful with crystal, calm water...a great place for the children to play. Good food, too.

 

Have a great time!!

[1sttimemariner]

We just got back from our Rays, Reef and Rum Point tour with Nativeway, and I can definately recommend them. The crew was great! They really get you up close and personal with the Rays. We snorkeled at the Barrier Reef which was easy for kids, and Rum Point was very nice. The guys on the boat were great with the kids, and made sure they were comfortable with everything, and were just a really nice group of people. If you are doing a tour, definately book with Nativeway!

[suzycruizy]

Just got back from Mariner and while in GC we took a Soto's tour. It was the 9:30-11:30am tour and it was just enough time to get back to town, have lunch and do some wandering around the shops. All the tour operators were great from pick-up to drop-off. We had a full boat, but that's still only a little more than 25 people. Way better than 100 people crammed onto a cruise-booked tour. The only warning I would mention is that if you do not plan on swimming, the tour makes a 30 min stop at a coral reef for some snorkeling. If you are not a swimmer, hopefully you still have good sea legs. The boat does not have any stabilizers so it does rock (and roll) an awful lot. There were a lot of non-swimmers that were feeling pretty uncomfortable (no trips to the restroom though) and couldn't wait to get off the boat and step into the stingray sandbar. After that, the experience with the stingrays makes you forget about the rocking and rolling. Then it's just a quick ride (like a speed boat on medium speed) back to the dock. My dad and a family friend got a little seasick, but there were at least 4 people that you could tell were just feeling horrible. Again, to avoid the rocking and rolling, maybe there is a tour that goes directly to and from the Sandbar? If we travel with the same group to Grand Cayman, I will probably try to find a tour that does that one stop. Anyway, don't pass up the trip to Stingray City Sandbar...Billy and Jonathan from Soto's gave everyone a chance to pet and feed the stingrays...you can even get a stingray back massage if you would like! Definitely an experience you don't want to miss!

[Flytanya]

I'm a little worried about the rocking and rolling with Soto's. Can anyone else share more about what they did to avoid it? I will be on Bonine for the cruise, but worried that won't be enough.:confused:

[rainbow92]

I, too have a tour booked with Sotos in February and am now a little concerned for my Mom who probably won't want to swim. Anyone with some advise, please answer!! Does Nativeway have the same stops and rocking and rolling boats? Thanks.

Am also concerned about the tendering and if I will be able to get off the boat in time. Sotos said 8:30 and to be on one of the first tenders, how do I do that? (We are on the Mariner)

[Kim&Chris]

:confused:

[andnickali]

I did the Rays with Nativeway last week. I tendered with Carnival, and had no problems just walking down to deck 0 and catching the next tender. I did notice some of the boats (maybe Royal) were using their own life-boats to tender. I would imagine that may take longer since they probably don't hold as many people.

 

Anyway- on the trip to the sandbar our boat did not rock-roll, the water was calm (which is just luck of the draw). All of the boats at the sandbar appeared to be about the same size, so I would imagine if one had problems they all would- just depends on the seas that day.

 

There is really no swimming needed at the sandbar- it is only waist deep, so don't worry unless the water is choppy and you are afraid of getting knocked down and having to swim. My 4 year-old was in the water with a floaty to keep her up.

 

Good luck

Shannon