GATravel Posted October 12, 2005 #1 Share Posted October 12, 2005 Has anyone been on the Grand Cayman Kayak Safari? We will be on the Inspiration in April and are not sure what to do while in Grand Cayman. Thanks for any advise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishoutofwater Posted October 12, 2005 #2 Share Posted October 12, 2005 We have never done the kayak trip but when we were there in September we went horse back riding. We had a really good time, and would do it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdawson Posted October 13, 2005 #3 Share Posted October 13, 2005 Swimming with the sting rays is the most popular and funfilled tour/excursion in all of the Caribbean. Memorable. I do it every time I'm in GC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvz2run2000 Posted October 13, 2005 #4 Share Posted October 13, 2005 Swimming with the stingrays was the best! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sablerose Posted October 13, 2005 #5 Share Posted October 13, 2005 We haven't gone yet, but are definitely swimming with the stingrays, we already booked with a local tour operator. There's also a fabbo Grand Cayman port-of-call forum here on CC, which is where we were able to research this exact question - what to do there! Everybody over there's real helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdawson Posted October 13, 2005 #6 Share Posted October 13, 2005 I always use Capt Bryan. He uses a catamaran. Holds about 20-25 people. Motors out to the sandbar and sails back. Great service. Capt Marvin started these tours about 30 yrs ago. Nativeway also gets good reviews. http://grandcaymancruiseexcursions.com/StingrayCityCaptBryans.htm So much better than using a ship's excursion with a herd of people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacerzfan Posted October 13, 2005 #7 Share Posted October 13, 2005 We pre-booked an excursion with Soto Tours to swim and snorkel with the stingrays and snorkel at Coral Gardens for $30 per person. This was an excellent choice. The same excursion booked on the ship was $69 per person and our boat was a lot less crowded. Therefore we got very individualized attention and had plenty of time to enjoy this wonderful tour. I highly recommend it. http://sotoscruises.com/index.shtml Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizinrican Posted October 13, 2005 #8 Share Posted October 13, 2005 While GC is not our favorite port, we have learned to make due. We always go to Stingray City and snorkel with the stingrays. We have actually started to look forward to doing this execursion now. We have also rented a Jeep when time was allotted for beach breaks and just touring the island. We have a lunch of beer and seafood and do some shopping. This island is to Americanized for me, it is like being home here in FL?!:rolleyes: But we have learned how to make the best of an ok island. Cruizinrican:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrly Posted October 13, 2005 #9 Share Posted October 13, 2005 When we were in GC last May we did a combination tour which included the village of hell, the turtle farm, and snorkiling at stingray sandbar. Everyone that we went with had a great time and said it was the best excursion of the trip. Whatever you do enjoy your cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare peanutzmom Posted October 13, 2005 #10 Share Posted October 13, 2005 This island is to Americanized for me, it is like being home here in FL?!:rolleyes: But we have learned how to make the best of an ok island. My husband and I thought the same thing when we were in GC!! It felt too much like home. Jamaica was much more exotic, in my opinion, and we really loved it. Getting back to the OP, I'll put in another vote for Stingray City, especially if you do it with a snorkle package, where you spend some time with the stingrays, then go to one of the reefs to snorkle for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allison&Eric Posted October 13, 2005 #11 Share Posted October 13, 2005 I agree with the above post as well. We did the Rays Reef and Rum Point tour a couple weeks ago with Nativeway and had a blast. Stayed in the water the entire time, but on the way to our boat go to see a little bit of the island. Nothing like seeing KFC, Burger King, GNC and Papa Johns to make you feel like you've left the country! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allison&Eric Posted October 13, 2005 #12 Share Posted October 13, 2005 I agree with the above post as well. We did the Rays Reef and Rum Point tour a couple weeks ago with Nativeway and had a blast. Stayed in the water the entire time, but on the way to our boat go to see a little bit of the island. Nothing like seeing KFC, Burger King, GNC and Papa Johns to make you feel like you've left the country! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texas greeneyes Posted October 13, 2005 #13 Share Posted October 13, 2005 When we were in GC last May we did a combination tour which included the village of hell, the turtle farm, and snorkiling at stingray sandbar. Everyone that we went with had a great time and said it was the best excursion of the trip. Whatever you do enjoy your cruise. Did you book the combination tour through Carnival or an independent operator? If independent, which company? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THECAPTAIN23 Posted October 13, 2005 #14 Share Posted October 13, 2005 You Can Do Anything You Want In Grand Cayman. The Island Is One Of My Favorite Because You Dont Have People Following You And Being Pushy About Buying Stuff. Grand Cayman Is One Of The Cleaniest Islands And Has The Most Beautiful Water. I Say Just Go To The Beach And Enjoy The Island. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgriff17 Posted October 13, 2005 #15 Share Posted October 13, 2005 On that note...what is the best beach to visit? Isn't GC the one with 7 mile beach? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starz723 Posted October 13, 2005 #16 Share Posted October 13, 2005 I really want to share this with all of you. I am going back to Grand Cayman since my first visit in 1971. I guess you can call me a pioneer of Grand Cayman. I was one of the first tourists to go there when they had one flight, every other day in the early 1970's. There were no cruise ships, hardly any hotels, no commercialization at all except for all the banks, dirt roads & alot of swamps. The turtle farm was there. It was a tax haven for the rich. 7 mile beach had a few pvt homes, 1 holiday inn and the beach club colony. It was pristine. No phones! No TV! Im talking remote. The people who were native to the island really were not exposed to the outside world. They were so unique and wonderful. Along with that there was a mosquitoe problem that was overwhelming. When I checked into my hotel I received mosquitoe repellant. The native people were actually immune to the mosquitoes. I never saw anything like it. When I walked from my beach house to the dining room, I had to wear socks over my hands and cover every inch of myself and they still bite threw. I would come into the room with mosquitoes all over me.. Hard to believe but true. they used to spray & fog the entire island constantly. There were mom & pop type excursion co's. they would come to the bar and ask you if you wanted to explore the island, swim, dive or fish. thats it!..they found you and you negotiated a price. Being a naturalist & activist I was very concerned about how you could just take anything from the ocean. I had my pick of hundreds & hundreds of conchs on the ocean floor to take home. We ate the conch for lunch as part of the excursion. I expressed my concern that with the new tourism coming in, these conchs would be depleted very quickly. Im sure they went quick. Here is a funny story. Right off the beach was the reef wall and very deep water. I loved to swim, but , wouldnt go where the drop off was. Too scary! I didnt know what lurked there. I take a sunfish out with my husband and we capsize in the deep water. we had trouble righting it back, so I decide to swim back to shore. A giant stingray/eagle ray swam right underneath me and skimmed me and literally scared me to death as I had no idea they existed there. That was the first time Ive ever seen one and didnt know if they would bite, etc. lol. No one told me a thing about whats in that water, lol. I didnt go back in the water for 3 days. Now they have stingray alley. Im looking forward to return to Cayman, but Im sure it is now very commercialized.. Im so happy I had a chance to see it in its pristine form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texas greeneyes Posted October 15, 2005 #17 Share Posted October 15, 2005 What wonderful memories! Thank you for sharing them with us. Do you possibly have any photos from those early days that you could scan and share? What do you think of the area now? What is worse; what is better? Culture, economics, ecology, and any other area you care to comment on. Thanks! Patty in Texas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newmexicoNita Posted October 15, 2005 #18 Share Posted October 15, 2005 We pre-booked an excursion with Soto Tours to swim and snorkel with the stingrays and snorkel at Coral Gardens for $30 per person. This was an excellent choice. The same excursion booked on the ship was $69 per person and our boat was a lot less crowded. Therefore we got very individualized attention and had plenty of time to enjoy this wonderful tour. I highly recommend it.http://sotoscruises.com/index.shtml thanks so much for the info. We are not lovers of GC and were considering just staying on the ship, but now that you had such a great time I emailed my daughter to see if she wanted to do something like this.GC seems to be one of those love/hate islands, no one is just luck warm toward this port. We do love snorkeling and I have always wanted to see th stingrays: sounds like $30 well spent. We paid more than that to snorkel about 20 years ago in St Crux. The snorkeling was just so so, the free drinks were 1 rum punch or soft drink and the owner of the boat had no personality. Since then we have had much better luck, but $30 is just about as cheap as one could expect. NMNita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
love2relax Posted October 25, 2005 #19 Share Posted October 25, 2005 We did a Stingray City/Reef Snorkel combination tour when we were in GC last August. The Stingrays were the highlight of our trip (much better thatn Belize's similar tour), but I wasn't really impressed with the reef snorkel. I guess that I have been so many places in the last year that I just didn't find it that special. IMHO Stingray City: A++++, Reef snorkel - C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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