Favorite Excursions- Grand Cayman

[Nole4Life28]

I will be going on my first cruise in May '06 and am really looking forward to it, of course. I was just wondering if you wonderful people, who have already been to these locations would mind just posting here what excursion you did at this location and if you loved or hated it and why. Can be quick or long, doesn't matter. I just want to get great ideas of what to do at each place. I will post the same thread on the other ports of call that we will be going to with the same title, so if you're really anxious to help :D heehee that would be great!! As you can tell, 3 months out, I am really trying to be prepared. Thank you so much! I LOVE CC message boards, all the people are wonderful! I'm so glad I found this place. So, our ports of call are Grand Cayman, Belize, Roatan, and Costa Maya. Thank you again :D

[nanfromatlanta]

Do not miss the Stingray City Swim & Snorkel. Be sure to book the earliest available time to get there before the other boats. It was one of my all time favorite excursions. The interaction with the rays is unbelievable. The sandbar is only waist to chest deep, in case you are not a swimmer.

[rjscott]

The Stingray swim & snorkel is awesome. Such a great experience. If you are into snorkeling, you can snorkel from the pier, just down the road a bit from where the tenders dock. Great visibility and lots of fish. Our last visit we rented a car from the local Avis and had a ball just tooling around and stopping at some beaches.

[canadian cruising couple]

We were just in GC last week and did Nativeway's rays, reef and Rum Point tour ($60 pp) and HAD A BLAST! Don't miss the stingrays!

[Nole4Life28]

Thanks for the replies!! I think it will be helpful to many people besides myself! Any one else have any? Please share :) Thanks again!

[Allicakes]

where did you book your tour from?

[Sheffie]

You MUST swim with the stingrays! We used Captain Bryan's Buccaneer for our excursion. The timing was perfect. We even bought the DVD of the excursion! Here is one link to their excursion: http://www.cayman.org/captainbryan/

[LizaMM]

We were just in GC last week and did Nativeway's rays, reef and Rum Point tour ($60 pp) and HAD A BLAST! Don't miss the stingrays!

 

 

I have done this excursion as well and it was fabulous!! A great experience with the StingRays and then to a lovely beach for a while.

[Nole4Life28]

Hi again, any recently returned cruisers have anything to add, maybe ? :D

48 more days YAY!!

[REDSONJAMN]

There is nothing like this experience----It was awesome---My son who is 11 and I chose this and it was great---You could even be a non swimmer and do this one--You walk on the bottom 25 feet down with a helmet and air being pumped in--The coral and fish are grest but the best part is you feel like an astronaut on the moon--hard to describe--Very good safety record--booked through the ship they take a small group down--you are down 25 feet for about 25 minutes--

 

Any questions I will be happy to help--Just did this excursion last Friday.

[Texsungirl]

We had a fabulous time with Nativeways last September on their Reef, Rays and Rum Point Trip. Not to be missed!

[cruiserssandr]

Had a great time with a swim with the sting rays and snorkel excursion with Captain Marvins. Only eight of us on the boat, Much better than the huge crowds the cruise ships take out.

[sdwrdt]

Just loved doing the Stingrays & Island Tour with Nativeway! Just $45 per person and we saw everything on the western edge.

 

The stingrays were the highlight of the entire cruise for hubby, my 12 yo dd and myself!

[ck1234]

Had a great time with a swim with the sting rays and snorkel excursion with Captain Marvins. Only eight of us on the boat, Much better than the huge crowds the cruise ships take out.

 

I booked Captain Marvins for an 8:30am tour, they say check in is 8:00am. If the Rhapsody is on time at 7:00am, is this a reasonable time to make it to check in? Thanks for any advice.

[gileyman]

They'll be on central time for daylight savings time. You'll arrive at 6am local.

[LenaDaLlama]

Most definitely visit the stingrays, it's an awesome experience!

[martdm]

We booked the Jeep excursion from this site:

 

http://grandcaymancruiseexcursions.com/Excursions.htm

 

We really enjoyed it a lot - there is another post on this forum that explains people's experiences in great detail so I won't bother repeating here.

[GramaFran]

We went on Capt Bryan's Hannibal tri maran and loved it. You take your own sodas or beer along with your own snacks (store just across from checkin) he supplied water and cups. You can rinse off in fresh water from a hose on board so while back in Georgtown you are not all salty. We really enjoyed the stingrays, very exciting having them swim between your legs. LOL

After the stingrays we made a stop beside the coral for snorkling. My family from Hawaii loved it - saw more coral, fish etc than they see in Hawaii.

Do see stingray city as it was fantastic...

francine

[caribbean dreams]

Well, i'm with everybody else and will have to say Stingray city.

[Buckeyebrd]

I would have to say you have to do Stingray City. We did Native Way and it was great. A small group of 27 people with alot of personal attention. Every one of my boys - 14, 12, and 10 - got to hold the stingray. We were not rushed at all. It was an awesome experience!!! Do not miss it. It was our favorite thing that we did. Also, if anyone has pictures of the stingrays when they went, I would love to get copies. The camera that I bought from the captain of the Native Way boat ended up not being waterproof. I found this out when I went to pick up my pictures from being developed and the only roll that did not turn out was this roll. That whole experience is not captured on film - I am so upset about it!!! Have a great cruise. I wish I was going again!!! One of the fun parts is what you are doing now. Reading and planning - fun !! fun !!!

[GramaFran]

I have photos - give me IM or email address and i will forward them to you.

Francine

[osupride97]

My two dd's, 13 & 19, and I will be going on the Conquest in August, first timers. We would like to do the stingray's and possibly snorkle, as well.

 

Captain Marvin's has three tours, 2 hours, 3 hours, and a full day.

 

Captain Bryan's has a half and a full day, on the sailboats.

 

Has anyone done the full day tour w/either operator? Would a full day be too risky....i.e. possibly miss the ship?

[mayaglenn]

I will be going on my first cruise in May '06 and am really looking forward to it, of course. I was just wondering if you wonderful people, who have already been to these locations would mind just posting here what excursion you did at this location and if you loved or hated it and why. Can be quick or long, doesn't matter. I just want to get great ideas of what to do at each place. I will post the same thread on the other ports of call that we will be going to with the same title, so if you're really anxious to help :D heehee that would be great!! As you can tell, 3 months out, I am really trying to be prepared. Thank you so much! I LOVE CC message boards, all the people are wonderful! I'm so glad I found this place. So, our ports of call are Grand Cayman, Belize, Roatan, and Costa Maya. Thank you again :D

Don't forget the Butterfly Farm for something different. This place is great and the staff is awesome. Ask about their Jobs for Kids at Risk of dropping out...and how they later help them go to college and bring them back as employees. They ahve also been re-releasing native species in all their locations to bring them back from extiction.

 

Also, you might check out the Jeep Tour with Pirate Radio. It goes to the East End and stops at the Reef Resort. Quiet, beautiful and fun. Grand Cayman Jeep Adventure - we got it on Carnival Conquest.

[Sassy American Bird]

Could you elaborate on the Butterfly Farm tour, Mayaglen? Did you book through the cruise line or independently? We have a 1 year old daughter who LOVES butterflies. We thought this would be a great family outing for us. Just wondering if we could take a taxi there ourselves and save money. Thanks in advance!

 

Cheers, Kimberly