Captain Marvins or Native Way Tours

[deb380]

Can our past cruisers tell me which one they thought was better and better bang for the buck?

 

Thanks

[Bunkie103]

We did Captain Marvins maily because Native way didn't offer the tour we wanted on the day we were in GC. I was totally pleased and impressed with our tour. We were on the Valor in early November and had our itinerary changed several times because of a hurricane and it was Captain Marvins that informed me of this long before Carnival ever did.

 

We walked the few blocks from the tender dock to their office and checked in, and were on our way within 30 minutes when the rest of the group arrived. Their small bus was very comfortable and the driver did a nice job of informing us of the sites as we rode to their boat. We were a group of approximately 20 that day, so there was lots of room on the boat. My DH snorkeled and said the diver was great at pointing out coral and even snagged a moray eel for them to photograph. Spent a good amount of time in the water with the stingrays and had lots of information to give us. Made sure everyone who wanted to, was able to touch and even kiss them.

 

Personally thought "hell" was kind of a waste of time, but it was part of the tour, but LOVED the turtle farm. We had time to stop at 7 Mile beach for a drink too! Back to the ship in plenty of time after a wonderful day! Hope you enjoy whichever you choose!:D

[Jerry101]

I highly recommend Native Way. I used them in February on their Rays, Reef and Rum Point tour and it was wonderful. We had maybe ten people total and everyone was very pleased with the service. I have never used Captain Marvins but also heard good things.

 

Here's my full review with pictures

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=305008

 

 

Native Way Watersports

PO Box 30340 SMB

Grand Cayman, B.W.I.

www.nativewaywatersports.com

nativeway@candw.ky

(345) 916-5027

 

 

Ask for Sharon Ebanks and she will take care of you...

[Littlegoo75]

I highly recommend Capt. Marvin's. We just did their snorkeling tour last month, and it was great, and you can't beat the price.

We saw a Moray eel, as well as a nurse shark at one of the snorkeling stops. It was a great experience.

[Super89]

We used Nativeway also for the rays reef and rumpoint tour. We also saw two nurse sharks and two moray eels. Luckily they let us know that they were there before hand and assured us they were not dangerous! We also had a small group and they were great. My daughter and several other people got to drive the boat too. The DVD they make and sell is definitely worth it if you buy it. Kind of like reliving the whole thing! have a blast!

[Ehpride]

Captain Marvins was awesome. We did the two hour 2 stop excursion and loved it. Less than 30 people and they parked the boat on the sandbar far away from the rest of the boats. They were always doing head counts to make sure they had everybody. Also, they were very helpful with my 78 year old grandma, helping her get up the ladder and get on and off the boat. They had life jackets for everybody to wear in the water and snorkel equipment, even though everybody didn't snorkel at the second stop. It only took about 10 minutes to walk to the office from the pier and then about 10 to 15 minutes for them to drive us to their pier. They gave us a kind of tour on the way, pointing out things.

[salty dingo]

We did Rays Reef and Rum Point with Native Way and were very impressed. The guides were a lot of fun, and we saw many rays and moray eels at the reef.

 

The meal at Rum Point was very good as well - and included with the tour. You can order off the restaurant menu, and it is a good restaurant.

[1kodiak]

We done the capt. in May, it was great out with the rays . but the crews were even beter . after we were all done we stoped in a little deeper water and for about 10 min. we all was jumping of the top of the boat . It was a lot of fun .

[bfallen1]

Has anybody done (or going to do) Captain Marvin’s full day tour? I’m especially interested in the conch dive.

[emmysmommy]

I'm another satisfied customer of Captain Marvin's. We did the 3 hour snorkel excursion. Everyplace we stopped was wonderful and the tour guides were very friendly and helpful. We would definitely book through them again.

[MTinGA]

Loved Nativeway...emailed me all specifics about excursion. Even gave us a discount price for mom who does not swim but wanted to go along to watch at Stingray City. Got down in water with us to help catch stingray for photos. Helped us to feed stingrays. Let kids "drive" boat out in open water for photo ops for a short period of time. Small numbers of people. I cannot say enough good things about Nativeway. Would use them again.

[jeffkirsh]

We'll be in GC on the 30th. Captain Marvins didn't have any availability, but they recommended Native Way. Pretty classy of them to do that, even though I think there's enough business to go around.

[rdyornot]

We used Nativeway back in November, the RRR tour. It was a great time. They were very professional, and Sharon (great lady) made sure that we were back in time for departure. Because it's private and allows all the ships in port to enjoy the excursion, this is a very important to meet the different departure times. Great team effort.

[Patdmoose]

From what I have seen/read on CC, you will have a great tour with either one of these.

We used Capt. Marvin the last time we were in Cayman. While sailing back from our Stingray tour, my daughter asked if she and her sister and their two guys could catch a cab from the dock instead of riding the bus back to town. They radioed ahead a had a cab waiting there for them when we docked. THAT is great service!

[jerseygirl3]

We love Captain Marvin's. We've done it 2 or 3 times now. And the best part was the free rum cake they gave us at the end of the tour.

[PROPILOT]

Just returned from Grand Cayman on the Valor.........did the Captain Marvin's half day Stingray City Tour on March 7. We booked online 2 weeks before we left and there were no issues.They were courteous polite and knowledgeable. Our skipper was Chester.....originally from Honduras and experienced ;he has worked the oceans all of his life.This is an experience not to be missed on your cruise and you will save yourself approximately $25 minimum per person over onboard bookings. we had the driver drop us off on the way back to town at Seven Mile Beach to enjoy a little sand n' sun for a while...they had no problem doing that for us ! One of the best tours on our vacation ! Hope this helps in making a decision.

[csaeroach]

We used Nativeway in Feb/06 after reading so many great reviews on Cruise Critics. Ashton was our tour guide, and Thomas was our driver/captain. Both these guys were great and so friendly! We had a small group so it was a very personal tour. We did the Island and Stringray Tour. First we were off to the Rum Factory for some sampling of Rum and Rum Cakes. Then off to the Turtle Farm, and I think this is a must for anyone visiting Cayman Islands. Ashton had so much knowledge, that people who were not in our tour kept up with the group as he giving out so much information about the Turtle Farm. It did not seem like they gave guided tours themselves. We then went to "Hell" this was neat, but sure not the highlight of the tour. We were then off to Stringray City. This was amazing. My daughters age 14 and 16 enjoyed this the best out of any tour we did. Thomas could catch them in a flash, and told us a lot of great information about the stingrays. They have suction just like a vaccuum, and each person on the tour had a chance to experience this. Thomas made sure no one in the group was left out, and everyone fed and had the chance to hold a stringray. Lots of great photos were taken! I would HIGHY RECOMMEND using Nativeway Watersports! They were very professional and offer such a great tour.

[Cards5440]

I suggest using Moby Dick www.mobydicktours.com. We looked at both Capt. Marvin's and Nativeway, but went with MD because of price and time constraints. We did want to have a little time to shop. It was a 3 hour tour for 35pp the took us to the stingray sandbar and snorkeling. The crew was well educated in the island and marine life. They taught us how to hold and feed the rays, had snorkel gear and life vests for everyone. It was a smaller group on our outing and we had plenty of food for the rays. I would check them out!

[mresley]

We loved Captain Marvins. We sailed las September during Hurrican Rita. We were a day late getting to Grand Cayman, but they were ready for us as if we were on schedule. Lamar, our captain, was great and I had the adventure of a life time with the rays. I especially like the fact they were eager to e-mail replys and accomodate our request. Natures way wasn't as eager so that is why we chose Captain Marvin. We have booked again with Captain Marvin in May and can't wait, but I'm sure both are great tours. You can't miss you swimming with the rays. :o

[sdwrdt]

Did Stingrays & Island Tour with NativeWay. Really, really enjoyed it BUT we were all quite apprehensive when it was time to go and it was almost 3 pm and we still weren't picked up at the dock to get to the pier. They did get us in to line before the last tender at 3:45, but we did catch the 2nd to last one back.

 

We thought we were supposed to be back by 2:30 pm, so that's what made it all the more disconcerting. So, we actually got more than our money's worth - as long as you don't get overly stressed by time.

 

Loved the entire tour. Our guide was Lisa, she took extreme care of us throughout the whole island tour. Anywhere we stopped, she told us all the information and made sure we got to hold the turtles, etc.

 

Shyster (yes, that's his name) was our captain for the stingrays. He not only took care of us - making sure we could feed the rays, get petted by them, spit at by them, etc. He also loved them so much that anyone who was interested was given the same attention. This bothered me at first because we were the ones who were on the private tour, but I just made sure that I crowded out the others until my family had their fill. Then it didn't matter to me who Shyster helped.