Soto's or Moby Dick for Stingray City?

[sstephy]

Does anyone have any preferences or reasons to choose Moby Dick or Soto's for their Stingray City excursions? I can't see much difference between the two tours and wonder if anyone has had any experiences that would make me choose one over the other? :confused:

 

Thanks for your help. I appreciate your advice and experience. :)

[indie]

my decision came down to between these two, they are the same price and very similar. I hear both are great. I chose to book moby dick for my upcomming cruise for a few reasons.

 

1. the tour is a bit longer... 3 hours as opposed to 2 1/2

2. moby dick didnt require a credit card for reservations

3. moby dick goes to the barrier reef instead of coral gardens. Ive heard the snorkeling is better at the barrier reef.

4. i've also read that the guide on the bus ride to the boat is very entertaining and tells alot about the island as you ride.

5. Moby dick doesnt have videographers which can be good or bad. I dont like to have a video camera in my face the whole tour, nor do i want to buy a dvd of the tour. So its good to me.

[sstephy]

my decision came down to between these two, they are the same price and very similar. I hear both are great. I chose to book moby dick for my upcomming cruise for a few reasons.

 

1. the tour is a bit longer... 3 hours as opposed to 2 1/2

2. moby dick didnt require a credit card for reservations

3. moby dick goes to the barrier reef instead of coral gardens. Ive heard the snorkeling is better at the barrier reef.

4. i've also read that the guide on the bus ride to the boat is very entertaining and tells alot about the island as you ride.

5. Moby dick doesnt have videographers which can be good or bad. I dont like to have a video camera in my face the whole tour, nor do i want to buy a dvd of the tour. So its good to me.

 

Thank you so much. You information and explaination of the differences is so helpful. Do you know how deep the water is at the barrier reef area Moby Dick takes you? I have 2 in my group who aren't crazy about snorkeling and the more shallow the water the better for them I think.

Is it about the same as we'd encounter at Coral Gardens?

I've snorkeled in Grand Cayman before this trip, but not at either of these locations.

 

Thanks again for your great info! :)

[drew sailbum]

Water is a bit deeper in spots along the barrier reef... down to about 10ft deep there. Coral gardens is about 8ft.

[sstephy]

Water is a bit deeper in spots along the barrier reef... down to about 10ft deep there. Coral gardens is about 8ft.

Thanks Drew, I have a couple of 'not very confident' swimmers in my group so I guess if they're wearing vests a couple feet of water difference won't make much of a difference to them. :)

 

I appreciate your help!

[sstephy]

Water is a bit deeper in spots along the barrier reef... down to about 10ft deep there. Coral gardens is about 8ft.

Gosh Drew, now that I'm thinking about this and you obviously know both areas well.......what are the differences between Coral Gardens and the barrier reef? Both have coral and fish, etc. :confused:

Does it seem to matter to snorkelers which place they go? Does one of these locations have an old shipwreck near it? Are they close in proximity to each other?

 

Sorry for all of the questions, but I thought I'd ask them all and get it over with! :o

 

Thanks so much for your advice and information. :)

[sealpup]

I used Moby Dick and thought it was worth every penny, the guide will take you snorkling first it there are to many boats at the sting rays and by the time you get there most of the boats are gone so all of the sting rays come to see you as for the ones that do not like to snorkle several just sat in the boat and watched and I do believe they have life jacket if you want. Moby dick boat does not hold a huge number of people so it seemed more personable

[sstephy]

I used Moby Dick and thought it was worth every penny, the guide will take you snorkling first it there are to many boats at the sting rays and by the time you get there most of the boats are gone so all of the sting rays come to see you as for the ones that do not like to snorkle several just sat in the boat and watched and I do believe they have life jacket if you want. Moby dick boat does not hold a huge number of people so it seemed more personable

Thank you for the review. I'm leaning more and more towards Moby Dick. I like their greetings, they way they meet you at the dock, and the way they've handled my e-mails. They say first impressions count and they made a great impression on me and I haven't even met them yet - I hope it holds and our excursion with them is good! :p

We're the only ship in port that day so I don't expect to encounter too many crowds. We had originally booked with the ship, but decided to leave the huge buses of people and the double deck boats full of people to themselves and go for a more personal tour especially having 2 children with us. I want to make sure they get the most they can from this experience.

 

Do you remember if the stairs to get back onto the boat went pretty far down into the water or if the first step up was a big one? :confused: Some tours quote having a platform and stairs, some say stairs almost all the way to the ocean bottom, etc.

 

Thanks again for the info. I'm sure we'll have a great time. I'll let everyone know how we did when we return. :)

[breanne$5]

I don't know what all you've checked out. We just got back, and used Captain Bryan. We went out on his catamaran Hannibal. We had about 30 people, the three member crew were so great. Knowledgable, friendly and funny. They put up the sail when we headed back in, and just enjoyed a wonderful, leisure ride back to port. I highly recommend them.