Stingray City Excursion

[meagent]

Hi all,

 

Has anyone done the NCL Stingray City excursions and if so, any thoughts on whether it is best to go with them or book through a private vendor? We are thinking of the Stringray City/Island Tour combo which is 4.5 hours and tours the island, see the turtle farm and "Hell" then to stringray city. It's $45 and most of the private ones I find are similar price just for stingray city and maybe another snorkeling stop. We don't care that much about the snorkeling, just don't want to be too crowded on a "cattle" boat. Appreciate any help, thanks!

[Grandpaul]

I've been to Sting Ray City a half dozen times and it's one of my favorite things to do. A good idea is to try and get on an early trip out there because that is when the rays are their friskiest. I've been to Hell (sounds interesting) and didn't like it. Who would I guess. LOL. There are a couple private tours that are excellent. I think Captain Bob is one. But I would make sure I did the Rays first. We did it the week after the Crocodile Hunter was killed by a ray and there were 16 people out there. Instead of the usual 200 or so. The earlier the better. You're going to really enjoy that trip.

[Philob]

Be sure to send a few postcards from the Hell post office.:cool:

[GoNCruisnFamily]

We did this exact excursion last year and enjoyed it. The bus took us around Grand Cayman and pointed out the sights. We got to go to the turtle farm (my kids loved that) and then took a boat out to Stingray City. There were about 50-75 people on the boat but it was not overly crowded. The area that the boat took us was about 4-5 feet deep and there was not a lot of snorkeling going on. You could wade around and feed/see the rays. This worked well for my younger kids.

We would do it again.

[debnpaul]

Hi meagent -

 

We took the Majesty in Feb 2006 and had a wonderful trip. In Grand Cayman, we used the local group Nativeway for our excursion - which was a snorkeling stop and a stop at Stingray City. It was a very nice excursion, we had about 14 or 16 guests on the boat, if I recall correctly. After anchoring, the Nativeway staff/crew came into the water with us, and assisted with "catching" some sting rays, helping us hold them, feed them squid, and telling us about them. It was really nice to have such a small group. We did see boats/groups with easily 50-75 people on them, and I would wonder if they got much personalized attention from the crew.

 

Deb

[cruiserssandr]

We have done the StingRay City tour with Captain Marvins. Much nicer than the ship tours. We were lucky the day we went there were only 8 of us on our boat with 2 guides. Lots of personal attention.

[LAURAMC]

captain marvins is the way to go !!!!... they are online. I have used them twice and I do not miss the cattle car feeling as you stated. much more personal. You are all going to the same place

[Grandpaul]

Captain Marvin not Capt. Bob. Yeah, that's the ticket.

[meagent]

Thanks all, sounds like Captain Marvin is the popular choice. Checked out his website and 3 hours with the two snorkeling trips sounds great. We'll be booking with him :D

[Buffalo Bum]

I have to agree...CAPTAIN MARVIN'S is GREAT!!! We just came back last week and used them. They were wonderful. Make sure and ask for a videographer to go along with you. The DVD is $66 mailed to the US, but it is worth every penny. I will have a very hard time booking a trip with anyone else in GC, but CAPTAIN MARVIN'S. Tell Ruth, Mr. Johnson says "Hello." They are great people.

[gottago2mexico]

Definitely book privately. We were heading out to Stingray City with Red Sail Sports yesterday, and we watched the entire Rum Point Ferry fill up with cruise passengers. Disney had chartered the huge ferry boat to take their people to Stingray City - there must have been 200 people on that boat - there's not THAT many stingrays there (there are a lot though).

 

Meanwhile, when we arrived, our boat had the stingrays pretty much to ourselves. Here are two that are easy to find and go there after the hordes from the ships have already come and gone:

 

Captain Bryan

http://www.cayman.org/captainbryan/

 

Captain Crosby

http://www.cayman.org/crosby/

 

Definitely visit Stingray City, though - it's very worth it. You can't do this anywhere else in the world.

[jodi2227]

my vote is for native ways

[knight2096]

We went to stingray city last Monday with Captain Marvin and it was great. You are gonna have a great time.

[tteettimes]

thanks for the recommendation----however looking at the map it appears that it's a long walk from the port-------is that so???

 

another Q-----how early will he take you out?

how long is the actual boat ride to SW City????

 

 

 

CIAO:)

[Buffalo Bum]

thanks for the recommendation----however looking at the map it appears that it's a long walk from the port-------is that so???

 

another Q-----how early will he take you out?

how long is the actual boat ride to SW City????

 

 

 

CIAO:)

 

No. The walk is less than 5 minutes. It is approximately 2 blocks from the cruise ship port. There are a couple of Captain Marvin shops. It is possible you pulled up the one down by all the Hotels and that is why it looked so far away. That one is probably a mile or 2 from the cruise ship port.

[tteettimes]

looks as if we will be seeing Capt. Marvin

 

BTW---you just returned from crusing didn't you ???:cool:

[Buffalo Bum]

Yes we did. We were on the Carnival Conquest the week of 10/14 thru 10/21.

 

We took the 3 hour tour. The boat ride out was about 20-25 minutes. Then we snorkeled at (2) placed for about 30 minutes each, then visited Stingray City for about 45 minutes. You won't regret it. Tell Ruth, I said hello.

[heydn62]

I have to agree...CAPTAIN MARVIN'S is GREAT!!! We just came back last week and used them. They were wonderful. Make sure and ask for a videographer to go along with you. The DVD is $66 mailed to the US, but it is worth every penny.

 

I almost purchased the video on our trip there back in February. Several months later, I found the card the videographer had given me and e-mailed to see if I could still purchase one. They were able to do this for me and I was very glad I did. It's a very good quality professional video. If you're going to purchase an excursion DVD, I'd recommend this one. We had purchased one in Jamaica at Dunn's River Falls that was very poor quality.

[cruiserssandr]

In the middle of winter when we are in the midst of a huge snow storm is one of our favorite times to watch our DVD from our excursion with Captain Marvin's. It is a very high quality professional DVD. The music that goes along with it is just perfect. The people at Captain Marvin's are the best!