Sea Spi - What to Bring?

[Newbcruiser1]

I am booked on the Sea Spi tour in a few weeks, and was just wondering what to wear/what to bring? I know they say it has a storage compartment - is this big enough for a camera and wallet? Also is it better to bring a waterproof camera, or my digital one? I want to get nice pictures, but will my camera get wet at all? What about towels/clothes/beach bag - where did you leave these? I'm guessing it won't fit into the storage compartment?

 

Thanks!

[Newbcruiser1]

Anyone? I'm sure someone has done this excursion! Please fill us in! :)

 

Thanks!

[Too blessed to be stressed]

Good question, I would like to know this answer as well.

[Newbcruiser1]

Well, I went on the Sea Spi 10 days ago and it was pretty good! We didn't see as many fish as we were hoping, partly because they don't come up close to the surface even when fed by the guide, however driving our own sea spi was pretty cool. We were on it for about an hour.

 

As far as getting wet, we stood in knee-depth water to get onto the sea spis, and got a little bit wet while driving it. When going backwards, the water comes up on your feet a little bit, and when going forwards if the waves are big, you sort of get "misted". Also my arm got wet for some reason - some water must have splashed over the side.

 

The sun is very strong so I'd strongly recommend trying to stay covered up (I wore a long sleeved cover-up over a bathing suit) and wearing sunscreen, especially on the backs of your legs, your back, etc.

 

I didn't take my digital camera with me to Grand Cayman - only a disposable waterproof one, and now I am sorry about my decision! The storage compartment in the Sea Spi was dry, and I could have put my camera in there (in the plastic bags they provided beforehand). It was large enough for a wallet, camera, sunglasses, etc. In fact, many people used their non-waterproof cameras on the Sea Spi with no problems.

 

Anything that doesn't fit in there can be left in their little "hut" - there is always someone in there, and I felt safe leaving my stuff in there (provided it was just a beach bag with a towel, sunscreen, and some clothes - nothing of value). I would suggest keeping your wallet and other valuables with you though.

 

Overall we enjoyed the excursion. It was a bit expensive for such a short excursion ($79) but we had a good time and it was very "different"!

[reallyitsmema]

Thanks for posting a review of this excursion. We are looking at this for this coming June. Do you know if there was an age requirement to drive? I know when we did waverunners on Coco Cay, you had to be 16 yrs old and have a valid license. Do you think this is too "boring" for a teenager?

 

Any other comments you have would be appreciated:)

[Newbcruiser1]

I am not sure about an exact age requirement, but you'd be on it in 2's anyway, so you could always drive if needed. It's REALLY easy to drive, with just a joystick, so I would imagine even a 10 year old could drive.

 

A teenager might find it boring and may enjoy snorkelling more - have you been to Stingray City before? We did not go, but that's "the thing to do" in Grand Cayman, and your teen might find that more exciting.

[reallyitsmema]

They didn't allow people to ride single then? If that is the case, then we will probably skip it.

 

Sting Ray City really doesn't interest us as we have done Discovery Cove where we have swum with dolphins and gone into the sting ray area too. I know this is in the wild but he isn't interested:rolleyes:

 

Some of the other watercraft type excursions have 18 or even 21 yr old requirements to drive but this didn't list any requirement. I will give RCL a call and see if they know.

 

Thanks for all the information. This seems to be a new excursion and yours is the only information I have been able to find to date:)

[Newbcruiser1]

We actually didn't even see any single sea-spis there. They say on the website that you can do the double or single, and we were looking forward to the single ones, but they didn't have them. Your best bet would be to contact the company directly and check about whether they have single ones, and if there's an age requirement to drive. Honestly though, I can't see there being much of an age thing - a young kid could easily drive one (and they don't go extremely fast either).

 

Oh also just to add, for anyone going on the Sea Spi, I would suggest taking a cheap pair of water-shoes - we got in the water in an area with a lot of small rocks and shells, and it was very uncomfortable for our feet.

 

Your son might be interested in sting ray city if he finds out he can actually hold them, etc, as he is standing in the water with them rather than having them swimming under him... just a thought!

 

Good luck getting some more information, and let me know what you decide! :)

[erin1998]

Good afternoon :D

I am looking at doing this tour in May for myself and my 9 year old son. A few questions though....how far away is 7 mile beach? Once the tour is over, instead of being bussed back to the ship, can we taxi to 7 mile beach? Or are there other beaches nearby to relax on and grab some lunch and a few drinks?

Thanks in advance

Erin

[Newbcruiser1]

Good afternoon :D

I am looking at doing this tour in May for myself and my 9 year old son. A few questions though....how far away is 7 mile beach? Once the tour is over, instead of being bussed back to the ship, can we taxi to 7 mile beach? Or are there other beaches nearby to relax on and grab some lunch and a few drinks?

Thanks in advance

Erin

 

You'll need to check the time of the sea spi in order to make those plans. We were in Grand Cayman from 10am - I think 5pm, and the sea spi was blocked off from 1-3:45 (although we finished by 2:45), so we didn't have time to do anything else other than walk around the stores near the port before 1:00.

As far as how far it is, I'm not sure - I don't think it's far though, and you could likely catch a cab to go rather than taking the van back to the ship.

 

Just one note though - give yourself enough time to get back to the ship - the tender lines are HUGE in the last 2 hours that the ship is there, and there's a lot of traffic on the road leading back there, so be sure you don't cut yourself short on time.

[reallyitsmema]

Thanks for all the information Newb. I did just google them and I guess they are a new excursion for cruise ships with no private bookings at this time. I did find their website http://www.seaspitour.com/page1.aspx The pictures there are of all twin sea spis where as the picture on the TCL excursion page looks to be a single. I posted a question in their forum but based on what it looks like, I think we won't end up doing this. I think for younger kids it looks good but I have a 17 yr old. I do appreciate all your help, thanks again:)

[Newbcruiser1]

Just to give some background context, my friend and I that went are both in our early 20's and we enjoyed it (and everyone else on the excursion looked to be between 20 and 40), however neither of us are good swimmers, so that somewhat limited the excursions we could do or were comfortable doing. I think if I was a better swimmer, I would have likely enjoyed snorkeling (or even helmet diving) more, however given my abilities, I thoroughly enjoyed the Sea Spi.

 

Have you looked into the helmet dive or some of the other snorkeling trips? Your son might enjoy those more if he is more comfortable in the water.

[Newbcruiser1]

I have heard some good things about SNUBA too, so you may want to look into that as well!