Sting Ray City and Cemetary Beach

[LisaRhea]

I am the group coordinator for a group cruising Liberty of the Seas in October. We are a group of 27 and really want to snorkel both Sting Ray City and Cemetary Beach. Does anyone know of a reputable private tour operator that would do both? Everything I have found that is flexible is for a group of 15 or less or if they can accomodate our numbers, only do Rum Point and Sting Ray City. Any suggestions?

[bookbabe]

We are a group of 27 and really want to snorkel both Sting Ray City and Cemetary Beach. Does anyone know of a reputable private tour operator that would do both? Everything I have found that is flexible is for a group of 15 or less or if they can accomodate our numbers, only do Rum Point and Sting Ray City. Any suggestions?

 

One of the problems you'll run into is that Sting Ray City and Cemetary Beach aren't really near each other, at least not by water. You'd have to find someone who had a boat on the Stingray City side of the island that was able to take you on a bus to Cemetary Beach afterwards, and that's probably less common. The reason the standard tours tend to go to Rum Point after Stingray City is that the two stops are quite close to each other, only a few minutes by boat.

 

Any particular reason you want Cemetary Beach? If so, you might be best doing a Stingray City only tour, then getting dropped off at Cemetary Beach afterwards for some beach time. You'd have to find or arrange taxis to get you back to the ship from there, but at least you'd be able to create the "tour" you prefer.

[nolaAlive]

It isn't unusual for the commonly mentioned stingray tours to drop some passengers off at 7 mile beach after the tour- usually around Sea Grape.

 

I don't know why they wouldn't take you to Cemetery for a few extra bucks. You would have to negotiate a price for pick up and pick up time.

 

But there are no facilities (usually) at Cemetery, which means everyone would have to bring snorkel equipment.

 

You might get quotes from companies that do custom tours.

 

This is one:

http://www.stingraycabandtours.com/

[LisaRhea]

Bookbabe, Thanks for the information. I was reading another one of your posts on another thread and I would like your opinion, if you don't mind. I have never personally been to Grand Cayman. We were scheduled to stop there a couple of years back, but Ivan intervened. I was particularly interested in Cemetary beach because of the research I've done so far suggests that the snorkeling there is simply awesome. We have snorkeled lots of places, but secluded beaches always seem to be our favorite - Cinnamon Bay on St. John when the park is closed (annually in October) is a great example. What suggestions do you have? We are a group of 27 with 16 adults and 11 children. The children's ages are three 15 yr olds, one 14 yr old, one 13 yr. old, two 11 yr olds, two 6 yr olds and two 4 yr olds. Everyone in the group except the youngest children (6 yr. olds and 4 yr. olds) are experienced snorkelers - Caribbean, Hawaii, Mexico, etc. We don't drink so having a bar isn't important and we don't care that much about beach toys - we just want to see lots of awesome sea life. Thanks in advance for your information.

[nolaAlive]

Here are some pictures from Cemetery Beach / Reef from Zydecocruiser's website:

 

http://www.zydecocruiser.com/conquest_07/GC/cb.htm

[Raydar]

Cemetary beach is really great snorkeling. You need to swim out quite a ways for the good coral, but the beach is calm and it is an easy swim. We saw stingray and squid along with a ton of other fish. We spent a week snorkeling Grand Cayman in December and this is one of the best spots!

[bookbabe]

Bookbabe, Thanks for the information. I was reading another one of your posts on another thread and I would like your opinion, if you don't mind. I have never personally been to Grand Cayman. We were scheduled to stop there a couple of years back, but Ivan intervened. I was particularly interested in Cemetary beach because of the research I've done so far suggests that the snorkeling there is simply awesome.

 

Wish I could be more help, but I don't snorkel. :( It's my DH that's the snorkel fanatic in the family, and he hasn't been to Cemetery Beach. We have property over at Rum Point, so we don't get over to the Seven Mile Beach area that often.

 

That being said, I've heard the most "chatter" about the snorkelling at Eden Rock, which is just to the right of the cruise terminal, in the opposite direction from Seven Mile Beach. It's likely more crowded...not the seculed beach you're looking for, but it's very convenient for cruise visitors. The Seven Mile Beach area is "beachier" close to the shore, so you have to go out quite a ways to get to the reef. On my DH's only couple of land trips to that side, he didn't end up doing much snorkelling...he said it wasn't worth the effort in comparison to the snorkelling out near Rum Point.

 

Your better choice might be one of the Stingray City/Stingray Sandbar tours. Almost all the tour companies offer them, and the snorkelling is great at the first stop (or so my DH says). Some of those also include a stop at Rum Point, where you could snorkel some more if you didn't want the beach time.

[LisaRhea]

Thanks for the info. everyone! It helps in making recommendations for a large group.