Cayman Semi Sub Tours

[strike71]

What is the difference between the Nautilus and Seaworld Explorer semi-sub tours..or Cayman Observatory for that matter. Are these tours any good?

[jimsmom]

We booked the Ultimate Undersea Adventure thru Carnival Conquest last month, but I heard some people refer to it as the Nautilus. We were under the impression that we would be in a submarine, but it was just the bottom of a boat with windows. It was okay though, our 9yo really enjoyed it. We saw lots of tropical fish, barracudas, and a couple of ship wrecks. The ship captain even got in the water to feed the fish and that provided lots of good photo ops. We needed a beach break that's why we did this tour. It was about 1 hour so that gave us time to explore all the shops afterward. Cayman is beautiful, we want to go back again. Have a good time!

[4merLandLover]

I've been doing a little research and there's lots of confusion. There are 2 companies that offer semi-sub tours at Grand Cayman; Atlantis Adventures (boat called Seaworld Explorer) http://res.atlantisadventures.com/tour_info.php?site=5&tour=32 and Nautilus http://www.nautilus.ky/. These operators also provide the group tours that the cruise ships offer. I'm new to cruising and trying to decide whether to take the semi-sub tour offered by the ship or to book on my own. Can anyone tell me about their experiences with either company and/or booking this experience direct or through the cruise ship? Nautilus' web site provides very little info and that's frustrating. I've just emailed them many questions. Their web site lists a combo tour of the semi-sub with the Pedro St. James Castle and rum cake factory. That sounds most appealing to me. Has anyone done that?

Thank you in advance for your help.

[divemedic]

I've been doing a little research and there's lots of confusion. There are 2 companies that offer semi-sub tours at Grand Cayman; Atlantis Adventures (boat called Seaworld Explorer) http://res.atlantisadventures.com/tour_info.php?site=5&tour=32 and Nautilus http://www.nautilus.ky/. These operators also provide the group tours that the cruise ships offer. I'm new to cruising and trying to decide whether to take the semi-sub tour offered by the ship or to book on my own. Can anyone tell me about their experiences with either company and/or booking this experience direct or through the cruise ship? Nautilus' web site provides very little info and that's frustrating. I've just emailed them many questions. Their web site lists a combo tour of the semi-sub with the Pedro St. James Castle and rum cake factory. That sounds most appealing to me. Has anyone done that?

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

Although I haven't done the tour...a few weeks ago my parents went (late 70's and 80 for ages), we went to SC diving. They did the Atlantis which actually goes under the water as opposed to the Nautilus. They went down to about 110'. They thought it was only going to be 60'. They just loved it. Its very close to the tender drop offs. It books up so this shouldn't be done last minute. You are taken out to the sub a short distance off shore and then climb down a ladder into the sub. Do a google search and you can find out more. Also saw a video of it on youtube. Hope that helps a little. Oh, btw, they booked it through the ship but shouldn't be an issue to book it directly its right there!

[WeBeGone]

We got off the tender and walked straight to Atlantis Submarine which is just to the right of the tender pier. We paid for the next available slot. Had some time to kill so just walked around. Then went back for our amazing submarine trip. We boarded a small boat that took us to meet the sub. The transfer from boat to sub was precision and just a short walk down some stairs. The sub holds 40 people but we were not crowed nor felt clautrphobic at all. Small round windows provide views of the wall. We went down to 110 feet. We had a wonderful guide that told us the names of the fish. It was a great experience at half the price if we had booked on board.