NativeWays or Captain Marvin's

[Bakeman]

Ok, trying to decide which excursion to do, we know we want to do the Stingrays, and don't want to book thru the ship. Which of these two is better and any good or bad stories?

 

Thanks for the help.

[Ron_L]

Ok, trying to decide which excursion to do, we know we want to do the Stingrays, and don't want to book thru the ship. Which of these two is better and any good or bad stories?

 

Thanks for the help.

 

I don' think you would go wrong with either company. They both have great reputations. We went with Native Way for their Rays, Reef and Rum Point Tour and had a great time. The boat crew was very nice and very helpful, the boat was clean and well maintained and the stingrays were fantastic. We also enjoyed the snorkeling stop on the barrier reef and out time at Rum Point for lunch.

 

Pictures are here if you want to look at them.

[EBallgrl]

I always vote Nativeway! They are fantastic!

[crazycruzer68]

Captain Marvin has always been a favorite of ours.

[W5KAP]

Ok, trying to decide which excursion to do, we know we want to do the Stingrays, and don't want to book thru the ship. Which of these two is better and any good or bad stories?

 

Thanks for the help.

 

I have not personally used Nativeway but I can tell you we did do Capt Marvin's and loved it. We stopped at the Coral Gardens, the edge of the reef and Stingray City. It was a wonderful and memorable experience. I can't say enough good things about the crew on Capt Marvin's. We had the trip of a lifetime and I have the pictures and a video to prove it. You probably can't go wrong with either. Stingray city is an amazing experience.

 

Enjoy your cruise and tours.

 

Cheers, Kenn

[Perfect Stranger]

Ron, all of your cruise pictures are awesome!

 

Not being computer savvy, I've always wondered how people type the word "here" and it becomes a link to something. If it can't be explained in just a few sentences, never mind! :D

[Lucyt1207]

I don' think you would go wrong with either company. They both have great reputations. We went with Native Way for their Rays, Reef and Rum Point Tour and had a great time. The boat crew was very nice and very helpful, the boat was clean and well maintained and the stingrays were fantastic. We also enjoyed the snorkeling stop on the barrier reef and out time at Rum Point for lunch.

 

Pictures are here if you want to look at them.

 

My DH and I are large people...we both swim but will we have a hard time getting in and out of the boat at the stingray area? thanks for your advice.

[Caribbean Sunsets]

I don' think you would go wrong with either company. They both have great reputations. We went with Native Way for their Rays, Reef and Rum Point Tour and had a great time. The boat crew was very nice and very helpful, the boat was clean and well maintained and the stingrays were fantastic. We also enjoyed the snorkeling stop on the barrier reef and out time at Rum Point for lunch.

 

Pictures are here if you want to look at them.

 

WOW...your photos are fabulous! What type of camera do you have? We loved our RRR Tour with Nativeway, too. They run a first class tour.

[Ron_L]

Ron, all of your cruise pictures are awesome!

 

Not being computer savvy, I've always wondered how people type the word "here" and it becomes a link to something. If it can't be explained in just a few sentences, never mind! :D

 

It's easy. In another browser window (or tab) go to the web page that you want to link to and click in the Address bar (where you typed in the web address) to highlight what is there. then copy that (use ctrl-C on a windows machine). then come here and type in your post or reply. then highlight the text that you want to use for the link by clicking and dragging across the text. then look above the window where you have been typing. You should see a blue icon that looks like a globe with a chain link under it. Click on that and a new dialog box will open up and ask you for the URL of the link. Paste the URl of the website that you copied previously (hit Ctrl-V on a Windows machine). Then click OK. The text that you highlighted will now be a hyperlink to that web page.

 

My DH and I are large people...we both swim but will we have a hard time getting in and out of the boat at the stingray area? thanks for your advice.

 

I am a large person, too (check out my pictures and you'll see) and i had no problems. The ladder on the boat is sturdy and has large rungs, plus they have two metal poles sticking up off of the deck on either side of the ladder that you can use to pull yourself up. Also, one of the crew is right by the ladder to help anyone who has problems.

 

WOW...your photos are fabulous! What type of camera do you have? We loved our RRR Tour with Nativeway, too. They run a first class tour.

 

Thanks for the nice comment. I used an Olympus 1030SW waterproof digital camera for all of the pictures. i found it at the Overstock.com auctions site for about half of the suggested retail price. It was being sold by Olympus USA as a refurb with a warranty.

[smch916]

We had a great trip with Native Way on the Rays, reef and rum point excursion on May 5th. The boat was well maintained, there were less than 20 of us on board compared to the rest of the boats at sting ray city that were packed sholder to sholder. We had plenty of room to move around, sit on the front of the boat, etc. Lots of time to play with the sting rays too. Very nice snorkelling too.

 

We loved rum point! Lunch was included and they call in your food order ahead so you don't have to wait long once you get there. I had the grilled Mahi Mahi which was the catch of the day and it was delicious! The drinks are fabulous as well.

[txladydi]

Never tried Nativeway. But loved our excursion through Captain Marvin's in Sept 2004 (about a week before Ivan hit). We've been raving about it ever since. Taking the whole family in June and we are already booked for the 1/2 day excursion with Captain Marvin's!

 

Di

[Susie51]

Great pics. I noticed the canopy on your boat. Do most of the boats have canopies? Do all of the boats have an easy ladder as you described?

[Ron_L]

Great pics. I noticed the canopy on your boat. Do most of the boats have canopies? Do all of the boats have an easy ladder as you described?

 

Sorry, I really didn't pay attention to a lot of the other boats. i did notice that the catamaran that pulled in next to use had what looked lik stairs, but it also had at least 75 people on board! Every inch of the boat was covered with people!

[fallen4ever84]

While I have not yet been on my Nativeways excursion yet, all my interactions with them so far has been great! I just sent an email changing our tour to the Reef, Rays and Rum Point one since our ship will now be in Grand Cayman for a longer period of time and I received a response back within 12 hours!

 

But really, I have read great reviews about both so you probably will enjoy whichever one you go on.

[dkfan81]

We just went on a tour with Nativeway on May 4th and it was GREAT! The tour guides were super awesome, friendly and there to help out. Like others said our boat had only about 15-20 on board, versus the loads the other boats carried. The tour started and stopped on time, and they had us back to the port right when and where they said they would.

 

We did the stingrays, coral gardens and starfish snorkel. It was GREAT! Nativeway is HIGHLY recommended by us! :D

[Cruise_Q]

so happy to find that native way's is the way to go...

DH has some res about going outside of CCL for excursion...but as I explained to him it is all that we wanted and for much less...

one question, the info on the website said they will take you to 7mile beach. does anyone know how one would get back from there if we droppped off there? don't think we will stay there but wanted to know just in case.

thanks:D

[Ron_L]

so happy to find that native way's is the way to go...

DH has some res about going outside of CCL for excursion...but as I explained to him it is all that we wanted and for much less...

one question, the info on the website said they will take you to 7mile beach. does anyone know how one would get back from there if we droppped off there? don't think we will stay there but wanted to know just in case.

thanks:D

 

I think that depends on how much time you have before your ship leaves. We didn't have time after Rum Point when we were there off of Valor and they didn't offer.

[rockmegently]

We used Stingray Sailing when we were there last month. The boat is a nice size catamaran and they throw up the sail for the ride back. The folks took good care of us and I believe group sizes are limited to about 25. There was only my family of 4, the boat captain (the owner) and his father, on the boat that day.

 

They only make two stops - Stingray City and the nearby reef for snorkeling. I liked that option as it gave us plenty of time in each area and we never felt rushed. One thing I though was neat was the boat operator brought a floating bucket of squid with him into the water. The stingrays never left us as they new what was in the bucket.;) The last time we went to see the stingrays we did a ship tour - once your little chunk of squid was gone the stingrays were off looking for lunch at the next boat.:mad:

 

It sounds like the rum point lunch was nice with Nativeway. Our tour didn't include lunch but did have a platter of fresh fruit for all of us.

 

The day we were there many of the tours were cancelled due to rough seas. The tour operator also gave us the option of cancelling or going out and checking it first hand. We went with that thinking that if we couldn't get in the water we would at least have a nice boat ride. As it turned out it was fine when we got there and we had a great day (and hardly any other boats as a bonus:D). Having said that, the operator did say to us that if he had any more on the boat that day he would have cancelled as well. With just the 4 of us who were all comfortable in the water he new he could keep track of us and keep us all safe if the waters were rougher than usual. I must say it was quite a site when we showed up with just 6 on our boat and saw the others that were there were absolutely stuffed with people.

 

For the ride back you have a choice of going back to the dock or 7 mile beach. We chose the ship.

 

If the idea of sailing and small group sizes interest you these guys are definitely worth a look:)

[cotomom]

Anyone have fresh water to rinse off in after the snorkelling/sting rays?

 

:) I hate being salty! :)

[Caribbean Sunsets]

Anyone have fresh water to rinse off in after the snorkelling/sting rays?

 

:) I hate being salty! :)

 

I do know that there is a hose at the end of the dock, which is after snorkling and the rays. When we were on our Nativeway Tour, Chris, our captain, had people rinse off the sand before we got back on the boat (this was after lunch). There were some kids on our tour who loved it when he was squirting them.

 

There are rest rooms/changing rooms there but I can't remember if there was an outdoor shower.

[Ron_L]

There is an outdoor shower at Rum Point, by the restrooms.

[Chris and Em]

There is an outdoor shower at Rum Point, by the restrooms.

 

Dear RON L,

 

Can you purchase tropical drinks at Rum Point while stopped for lunch? There would be nothing nicer for my husband and I than to relax with a cocktail after a day of Rays and Reef.

[Ron_L]

Yep. There is a bar right at the beach. I don't know about prices since we didn't have a drink.

[cotomom]

Thanks Everyone.... you solidified my choice for nativeways rrr excursion! Only a few more weeks to wait!! :)

[holbob]

Would someone please post the web site for NativeWays - thanks.