do you have to book a tour?

Is it possible or recommended to get a cruise once we get to the port at caymen? or is it best to prearrange a tour before leaving for the cruise? We would like a tour of the island and maybe turtle farm and sting rays

I personally would book one before. We were there in December and there were booths set up in the shopping area of the pier but if they are already sold out you will be out of luck. We did a tour with Acquarius that went to Starfish Beach and Stingray City.

We just returned last week. Plenty of vendors selling tours once you exited the tender area. They were offering all sorts of tours.

Tons of stuff to do. Either book on your own or go to the end of the pier. In the meantime, check out Trip Advisor. Get an idea of what you would like to do and read the reviews.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g147365-Activities-Grand_Cayman_Cayman_Islands.html

GC is VERY easy to DIY! The buses are awesome and cheap. What are you thinking about doing? Beaches....easy bus ride. Shopping...walking distance. The buses do run all over the island....google GC buses!

I was not really interested in going to the beach, maybe a tour of the towns, some sea life encounters. Stuff like that.

Were you happy with Acquarius tours??

I personally would book one before. We were there in December and there were booths set up in the shopping area of the pier but if they are already sold out you will be out of luck. We did a tour with Acquarius that went to Starfish Beach and Stingray City.

I would book ahead but it really depends on when you get into port and how many other ships are there on the same day. I've been to George Town three times on a cruiseship. The first time I booked an island tour ahead of time and had a blast. The second time I decided to just walk around and ended up joining some other people I had met on the ship who brokered a deal with one of the vendors for a Stingray City tour. The third time I booked ahead but the ship ran into a delay with its tenders and we ended up missing our land + snorkel tour and none of the vendors at the port had anything available because there were 7(!) ships in port that day and we were one of the last ones in. The ones without the port license who were trying to sell tours just outside the fence area all wanted us to wait in their vans while they tried to gather more people (there were 6 of us but they all wanted at least 10-12 people). We finally ended up doing a glorified taxi "tour" that was way overpriced but at least my family got to see a few of the sights.