Stingray City Grand Cayman

Hi, my wife and I are going on our first cruise soon and among other things, we are excited to go to stingray city in Cayman. It seems that most people enjoy that trip?

We love photos but haven't had the need for a waterproof camera before, so are wondering if we should purchase one for our cruise? I am guessing our camera would likely get wet with the stingrays? Or are there photographers that can take our photo? If anyone can provide any assistance it would be greatly appreciated. Also, I think we are going to book our trip with a company called Captain Marvin's as opposed to the trip organised through the cruise. Has anyone been with Captain Marvin's before?

Thanks!

JB

This is my favorite trip of Grand Cayman! Definitely book with one of the side tours tho, the cruise ones are totally packed. I haven't been since I was younger and our family only knew about the ship excursions. Next time I go and if its available for our schedule I'll book with Red Sail Sports on their trip to Stingray City Sandbar and Rum Point Tour. You can google them and see the trip info under sailing/activities.

If you don't want to buy an underwater camera or housing, most dive shops sell a single-use disposable camera for $20 or so.

If you plan to book with an outside operator, try to arrange an afternoon trip if the schedule permits. Most mornings, there are hundreds, if not thousands of day-trip snorkelers at Stringray City.

If you plan on doing a lot of snorkeling or are like me that seems to take so many pictures you run out of film and are P----- a underwater camera is nice. Most of the boats your camera would be safe while on them taking pictures from the deck but would not advise taking regular camera into the water because when the stingrays come around youi are mostly going to drop it or it get wet. I have used disposables (Kodak and Fugi) before and got decent pictures but sent them off to a special lab to develope (mainly for color correction). But last year bought a digital underwater camera and got many underwater pics. But again depends on how much you would use it.

Stingray City or Sandbar is neat. Even the wife after watching for 10 minutes gotinto the water and had a blast.

And most of the tours have their own camera man that will take some pictures and sell afterward. We also bought them because they got pictures we never could have.

Enjoy

The Ump

John

If you don't want to buy an underwater camera or housing, most dive shops sell a single-use disposable camera for $20 or so.

You can find them at Walmart or Target much cheaper. (or wherever they sell disposable cameras.)

I splurged and got a panasonic lumix dmc-ts1 ($400).

Fantastic camera I highly recommend it. Took it snorkeling on my last cruise. Great color also :)

Hi,

My family and I have been to Cayman quite a few times (on both cruises and longer stays) and every time we go, stingray city is always the thing we look forward to the most!

To answer your questions, I would recommend that you do not take a normal camera into the water with you at the sandbar, it will get wet from all the splashing.

Also, there are two companies that we will always use - they have nice boats, really friendly crewmembers and the boats are never crowded. They are Captain Marvin's and Native Way. If we are going to Cayman on a cruise, we normally book these companies on the internet beforehand.

In terms of photos, we have purchased photo CDs from a company called VIP Productions a few times - they come in the water with you and take some great photos - and we find its much much cheaper than investing in an underwater camera. I know they have a website, but they have normally been on the boat when we arrived.

Hope this helps!

After reading all the reviews we booked with Captn Marvins last year. We called them and gave them our CC# If you are a no show because your ship is not able to make it in they will not charge you. If you are a no show - just not showing up I am sure they would charge you. If your ship arrives in port late or leaving early they adjust their times.Very professional well run group. You board a bus and it takes you thru the small town to the Marina. Happy, upbeat and knowledgable, I would definitely book again. We also went to stingray city, I was very worried about getting into the water with all the creatures. Everyone else was in water in minutes ( no flippers allowed) I did finally get in the water for a few minutes, I was uncomforable but at least I can say I did it. The stingrays swarm around you looking for food. The tour operates keep track of you and give you food for the rays. Captn Marvins stop at 3 different snorkel sites, the water is not very deep, but lots of fish.

My wife and I have gone to Grand Cayman twice. Both times we did Stingray city tours. It was great. They are like little puppy's.

When we first starting taking cruises and going snorkeling, we would get a disposable camera. The pictures were ok. Not high quality, but not bad. Eventually (and mainly because we cruise every winter now and I like to snorkel whenever I get the chance) I decided to get an Olympus Stylus 1030 SW Shockproof and Waterproof camera. I think it was $200 to $300 or so.

It was worth it for me because I take tons of pictures and like to use it underwater at least a few times a year.

I love Stingray City! I took my 3 year old daughter and girlfriend on their first cruise ever and was so excited to show them this amazing little place but it stormed and it was rough seas and we barely spent 15 minutes in the water! I was so sad! But in preparation for the trip I found a completely waterproof housing for my Kodak M1033 that works wonderful underwater! Also when you first get off the tender boat at port to your left is a gift shop that sells UW disposables for like $12.95 which i didn't think was to unreasonable.

You will probably love Stingray City. We own a timeshare in Cayman and have cruised there as well. I can vouch that Red Sail does a great job, but don't know about how they handle cruise schedules. I'm sure you can email them ahead. Most of the dive shops in Cayman have underwater camera's for rent. It could be worth it to rent if you only need an underwater camera for this trip. I have never had any luck with the quality of pictures from disposible underwater camera's.

Have a great time.

I splurged and got a panasonic lumix dmc-ts1 ($400).

 

Fantastic camera I highly recommend it. Took it snorkeling on my last cruise. Great color also :)

I agree - AMAZING camera - I bought from amazon.com for $280 a couple months ago. It's great on land too - takes great pictures, and does 720p (HD) video even! Make sure you get a big SD card though.

Have gone twice - once a videographer was on board, not so the second time. We have a fairly cheap Fuji camera that works underwater and takes great pictures. You also get to stop for a short snorkel when out with Capt Marvin. Loads & loads of fun. Wait till you see the HUGE ship pull up that has the cruise ship passengers on board...you'll be so glad you aren't with them!

Hi, my wife and I are going on our first cruise soon and among other things, we are excited to go to stingray city in Cayman. It seems that most people enjoy that trip?

We love photos but haven't had the need for a waterproof camera before, so are wondering if we should purchase one for our cruise? I am guessing our camera would likely get wet with the stingrays? Or are there photographers that can take our photo? If anyone can provide any assistance it would be greatly appreciated. Also, I think we are going to book our trip with a company called Captain Marvin's as opposed to the trip organised through the cruise. Has anyone been with Captain Marvin's before?

Thanks!

JB

You can get the disposible cameras from Wal-Mart/Target or any drug store and get great pictures. You can get these developed once you get home and have them put on a CD at Wal-Mart.. I have used these for several trips and for above water and shallow underwater on sunny days, I have gotten great pix. I was able to rent a waterproof camera for about $26/day on the Legend at Christmas.

Enjoy your cruise.

I love Stingray City . It was a beautiful and humbling experience to be with the Sting Rays. We were one with nature. Plus a tour to National Geographic Under water photo exhibit. Experienced the underwater wonders and beauty of the ocean without getting wet by touring this world-renowned photo exhibit by National Geographic in Cayman.:)

My wife and I visited Stingray City, Grand Cayman and it was an awesome experience;

we got the chance to interact with these wonderful and tactile Stingrays. A local informed me that the stingrays were not always this close to humans, it was not until the last 3 decades, that they became accustomed to the feeding ritual, as local fishermen feed them with scraps of

fish and squids. Then natural instincts follows. After that, we did a tour of the Ocean Soul photo exhibit from National Geographic It was a very great experience.:):):):):):)

We had a blast last week in Stingray City in the Cayman Islands. Once we docked in Georgetown (the

capital of Cayman), the bus took us first to the National Geographic photo exhibit, immediately after that we were taken to the Stingray City dock and taken by boat to Stingray City. This was the first time that I touched a stingray, I got scared at first. But then they started to rub their wide fins on my body while the Stingray handler feed them with squids just to come to my side and shoulder. It was a very

pleasant experience.

Hi, my wife and I are going on our first cruise soon and among other things, we are excited to go to stingray city in Cayman. It seems that most people enjoy that trip?

We love photos but haven't had the need for a waterproof camera before, so are wondering if we should purchase one for our cruise? I am guessing our camera would likely get wet with the stingrays? Or are there photographers that can take our photo? If anyone can provide any assistance it would be greatly appreciated. Also, I think we are going to book our trip with a company called Captain Marvin's as opposed to the trip organised through the cruise. Has anyone been with Captain Marvin's before?

Thanks!

JB

This an absolute amazing thing in Grand Cayman. It's so different than most excursions. There aren't any "pinned up" animals in a cage in the water. They are out in the middle of the ocean, in their own habitat, and they come swimming when you arrive. It's just amazing to see and they are so huge. We had a blast and have done this twice.

I did a FULL review (listed in my signature line) with TONS of pictures if you are interested. :)

This was our 3rd cruise. Embarkation was a pleasant surprise, as it took less than half an hour. Our room steward was great and very polite, but I must say that the staff in general was.

The entertainment on board was good, as well as the music played and the singers.

Food was another pleasant surprise as well, it was very tasty. We loved the salad bar, all was fresh and very good.

Our first stop was Grand Cayman, and we picked the most popular attraction, Stingray City, which was amazing (definitely recommended). While waiting for our boat we took a pleasant de-tour to a new photo exhibit by National Geographic, which was very interesting as well.

Once in Cozumel we booked the “10 Best” tour, because we wanted to have an overall idea of the place. Very informative tour and tour guide.

The cruise was over too soon! Disembarkation was not a big pain either.

Will definitely travel with them again.

Hi gail.sean. I see this is your first post. Welcome to cruise critic.

Thanks for you short review. It seems like you have given a short review of your cruise, including the ship and the islands. Would you care to share more on what made your stingray excursion amazing to the OP? I'm sure they would love to hear more. :)

I hope you have a wonderful day and I hope you can get a wealth of information from this community. :)

I splurged and got a panasonic lumix dmc-ts1 ($400).

 

Fantastic camera I highly recommend it. Took it snorkeling on my last cruise. Great color also :)

I've heard nothing but good things about this camera and have seen many good photos.

Hello, I've used Capt Marvins 2-3 times and it's alway been fantastic.

We (my wife and I) enjoyed our trip to Grand Cayman. If you plan on visiting Stingray City then you will definitely want to capture the moment but if you take your normal camera with you chances are that it will get wet. I recommend getting a rental underwater camera or a disposable camera if you do not plan on using it much. Alternatively, there are normally photographers on the boat with you who can take incredible photos for you at a small fee. We booked with Stingray City United and saw the beautiful underwater photo exhibit by National Geographic before heading to Stingray City, thankfully I had my waterproof camera as I was able to catch my wife's priceless expressions when she was touching the rays :).