Stingrays: native way water sports or stingray sailing?

We just returned from the Grand Caymans and had a fabulous trip with Capt. Marvin's. The office is only a 5 min. walk from the pier. I was concerned we would be late for their 8:30 tour. Our ship arrived at 7 am. We made the first tender and were at the office by 7:40. There were only about 15-20 on our boat. We would look over the cruise excursion boats and they looked like sardines! I couldn't believe it. We did all private tours this cruise and had an unbelievable time for half the price. Marvin actually was on our boat and he does know the spots to go to. The crew got into the water with us and helped us hold the stingray (something I never thought I would do) showed us how to feed them etc. He offered to let us hold them in groups for pictures, alone anything we wanted. He took his time and was very accomodating. We then went out to the coral gardens for another snorkel stop. We saw alot of fish there and were very pleased. They dropped us off at 7 mile beach (whereever we wanted). They recommended the Westin as they said the beach at the Marriott Courtyard is eroding away. We didn't have to pay for a chair at the Westin as we just acted like we knew our way around. When we were ready to leave we walked out on the street to a bus stop and paid $2.50 each to return to this pier. The hotel wanted $14.00. It was a a wonderful day. www.captainmarvins.com Ruth responded to our e-mails on a timely basis.

We just did a Kirks stingray city. My girlfriend doesn't swim and she even got in and petted them. Whata ball!!

Chase the following sea...

Charlie2na

Just back from caymans. We used Fatfish adventures. Husband and Wife (Peter and Carollyn) own and run business. Excellent response. Had great time. The have 24 foot boat and 4 jet skis. We used jet skis for 18 yr olds and mom stayed in 24 foot boat. Much more personal that mobbed cruise ship tours. Also held stingray and learned about them up close and personal. Snorkeling was also nice. Would highly recommend.

My hubby and I will be crusing in September! I really want to swim with the stingrays but I have found 2 options and I am not sure which is better!

nativewaywatersports.com or stingraysailing.com

Any advice is much appreciated!

Thanks!

Our family of 4 went with Stingray Sailing at the end of May. We only had 12 people in our group and the catamaran was really neat. I'd definitely recommend them and use them again. They responded to my emails right away and were really nice to work with.

That is what I was hoping to hear!! Thank you!! :)

Our family of 4 went with Stingray Sailing at the end of May. We only had 12 people in our group and the catamaran was really neat. I'd definitely recommend them and use them again. They responded to my emails right away and were really nice to work with.

What time did your ship arrive in port. We also want to use Stingray Sailing but trying to determine if we can get off the ship in time.

I've used Nativeway and they were awesome! Had a fabulous time, never tried the other company, have a great time.

I've used Nativeway (RRR Tour) and had a great time. I'm sure either company will create a wonderful memory for you. :)

Thanks for your report. We're going with Capt. Marvins in July. Do you know if a person should wear shoes at Stingray City or do many people also go barefoot? Thanks again for the report. I hope our experience is as good as yours.

We just returned from the Grand Caymans and had a fabulous trip with Capt. Marvin's. The office is only a 5 min. walk from the pier. I was concerned we would be late for their 8:30 tour. Our ship arrived at 7 am. We made the first tender and were at the office by 7:40. There were only about 15-20 on our boat. We would look over the cruise excursion boats and they looked like sardines! I couldn't believe it. We did all private tours this cruise and had an unbelievable time for half the price. Marvin actually was on our boat and he does know the spots to go to. The crew got into the water with us and helped us hold the stingray (something I never thought I would do) showed us how to feed them etc. He offered to let us hold them in groups for pictures, alone anything we wanted. He took his time and was very accomodating. We then went out to the coral gardens for another snorkel stop. We saw alot of fish there and were very pleased. They dropped us off at 7 mile beach (whereever we wanted). They recommended the Westin as they said the beach at the Marriott Courtyard is eroding away. We didn't have to pay for a chair at the Westin as we just acted like we knew our way around. When we were ready to leave we walked out on the street to a bus stop and paid $2.50 each to return to this pier. The hotel wanted $14.00. It was a a wonderful day. www.captainmarvins.com Ruth responded to our e-mails on a timely basis.

When we used Stingray Sailing our ship arrived at 8:00 a.m. which was 7:00 Grand Cayman time. We tendered off and they told us to meet Chip between 8:15-8:30 Grand Cayman time. We made it in plenty of time and he was there holding up a sign. He was real easy to find and then we just waited for everyone else to arrive and then went on. It was a really fun day and well worth it.

Wow! Resurrected a really old thread.

Shoes are not permitted at the Stingray Sandbar. The rough surfaces of shoes could damage the skin of the stingrays.

Nativeway is the best!!

We used Nativeway. They treated us all so good. This was one of my all time favorite excursions. I would book with them again in a heartbeat. I can't answer for the other company.

My hubby and I will be crusing in September! I really want to swim with the stingrays but I have found 2 options and I am not sure which is better!

 

nativewaywatersports.com or stingraysailing.com

 

Any advice is much appreciated!

 

Thanks!

We went with Stingraysailing.com. I highly recommend using them. We got to the catamaran in his new bus. There were only 6 people from the cruise ships and we stopped by a local hotel and picked up a family of 4. So 10 of us with Chip and his friend Mark to help. They had fish to feed the sting rays and to lure them to an area that wasn't crowded with people. They made sure we all had a chance to hold and feed them. We also stopped by a reef to snorkel and it was amazing!

His Wife Michelle is pleasant to work with over emails. She very promt and will work with you with cruise ship times also. We went on the later sailing because she was worried we might not make it for their first tour.

They had water bottles that are included in the prices, as well as complimentary fresh fruit for the sail home!

A definate 10 out of 10!

I did the Native Way Rays, Reef and Rum tour in February.

It was OK. They were a bit unorganized the day we went, and kept loading the wrong people on their 3 boats, so we had to keep meeting up and swapping passengers.

I am going to book stingray sailing this time (January) and see how it goes...

From massive research on this board before our February cruise, it seems like you can't go wrong with Native Way, Moby Dick, Capt. Marvin or Stingray Sailing. (any of them would be 100% better than the sardine like ship excursions that will park next to your at Sting Ray City)

Bill

We just returned from Grand Cayman where we took the Stingray City tour with Stingray Sailing. I cannot recommend them enough! We met at the pier and were on our bus by 8:15, heading towards the catamaran. On the way to Stingray City, everyone enjoyed the view, then we arrived and were instructed in what we would be doing. My daughter was very nervous about it and Mark personally guided her and helped her to hold the stingray. It was early and not too crowded so we got to feed lots of the wonderul rays!

Then we moved on to a great snorkeling spot near the reef and all of us got out. Mark was again wonderful helping us and making the experience so much better!

After everyone had snorkeled for about a half hour, we headed back to shore, with the sails up and cold beverages and fruit. Chip dropped us off at the port, although he would have taken us anywhere else if we'd wanted to.

This was the second time I've done the Stingray City tour. The first time was with Nativeway, and I did not enjoy the experience. I would highly recommend using Stingray Sailing if you want a fun, personalized experience.

Vplsh - am I understanding you correct that you snorkeled for about 30 minutes (other than the time you spent at StingRay City)? I'm looking to snorkel the most, and spend just a little time at StingRay City. Are there any other snorkel guides that people would recommend to get the most snorkeling? Also, food included is not necessary... I see alot seem to include that.

We went with Native Way on their "Rays, Reef, and Rum Point" excursion in 2006. We paid $60 each for the excursion, lunch included. They weren't able to go to Rum Point for lunch, it had closed due to bad weather the day before. Anyway, they refunded $30 of the $60 we paid. Which was better than I would have expected. If I remember right there were only about 10 people on our boat. We had people from other very crowded tours coming over to our guide to see the rays. Also we had an 80+ year old with us, since she wasn't going in the water they charged a childs fee for her. So I don't think you can go wrong with Native Way.

Vplsh - am I understanding you correct that you snorkeled for about 30 minutes (other than the time you spent at StingRay City)? I'm looking to snorkel the most, and spend just a little time at StingRay City. Are there any other snorkel guides that people would recommend to get the most snorkeling? Also, food included is not necessary... I see alot seem to include that.

Yes, we spent about a half hour at stingray city and about a half hour snorkeling. They just offered us fruit and water on the way back- nothing big.

We used Nativeway this past June. We had a party of 13 with 6 small children. We did the rays, reef, and rum point. It was fanatastic. The lunch, beach, snorkling, people, rays, boat ... were all exactly what we wanted. You cannot go wrong. Small numbers on the boat and good use of the time make it well worth it.