Stingray Sandbar AND Dolphin Swim Excursion

Is there a tour operator that will do a stingray sandbar tour AND a dolphin swim (not just encounter)? This is our first time to Grand Cayman so I am not familiar with the locations and distance between these attractions. It seems as though the dolphins are not as popular at this port, maybe? I am trying to consolidate these activities in GC to free up time in Jamaica for other things. Any help or advice is appreciated! :)

I would also love to know this. My family wants to do dolphins (as do I) but I am interested in the sting rays. Wanting to know if there is any way to do both.

There are two dolphin programs in Cayman and numerous Stingray tour operators.

One of the dolphin facilities advertises a combination of the dolphins and stingrays. That might be what you are looking for?

* DISCLAIMER: As always, I am not affiliated with that company or any other tourism venture in Cayman. I don't know anyone who works there. I don't know the guy who sells them the fish to feed the dolphins. YMMV. Quantities are limited. I reserve the right to offer substitute opinions.

Is there a tour operator that will do a stingray sandbar tour AND a dolphin swim (not just encounter)? This is our first time to Grand Cayman so I am not familiar with the locations and distance between these attractions. It seems as though the dolphins are not as popular at this port, maybe? I am trying to consolidate these activities in GC to free up time in Jamaica for other things. Any help or advice is appreciated! :)

We are wondering the same thing for our upcoming cruise this August. Can you let me know what you ended up doing (private or thru RCI and swim or encounter?) What did you get to actually do on your dolphin experience. The descriptions on the RCI excursion page are very vague that I don't want to book the wrong thing. I also noticed you were going with Liberty Tours Jamaica. We have also booked with Ricardo. Any feedback on that tour we be appreciated also. Thanks so much!

I don't know......I would not think you would have time for both without being extremely rushed. I surely would not do it and I've been there many times. While the marina where most of the Stingray tours and the Dolphin place are both on the same sides of the island, just the logistics of getting off the ship (tendering - if you are not on a ships excursion, you will generally have to wait a bit for a tender, depending on the size of ship), finding your tour company, driving to the marina, boating to Stingray Sandbar, swimming for a while (usually an hour or so), boating back to the marina, loading into a shuttle, driving to the Dolphin swim, registering, getting instructions, doing the actual swim, and then having to get back to the tender with time to spare.......no way in heck would I try that....UNLESS it's a ship sponsored excursion, then the ship will wait for you (usually) if you are running late.

This sounds like an absolute hectic day to me. I'd break the excursions up to two different islands if they are both something you'd like to do (with the Stingrays being in Grand Cayman of course).

If you are sailing on Carnival they have one, we are doing next week.

MrsFuzz, the program they're asking about is one in which the same operators sponsor both the Dolphin Encounter/Swim and the boat to Stingray City, as the cove is actually right on the water's edge and doesn't involve an extra bus back and forth to the docks and an extra hour of boating.

Note: I only know this because I've been trying to figure out if this is the "right answer" for us. There are also several that have stops by the Turtle Farm, because you're already up in West Bay.

MrsFuzz, the program they're asking about is one in which the same operators sponsor both the Dolphin Encounter/Swim and the boat to Stingray City, as the cove is actually right on the water's edge and doesn't involve an extra bus back and forth to the docks and an extra hour of boating.

Note: I only know this because I've been trying to figure out if this is the "right answer" for us. There are also several that have stops by the Turtle Farm, because you're already up in West Bay.

Ahhh, thanks! Didn't know there was one that did both that would have that. Still sounds like a rushed day to get that all in during a port time......unless they have a very long port time. :)

I like Stingray City in Grand Cayman!

I think You have to visit also our Seven Mile Beach here in Cayman Islands..

Ahhh, thanks! Didn't know there was one that did both that would have that. Still sounds like a rushed day to get that all in during a port time......unless they have a very long port time. :)

Indeed, it's the desire to *not* be stressed out on vacation that's been going into my calculations! Dolphin Cove is on the interior (east) edge of West Bay, so it's a fairly ideal boat launch point to Stingray City. The other Grand Cayman option, Dolphin Discovery, is near the west side of West Bay, just across the street from the Turtle Farm and next door to the Tortuga bakery.

You can see how they combine these fairly easily, but I'm considering how to plan the day - ideally not counting on the traffic not being snarled five minutes before I should be abord ship!

Does anyone know if the dolphin swim is better on Grand Cayman than it is at Chankanaab Park in Cozumel.

I know my son really wants to swim with the dolphins.

Does anyone know if the dolphin swim is better on Grand Cayman than it is at Chankanaab Park in Cozumel.

I know my son really wants to swim with the dolphins.

Now that is a really good question (<--- This is code for "I don't know the answer.":)).

Do you know the amount of time you'll have in each port? I tried for a very few minutes to get carnival's site to tell me your itinerary, but it really thinks I need to know about every possible ship, sailing from every possible place, not Caribbean trips on either the Magic or the Miracle. Like me, I'm guessing you don't want to be under 'we can't miss the boat' stress so much that you can't enjoy the moment.

Well we have from 7a to 3p in Cozumel and 9a to 5p in Grand Cayman. We're on the Magic in May by the way. :)

Well we have from 7a to 3p in Cozumel and 9a to 5p in Grand Cayman. We're on the Magic in May by the way. :)

Oh, wow, you do have a good set of times for GC! Chankanaab doesn't open til 9 and swims don't start there til 10. But on GC, that should be plenty of time to do something like dolphin cove's combo and maybe even visit the turtle farm or find somewhere to laze on 7 mile beach before returning to port, just don't underestimate the return time.

We are wondering the same thing for our upcoming cruise this August. Can you let me know what you ended up doing (private or thru RCI and swim or encounter?) What did you get to actually do on your dolphin experience. The descriptions on the RCI excursion page are very vague that I don't want to book the wrong thing. I also noticed you were going with Liberty Tours Jamaica. We have also booked with Ricardo. Any feedback on that tour we be appreciated also. Thanks so much!

Sorry I to have been neglectful in responding!! :eek:

We ended up booking our tour through Nativeways. Sharon (the owner) is the contact that I booked and emailed with. Our tour time wasn't until 11am-ish, so we shopped for a bit right around in port. We actually wandered in to Guy Harvey's shop to buy my daughter a T-shirt...he was there! So we got to meet him and, of course, got pics and he autographed my daughter's shirt! Way cool! :cool: After we met up with the guide from Naitveways, he took us to do the Stingray City tour first. We were a family of four with only five other people on the boat. The stingrays are amazing...can't say anything more about the experience than what's already been said. On the way back, we stopped off to look at these huge starfish...there were tons of them! Back at the marina, just our family, was taken to Dolphin Cove! Sharon was actually the one that took us and she stopped for us to get some lunch. Because of the weather and the morning crowd (cruise excursion) that had just come through, the Dolphin Cove trainers weren't sure if the dolphins would be up for it. We waited a few minutes and then were taken right on down, life vests on and in the water we went! It ended up being just our family with the dolphin - Nemo! ;) It was an awesome experience!! After we were done - pictures purchased, of course - Sharon had us back to the boat in plenty of time...it was a great day!

Yes, we did do our tour in Jamaica with Ricardo. Other than the owner tried to switch us with another guide days before leaving for the cruise, we had no problems. (I insisted that since I had booked my tour with him MONTHS before, I should get first dibs over them fitting groups together at the last minute) We were a group of 11 total. The day was great - we did the Blue Hole Falls and river tubing with a stop for lunch at Scotchies. By all means...skip Dunns Falls!! Blue Hole is beautiful and less crowded! The cruise tours will not go there because of the back road that you have to take to get to it. The guides through the falls (all locals) are very friendly and even took pictures for us with my camera. My 13 year old daughter and husband walked down the front of the falls!! (with the help of the guides) River tubing was fun and didn't take too long. Lunch was yummy! We even had time for Ricardo to stop for us to do some shopping. Felt completely safe with Ricardo. He also gave a lot of information and history as we were driving around. Can't go wrong with that tour!

Good Luck!