Snorkeling, Stingrays & which company?

Hello, I want to say I have spent many hours trying to determine which company in GRAND TURK offers the best service with a minimum # of customers per boat. In particular, we would like to see as many stingrays as possible. Watching videos it appears to be "hit or miss". Either there are MANY rays or just 1 or 2. One person noted that the rays come out more in the afternoon than in the morning--is that true??

It appears the top 2 noted on Cruise Critic and other sites is Crystal Sea Adventures and White Sands. Also, some book through Viator. Does anyone know which company is associated with Viator?

Finally, please take time to respond with your vote for our BEST EXCURSION through which company. Thank you for your time!

I'm not familiar with the 2 companies you mentioned. We went to Grand Turk in July 2013 (and again in July 2015). We used Blue Water Divers. They were great, they are from Ohio, and have been on the island for 35 years! They take you to 2 different snorkel areas, including "the wall". I'm not sure which area has better sting ray viewing, but you could email them to inquire. It was really nice and relaxing. There were only 6 people on board (including my family of 4). So there wasn't tons of people around. And the cost was about $50/pp, so reasonable. They got great reviews on trip advisor, that's how I chose them. We are going back on another cruise this summer and will definitely use them again!

Hi, I was in Grand Turk 2 weeks ago and used White Sands. They were excellent! There was 10 on our trip which included 2 children. We had 2 snorkel stops and then on to a deserted island where the sting rays come in. I think they said there's 14 rays that live in the area. Before we got to the island one of the crew dived down for conch which they use to entice the rays in. They use the conch to make a salad as well. There are drinks on board - soft drinks, water and rum punch!

Hi, I was in Grand Turk 2 weeks ago and used White Sands. They were excellent! There was 10 on our trip which included 2 children. We had 2 snorkel stops and then on to a deserted island where the sting rays come in. I think they said there's 14 rays that live in the area. Before we got to the island one of the crew dived down for conch which they use to entice the rays in. They use the conch to make a salad as well. There are drinks on board - soft drinks, water and rum punch!

Do you remember how long it was and when it started? Did you have transportation from ship?

5 months ago we went with GT Diving go for the 3 hr snorkel tour it was awesome they were a great company and will be going back in 2 months its smaller groups not like the cruise ships tours

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far!!! Would love to hear a couple more responses:<)

GT is still my Fav/There is only 2 or 3 dive and snorkel companies

Anyone else?

We were in GT in August of last year and did our snorkeling excursion through White Sands. I can HIGHLY recommend them! The price was great and there wasn't a ton of people on our excursion like there was with the Carnival groups. They are great with communicating via email.

We got the opportunity to pet a nurse shark and also play with the Stingrays, not to mention getting the opportunity to snorkel at The Wall. That was simply breath-taking.

White Sands is just a quick walk from the port. Their property is adjacent to Margaritaville.

I hope you enjoy your time in GT and would love to see pics!

We were in GT in August of last year and did our snorkeling excursion through White Sands. I can HIGHLY recommend them! The price was great and there wasn't a ton of people on our excursion like there was with the Carnival groups. They are great with communicating via email.

 

We got the opportunity to pet a nurse shark and also play with the Stingrays, not to mention getting the opportunity to snorkel at The Wall. That was simply breath-taking.

 

White Sands is just a quick walk from the port. Their property is adjacent to Margaritaville.

 

I hope you enjoy your time in GT and would love to see pics!

Sounds like White Sands is best.

I'm not familiar with the 2 companies you mentioned. We went to Grand Turk in July 2013 (and again in July 2015). We used Blue Water Divers. They were great, they are from Ohio, and have been on the island for 35 years! They take you to 2 different snorkel areas, including "the wall". I'm not sure which area has better sting ray viewing, but you could email them to inquire. It was really nice and relaxing. There were only 6 people on board (including my family of 4). So there wasn't tons of people around. And the cost was about $50/pp, so reasonable. They got great reviews on trip advisor, that's how I chose them. We are going back on another cruise this summer and will definitely use them again!

Thank you.

As a frequent cruiser with a large family, we have been detached from "excursions" and the typical tourist "shuffle" on the islands. I will say this is the first time I have felt compelled to follow up with a review because this company "wowed" us! No exaggeration. (Also posted in tripadvisor cuz I felt so impressed with Whitesands-). The six of us randomly wandered the dock and could have taken advantage of the free beach but decided to inquire at the visitor's booth and boy are we glad we did because Whitesands Snorling became the highlight of our entire vacation in June 2015! This was no run of the mill tour. Don and Eric were true guides who took us to several unique snorkling sights and challenged our limits with conch diving, stingray encounters, and the interpersonal touch of Don and Eric made us feel like old friends plus it was so affordable! We had Fresh conch salad and rum runners. They had some water too. Bring good sunscreen- sun for several hours, little shade. We saw and touched several stingrays and brought back our conch shells as souvenirs. If we ever go back to Grand Turk, we will seek this tour again! Just do it, you won't regret it!

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g147396-d4941032-r282343223-White_Sands_Charters_Tours-Grand_Turk_Turks_and_Caicos.html#

As a frequent cruiser with a large family, we have been detached from "excursions" and the typical tourist "shuffle" on the islands. I will say this is the first time I have felt compelled to follow up with a review because this company "wowed" us! No exaggeration. (Also posted in tripadvisor cuz I felt so impressed with Whitesands-). The six of us randomly wandered the dock and could have taken advantage of the free beach but decided to inquire at the visitor's booth and boy are we glad we did because Whitesands Snorling became the highlight of our entire vacation in June 2015! This was no run of the mill tour. Don and Eric were true guides who took us to several unique snorkling sights and challenged our limits with conch diving, stingray encounters, and the interpersonal touch of Don and Eric made us feel like old friends plus it was so affordable! We had Fresh conch salad and rum runners. They had some water too. Bring good sunscreen- sun for several hours, little shade. We saw and touched several stingrays and brought back our conch shells as souvenirs. If we ever go back to Grand Turk, we will seek this tour again! Just do it, you won't regret it!

 

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g147396-d4941032-r282343223-White_Sands_Charters_Tours-Grand_Turk_Turks_and_Caicos.html#

I had booked them for our cruise in November based on some great reviews on here and t.a. Glad to see that yet another group enjoyed them.:D

Was wondering how long white sands excursions are. Did you go in the early morning or afternoon. I looked on the website and didn't see times. Thanks for everyone posting.

I just booked them for a tour in November. I had a choice of 10 am or 1 pm. We took the morning tour. Our tour is only 1 1/2hrs. as we are only doing the stingrays. (Taking 2 grandchildren and figured that would be long enough for them.) If you add a wall or shallow snorkel with it, it was 2 hours. Those are the only tours I emailed them about. If you email them any questions they respond immediately.

Thanks. I will email them.

Just returned from an awesome trip with white sands, would highly recommend them. We saw tons of pretty fish, touched the nurse shark, dove for conch, and played with the rays on a beautiful private beach.

Sounds like something fun but curious as to age restrictions. My daughter just turned 4 yrs old and loves to swim, etc. Is something like this good for her age?

Link to website?

We took a 5 year and she did great. White sands snorkel dot com. They are very good at responding quickly to emails.

Thanks...just emailed them about age issues.

I think I caught White Sands on a bad day, but I have to say we did not have a good experience with them this past Thursday...probably the worst excursion we have taken. They packed 16 of us in a small boat (guessing 25'-30'), water was rough, drove us out and told us to jump in. They did not get in the water and there was very little to see. Got back in the boat and assumed we were going to the wall...got to the next stop and I asked if it was the wall - was told "no, we already passed that, you didn't see it?". Jumped back in and they gave us some bread and snorkeling was a little better at this location. Went to the last stop for stingrays, diving for conch and salads - well none of that happened. There was another boat there when we arrived handling the stingrays so I figured it would be our turn when they finished, but no our drivers didn't even attempt to find the Rays. My DH finally went out and tried to find the Rays and conch on his own. We stayed for a short time and was told it was time to leave. Very disappointed.