Stingray city tours

I'm trying to decide on the stingray city tour but don't know which company to use. I'm looking at Moby Dick, Native Way or Island Marketing.

Any opinions on these and which tour do you recommend? I like the idea of going to see the stingrays but also might want some time on a beach maybe?

There will be at least 6 of us, maybe 9 - ages from 48 down to 7!

Any ideas?

just returned using Captain Marvin at GC. Very professional and big outfit with several buses and boats (there were 30+people on our tour). Check out their website, they offers numerous tour options. Their price was about 25% cheaper than Carnival's.

They will ask for CC when you register on the tour, but do not charge you until the time of the tour.

We used Shore Excursioneer for both, Cayman and Cozumel and it worked out perfectly. Booked their catamaran stingray city sail and snorkel and mini submarines in Cozumel and got a special discount for booking both tours with them which was a nice touch...

I just booked Stingray Sailing for their Catamaran stingray and snorkel tour. Highly recommended from someone on my roll call who has used them 3x already and rebooking on our trip. I love the idea of the catamaran and less people.

We used Moby Dick in March for the snorkle/sting ray city tour. Had a great time and the guys on the boat were a hoot, and very helpful. I would use them again in a heartbeat!

We are using NativeWay in June based on feedback from this board. We used Captain Marvin on a previous trip and they were great. Nothing outstanding, but the trip was enjoyable. NativeWay will drop you off at 7-mile beach if you want to stroll the beach for a few hours before heading back to the ship - which is exactly what we want to do. This way we only have to pay for a one-way taxi/bus ride !

We booked with Native Way last week and was very happy with the service and price..Our tour was $ 62.50 that includes lunch!!!! that is cheap if you compare price in Cayman...Cayman could get expensive!!!!

We are booked with Stingray Sailing for April 30th. They said they will drop us off at 7 mile beach around 11:30-11:45am so we can eat and have some beach time. Our ship (Canrival Freedom) leaves at 3:30pm. That leaves us plenty of time to have some more fun. So far they have been EXCELLENT to work with. Very happy with their service.

Tim

I just booked Stingray Sailing for their Catamaran stingray and snorkel tour. Highly recommended from someone on my roll call who has used them 3x already and rebooking on our trip. I love the idea of the catamaran and less people.

We used Moby Dick in March for the snorkle/sting ray city tour. Had a great time and the guys on the boat were a hoot, and very helpful. I would use them again in a heartbeat!

We are using NativeWay in June based on feedback from this board. We used Captain Marvin on a previous trip and they were great. Nothing outstanding, but the trip was enjoyable. NativeWay will drop you off at 7-mile beach if you want to stroll the beach for a few hours before heading back to the ship - which is exactly what we want to do. This way we only have to pay for a one-way taxi/bus ride !

Hey guys I want to do plenty of snorkeling and spend plenty of time with the Rays. How long were you guys there actually snorkeling and playing with rays?

Hey guys I want to do plenty of snorkeling and spend plenty of time with the Rays. How long were you guys there actually snorkeling and playing with rays?

I'm not going until November. If your going after Thanksgiving, I can come back and let you know then. If you read most of their websites, they say they stay with the stingrays about 45 mins.

Hey guys I want to do plenty of snorkeling and spend plenty of time with the Rays. How long were you guys there actually snorkeling and playing with rays?

We were there around 45 minutes with Captain Marvin. It seemed even less time than that. I would call or write to see if there are any tours that stay longer. Or you might be able to rent jet skis or a boat to take yourself out there and spend more time - I never looked into that option.

The rays, obviously, are not too interested in you once the food is gone, so I think the time frame is probably related to how long the food lasts. Once ours was gone, so were the rays.

We used Fat Fish Adventures and it was the best excursion EVER!!! I highly recommend using them - Jordan was our captain and he was wonderful!

We used Captain Marvin's last time and were VERY pleased. Will be using them again in 2 weeks.

I'm trying to decide on the stingray city tour but don't know which company to use. I'm looking at Moby Dick, Native Way or Island Marketing.

 

Any opinions on these and which tour do you recommend? I like the idea of going to see the stingrays but also might want some time on a beach maybe?

 

There will be at least 6 of us, maybe 9 - ages from 48 down to 7!

 

Any ideas?

We will be using Native Ways in August. We booked their Rays, Reef & Rum Point excursion. We choose this tour because it includes stingray city as well as some time on Rum Point beach. Lunch and non-alcoholic beverages are also included in the price ($62.50/adult). We chose this tour based on reviews we have read on this board. Native Ways also guarantees small groups--no more than 25 people.

We went with 7 Seas Charters. Shaun and his mate were the best ever. I highly recommend them.

I agree with Peterkelley---stingray city quest is a great company and there is so much to do in a day, and you can get it all in! something for everyone!

my cousins just came back and they used stingray quest - loved it - i will try and post photos - after researching it seems that quest has a lot more to offer in terms of :

touch tank with sea creatures

interactive macaws, cockatoos, lover birds

private boat and dock

lots of local people with great local jokes and knowledge

Peter - who did you book with. Grandson loves the tropical birds.

First off, let me start by verifying I am not some random person posting on behalf of Stingray Sailing. Google "timmay77", you will find I am an active user on many different online forums.......

My family consists of myself, my wife, and my daughter. (35, 35, and 8 years old.)

I can tell you that every time we sail to Grand Cayman, we will be getting in contact with Chip and booking an excursion with Stingray Sailing. This was by far our favorite part of your 6 day cruise on the Carnival Freedom.

Chip was at the dock waiting for us, easy to find, and very polite. He informed us that it was our family and another group of 4, that was it. We would leave as soon as the other group showed up. Our tour was scheduled for 8:30am. The other group of people showed up about 7:45am, so we were loaded up and on the road by 8am.

We got to the boat dock within 15 minutes, and on the water shortly after. Everything about the tour was amazing. The crew was VERY friendly and helpful. It was about a 35-40 minute ride out to Stingray City. It was great knowing we only had 7 people on our boat once we saw the other groups of 40-50 people, circled around stingrays. It couldn't have been as much fun as we had.

Everyone hopped in the water with the stingrays, which swam up to us right away. My daughter was frightened, which wasn't a big deal. Her and my wife sat on the boat while the crew brought several rays over for them to touch and pet. Even though they weren't in the water, they were still part of the action. The crew did a fantastic job! We had plenty of time in the water with the rays.

After the rays, we sailed a few hundred yards over to the coral reef and did some snorkeling. My daughter LOVED that. Once we got her goggles adjusted correctly, she swam around, and checked out the fish and the coral. I will never forget her reactions to what she saw. Just make sure you get your goggles and vest situated on the boat. It is tough to do in the water. They gave us plenty of time to swim around and have some fun.

After snorkeling, they opened up a sail and headed back to the dock, which was really cool. Another relaxing 35-40 minute ride and we were back at the dock, loaded up in bus, and headed to a restaurant that Chip suggested for some authentic local food. We had a fantastic lunch, then walked down the beach to the Royal Palms, set up the towels, and did some swimming. After we had our fill of the beach, we hopped in a cab and headed back to the ship. ($4 per person).

Overall I give Stingray Sailing a 10/10 experience. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. I have marked this thread so I will be alerted and will respond as soon as possible.

We will absolutely head back to Grand Cayman and will for sure use Chip and his crew again.

Here are some pictures....

This is what you will see on the other tours. 40-50 people huddled around a few rays.......

Thanks for your review, we are booked with Stingraysailing.com in June. The have been very easy to deal with so far and from everything I have read it is going to be a great trip.

-Nate

Tim thanks for the review it looks great! I’m looking into this for a family group of 8 for next January. I notice on their website they say they can take up to 29 people, in your opinion can 29 people fit comfortably on that catamaran? I am really looking for a smaller group like you had but I’m guessing they could have others up to a max of 29.

Tim thanks for the review it looks great! I’m looking into this for a family group of 8 for next January. I notice on their website they say they can take up to 29 people, in your opinion can 29 people fit comfortably on that catamaran? I am really looking for a smaller group like you had but I’m guessing they could have others up to a max of 29.

I'm sure 29 COULD fit, but it would e cramped. I was surprised he scooped us up an headed out early. I'm sure he could have snagged a few more random customers ha he waited around until the scheduled 8:30am appointment time. I'm not complaining though. I guess it depends on the time of year you go and how many ships are in port at the time. No matter what, I think it would be a better experience than booking with the cruise line. That looked like a heard of cattle......

I booked this excursion on the advice of someone on my roll call who is doing it also. I love the idea of the catamaran vs a boat. Our 2 groups will equal about 14 people but I'm hoping we'll be the only ones. 29 people doesn't seem like alot compared to the 1000s of people that could be in port.

Thanks for the review. I'm going to have to show my family