Capt. Bryan's Stingray Sandbar Tour

Hi everyone!

Just back from a cruise on Enchantment of the Seas, a great cruise! We visited Georgetown, Grand Cayman on Tuesday, June 29th. After reading everything I could on these boards about stingray tours I finally decided on Captain Bryan's Tour. Here's how it went:

We tendered from the ship to the tender docks around 8:30 am (ship's time). We had an 8:30 am meeting time (Grand Cayman time) for our tour. It was a short 10 minute walk to Captain Bryan's office. Be careful crossing the street, they drive on the left side of the road and I always feel like I'm going to get run over when I have to cross the street. Of course we were a little early, but checked in anyway and went next door to a fabulous little bakery to get coffee and doughnuts to make the wait a little easier. After a short wait, our captain - I think his name was Javin, appeared and drove us to the dock where the catamaran was. As I was stepping aboard I hadn't decided whether I was actually going to swim with the stingrays.

The main reason that I chose this company was because of the catamaran boat that they use. We actually were on the "Buccaneer". I'm not sure why, I was expecting the "Hannabul" but was more than happy with the boat that I've read about on this board. I figured that sailing on a nice catamaran would be worth the $34 per person that I paid for the excursion even if I didn't get in the water. The first mate, Lee, made us all feel quite comfortable with the idea of swimming with the stingrays and by the time we got to stingray city sandbar my granddaughter and I were among the first in the water. I am so glad that I got in the water. I was still a little nervous, but that passed quickly as I realized how gentle these creatures truly are. They were swimming all around us, and I would have been hard to stay out of their way. There were several other boats there with us and quite a few people in the water, but it is such a big area that I can't say that it was crowded. All but one person was completely comfortable in the water. One of my biggest fears was that everyone was going to be "freaking out" and honestly that would have freaked me out. Anyway...

After the sandbar we went to a spot a short distance away (you can still see the people at the sandbar) to a place they called the Aquarium. I chose not to snorkle, but my granddaughter did and was really wowed by all that she saw there. Lee was in the water and feeding the fish and pointing creatures out left and right - eels, lobsters and other sea life.

We actually motored out to these spots but sailed all the way back to the docks. I love to sail on these catamarans. When I booked this excursion I requested that a videographer be onboard with us. Heather was the best. She made sure that everyone was on this video. She had an underwater video camera and was in the water and snorkling right beside everyone. On the way back to the dock she let everyone preview the video and played the background cd music for all to hear. The video was a little expensive, I think that it was about $50, but that included shipping. I'm still anxiously awaiting the arrival of the video, it should be here tomorrow. From what I could tell on the playback of the camera it is going to be awesome.

They had water to drink, and on the way back they also had alcoholic beverages. I'm not sure but I think that you had to pay for them.

Once we were back to the dock we were supposed to meet someone from HoneySuckle Beach Rides. They weren't there when we first got there. In fact they were almost half an hour late in picking us up. Javin and Lee let us stay on the Buccaneer. Javin had to leave but made several calls to Honeysuckle for us including one after he left. They really didn't have to do any of that, but they did.

I am very please with this company and will definitely choose them again when I make my way back to Grand Cayman.

If you have any questions, ask away.

Darlene

I received the video yesterday. I have watched it 3 times myself and have forced everyone who has come to the house to watch it again. Soon I will have no friends. Anyway the video is great and I recommend to everyone to ask for a videographer on their stingray tours.

Darlene

Hi Darlene!

Thanks for the great review! Can you tell me how many people were on the boat with you? Also- what time were you finished with the tour? Did you get to do anything else in town?

Thanks!

Hi!

I think that there were less than 20 of us on the buccaneer. The tour began around 9 am and went until 12 noon. We were picked up from the pier there by someone from Honeysuckle farms beach rides. They were supposed to be there at 12:15, however they didn't get there until almost 1 o'clock. I think that Honeysuckle farms has gone through a change of ownership. When I asked about Penny or Sterling, I was told that they still had horses there. I'm not sure what that meant. Until our tour with them I had only heard positive things about them and how great Penny and Sterling were. Seemed a little weird - but other than them being a little late picking us up we had a great time.

This was my second time visiting Grand Cayman, the first time we did the standard ship "island tour" including stops at "hell, and the turtle farm". Personally, I enjoyed this trip much more.

If I can answer any other questions I'm ready!

Darlene

you are so right, the whole trip with capt. bryans crew was great. thinking back on my entire cruise vacation, i feel like coming back on the catamaran with those sails up and the music playing in the background was probably the highlight of the trip. when i saw what looked like hundreds of people filing on and off of the cruise ship sponsored excursion boats compared to the 15-20 people comfortably lounging on our boat, i was so glad to have booked this tour!

ps. we vacationed in feb and i am still watching the dvd we got! the color of that water is mesmerizing!

dbarry,

Thanks for the great info. My boyfriend and I have scheduled with Capt. bryan for our sept 10th 2004 cruise. I was alittle nervous about booking outside the cruise ships excursion, but on the other hand I didn't want a cattle boat atmospher either,so reading your review sounds exactly what we were hoping for. Thanks again!

Sandy & Joe

Does anyone know if Capt Bryans has a web site or e-mail address. We will be cruising to The Caymans in Dec. and would like more info on his tours.

Thanks

Steve

Steve... we are booked on Capt. Bryan's Hannibal for our 9/19 Conquest sailing. Here is a link to the site I used to book. Hope this helps. I really enjoyed reading this review and can't wait to do this tour!!!

http://grandcaymancruiseexcursions.com/Stingray_City_Buccaneer_Catamaran.htm

I booked a tour with Captain Bryan's because of the good review and comments in this thread so I thank you all. Have been to Stingray City before but on a dive boat. Thought we would more enjoy the cat/trimaran experience. We sail on Rhapsody next weekend. ~Tara~