Gibbs Cay Stingray and Conch Graveyard.. Enough Time???

[momtoty2001]

Our family is looking at Gibbs Stingray Encounter but my kids ABSOLUTELY want to go to the Conch Graveyard to get a couple of Conch shells to bring back.

 

The Stingray encounter is either at 9am or 11:15am and says its 2 hours long. Which time is best to choose for a better excursion?? (ie less people, more time with Stingrays?)

 

and

 

Do you think we will have enough time to do the excursion as well as visit the Conch Graveyard?

 

How far is the Conch Graveyard from the cruise port?

 

Thank you for any help!!

[pghsteelerfan]

We were in Grand Turk on our cruise in May 2010, but did not do the Gibb's Stingray Encounter, so I'm not able to help you with what a better time would be but I can tell you about the Conch Graveyard. When you are looking at Grand Turk from the ship, it's to the right. You'll notice a smaller pier and a "point", the "graveyard" is between that pier and the "point". It's about a 15 - 20 minute walk, but part of that is that you have to go through the DUFRY (Duty Free) shop at the end of the pier to get out to the beaches. Once you go through that, head right and you'll see the walkways that lead to the beach. There are also some nicer conch shells (also empty) on the beach around the point since they aren't as picked over.

 

Whether you have time for both or not would probably depend on how much time you have in Grand Turk. If you there from 8 - 4:30 or 5PM, you should have plenty of time for both.

 

I'm attaching a couple of pictures so you can actually "see" how far the graveyard is:

 

 

View of the small pier and the "point" from the ship

 

View of the ship from the point

 

Conch shells all over the beach that is around the "point" (if you have time)

 

I hope this helps and if you have any further questions, feel free to ask.

[momtoty2001]

Thank you for your reply. We will be in Grand Turk from 7:30am-2:30pm..

 

Are the stingrays for prevalent during certain times of the day? There is an excursion at 9am-11am or 11:15-1:15pm.

 

It looks like we would have time to look for shells either before or after but wondering what others experience has been with the crowds on either excursion?

 

Thank you!