Stingray City & Weather Advice

[rjhollan]

Our cruise in 2010 bypassed Grand Cayman due to a medical emergency aboard the cruise ship. Costa Maya was a poor substitute, so we've booked a cruise on the Carnival Conquest on 1/13 to go back to Grand Cayman.

 

There are many good tour operators willing to take us to Stingray City. Most only offer snorkel tours, but one also offers scuba, and suggested renting their boat for 1/2 day for $500 to see Stingray City, or $750 if we dive on the west side of the island "due to weather".

 

My hunch is that if the weather is good enough to allow tenders, we'd be find with Stingray City, but they've told me that the weather in January can be "iffy" and that most operators are happy to dump you on the sandbar even in poor weather and we'd be "slapped to death" by the waves, or we could enjoy scuba instead.

 

I wanted to try and get a feel for how much I need to worry about the weather. I'd much rather book a "standard" tour for the 4 of us (me + 3 kids) for ~$150 than spend $500 for a private boat, and potentially be up-sold to the $750 scuba instead, especially since none of the kids have ever dived before....and one has trouble with her ears on the plane as it is. I'd hate to spend $750 and have to spend the dives at 5 feet because she can't clear her ears....

 

However, I'm leery of booking with someone like Captain Marvin or another operator that doesn't have an alternative plan for bad weather, and get dumped out on the sandbar when the seas are rough due to the weather. My kids are good swimmers, but I want it to be an enjoyable experience for them.

 

Am I over-thinking this? If the cruise ship can anchor and tender us in, will we be fine, or is it still "pending weather" to get to the sandbar on the north side?

[yoshi]

My family of 4 enjoyed the snorkel & Stingray sandbar with Chip & Mark of StingraySailing.com (twice) I have not done scuba at Grand Caymen, however I really think you can see plenty with just snorkeling. The water is crystal clear and the stingray sandbar is awesome & price is reasonable and they are reliable.

[drew sailbum]

The tour operator is quite correct. It is definitely possible to be able to tender in with flat calm seas and yet the seas can be too rough at the Stingray Sandbar.

 

Usually cruise ships anchor off the west side of the island. If the wind is strong enough from the ENE (the typical direction in the winter months) then the seas may get too rough at the sandbar. But because the cruise ships are anchored off the lee shore the seas there are calm.

 

Sometimes a nor'wester blows through. This is when a cold front drops down out of the Gulf of Mexico and the winds change direction to come from the northwest. In these conditions the ships anchor at an alternate tendering site on the south (lee) shore. The stingray sandbar is likely to be too rough but so is the entire west side of the island. Snorkel operators typically cancel and scuba trips dive sites in South Sound. Nor'westers are more common in the winter months and very rare in other seasons.

[rjhollan]

So if you tender in on flat seas, but the seas are rough on the sandbar, do most of the tour operators refund/cancel, or dump you out there anyway?

[nasa1974]

So if you tender in on flat seas, but the seas are rough on the sandbar, do most of the tour operators refund/cancel, or dump you out there anyway?

 

If there is a question on weather and rough seas I would go with the Carnival tour. If it is not safe they should cancel and give your money back.

[rjhollan]

We decided to go with the Nativway Watersports tour. It starts with an island tour (turtle farm, hell, rum cake factory, governor's house, etc), and ends with a trip to the Stingray City sandbar. I assume if the weather is producing rough water they'll cancel that portion (and hopefully refund a portion of the $60 tour fee). In any case, at least we've got the island part of the tour as a fallback for rough seas...