Snorkeling in Grand Cayman vs. Cozumel?

[tanyaewa]

Can anyone recommend a good Stingray city tour company?

[breezediver]

Can anyone recommend a good Stingray city tour company?

 

We used Acquarius Sea Tours in 2014. They were amazing. Our ship was late and they waited for us. Check out their Trip Advisor reviews.

[crazyfrazee]

Another plus for Caymen is there are no sharks there!

[Merion_Mom]

Another plus for Caymen is there are no sharks there!

 

 

 

Sharks are awesome!

 

 

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[Merion_Mom]

Can anyone recommend a good Stingray city tour company?

 

 

 

http://www.stingraysailing.com

 

Always a small group.

 

Always a great crew.

 

Always personal attention.

 

A small family business.

 

 

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[OCruisers]

We like to go out by boat to snorkel rather than from the beach in Grand Cayman. :)

[LuckyStar]

We snorkeled in Sept in Grand Cayman and were on a Stingray City excursion. The snorkeling was shallow and awesome. We had to ask for vests. It was not a great company. Boat didn't even have a bathroom. It was tough for a 3 hr tour.

[HumMayDum]

Wow, okay you guys are super amazing, helpful, and nice!! I'm so sorry, I honestly thought I didn't get any more responses to this but it looks like I got so much help!!!

 

After reading through all of the replies I'll stick with DEFINITELY snorkeling at Grand Cayman, seems like a lot more people thought it was beautiful and comfortable which is really what I need xD

 

I saw a couple of replies talking about taking private excursions, so ... I REALLY want to do that but I'm so nervous that I'll chose a time slot that won't leave us enough time to leave the ship by ... "tender" (forgot the spelling sorry), and so that would mean missing out on the excursion? if anyone can tell me what the process of leaving the ship is like, that'd be great :)

 

ALSO, if I take an excursion through the ship is it REQUIRED for me to go to the excursion and then come back with them? Because my plan would be go to the excursion site, and take a taxi to go to the 7 mile beach or a restaurant nearby, without going back to the ship?

[Merion_Mom]

Wow, okay you guys are super amazing, helpful, and nice!! I'm so sorry, I honestly thought I didn't get any more responses to this but it looks like I got so much help!!!

 

 

 

After reading through all of the replies I'll stick with DEFINITELY snorkeling at Grand Cayman, seems like a lot more people thought it was beautiful and comfortable which is really what I need xD

 

 

 

I saw a couple of replies talking about taking private excursions, so ... I REALLY want to do that but I'm so nervous that I'll chose a time slot that won't leave us enough time to leave the ship by ... "tender" (forgot the spelling sorry), and so that would mean missing out on the excursion? if anyone can tell me what the process of leaving the ship is like, that'd be great :)

 

 

 

ALSO, if I take an excursion through the ship is it REQUIRED for me to go to the excursion and then come back with them? Because my plan would be go to the excursion site, and take a taxi to go to the 7 mile beach or a restaurant nearby, without going back to the ship?

 

 

 

These two ports are HUGE ports of call for cruise ships.

 

Private operators would be out of business in a heartbeat if they ever made passengers miss the ship.

 

You do not have to return to the ship when a ship's excursion ends. (Unless it's a timing issue)

 

 

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[Pellaz]

Another plus for Caymen is there are no sharks there!

 

This is not correct. Our dive operator told us there can be sharks there, in particular nurse sharks. He added that, while nurse sharks are normally not dangerous for swimmers, there have been exceptions there at GC.

[ChristiCruisePlanner]

The person who posted "Once you have snorkeled one reef in the Caribbean, you have seen them all" is so totally incorrect! Perhaps that person doesn't recognize the differences. Go slowly (unless you are drift snorkeling and can't), be patient and you will often see much more!) Not only do conditions cause a location to be a bit different from time to time, some locations have different fish than other ones, different terrain on the sea floor, and more. I know this for a fact as my dh and I have snorkeled off of a number of different islands in the carribean. Grand Cayman is excellent for the Caribbean (and I'd also vote for that IF you want to snorkel in just once during your cruise vacation). However, Bora Bora and thereabouts beats anywhere else to shreds, and we've snorkeled in many other places like south FL, Hawaii, various islands in French Polynesia (Tahiti, Bora Bora, Moorea, Raitea, Huahine), in Brazil, in Greece and numerous places in Mexico. Different locations on the same island can often be a bit different as well. While locations on a Caribbean island can be very similar in many instances, the coral formations alone can differ a great deal sometimes. I've heard people comment, "once you have seen a Caribbean island, you have seen them all" as well. Just not accurate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[brillohead]

You don't have to book a private excursion in advance -- you can get one on the pier when you get off the tender. GC is probably one of the easiest ports to get a decent excursion right as you step off the tender!

 

And no worries about getting back to the ship on time with a private excursion -- these people make their livelihood keeping cruisers happy!

 

As for extending your excursion, you may have difficulty in doing that in the manner you have planned no matter which type of excursion you take. You will be taken to the excursion boat site via bus/van whether it's a private excursion or a ship-purchased excursion, and there's a good possibility that there will be no public transportation at the excursion site. You will probably have to take the return bus/van back to the pier, then get a taxi or public bus to go to the beach from there.

[Merion_Mom]

You don't have to book a private excursion in advance -- you can get one on the pier when you get off the tender. GC is probably one of the easiest ports to get a decent excursion right as you step off the tender!

 

 

 

And no worries about getting back to the ship on time with a private excursion -- these people make their livelihood keeping cruisers happy!

 

 

 

As for extending your excursion, you may have difficulty in doing that in the manner you have planned no matter which type of excursion you take. You will be taken to the excursion boat site via bus/van whether it's a private excursion or a ship-purchased excursion, and there's a good possibility that there will be no public transportation at the excursion site. You will probably have to take the return bus/van back to the pier, then get a taxi or public bus to go to the beach from there.

 

 

 

I obviously cannot speak for all operators, but there is absolutely no question that Chip of http://www.stingraysailing.com would happily drop me at 7 Mile Beach if I asked.

 

 

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[Darcy03231]

Some of the best snorkeling we've done has been in Grand Cayman.

 

We like to snorkel from Eden Rock. It's a short walk from the cruise ship and the price to rent equipment is great. As I recall we paid about $15/pp to rent a mask, snorkel, fins and vest.