paulg

We are going to Grand Cayman for 4 nights in late November (2 adults) and were wondering if anyone has thoughts about any of the tours. We have heard good things about Fat Fish Adventures, Stingray Sailing and Dexter's Fantasea Tours. We would like to stay with a smaller party as we've heard the larger tours are "sardine-like" and can get crowded when trying to pet the stingrays. Is Fat Fish worth the extra price? We don't need to pay for the novelty of jet skiing because we do that a lot at home, but are the sights any better because you are on one? Any suggestions about what else there is to do besides Stingray City/snorkeling? We will have a rental car and are staying on Seven Mile Beach. Thank you.

virginia

imho the trick to enjoying stringray city is to go after the cruise shippers have left to return to their ships. if the jet ski tour you're looking at offers a late day trip then i'd do that. or you can drive around to rum point and take a red sail sports tour from there. you'd get to see the island on the way there and it cuts excursion time to 1 1/2 hrs - they are that much closer so much less boat time. and rum point is fun to visit.
http://www.redsailcayman.com/en/acti...rts/index.html

also to do: the mastic trail is an interior walking trail with all natural flora. the botanical garden - gorgeous flowers and plantings from around the world. drive around the east end just to see the views.

if you like jewelry find benard passman's shop to see his one of a kind pieces made from black coral. also check out guy harvey's shop with his studio/gallery upstairs and very yummy restaurant next door.

i do not recommend the turtle farm. too many turtles in tiny pools. once you've seen them in the sea it just seems so wrong. it is after all a farm not a preserve.

paulg

Virginia,

Thanks for the tips.

luvtotravl

I second the trip around the island to Rum Point, the east end is my favorite part of the island. I recommend Captain Dexter for the stingray city trip, he takes smaller groups on his catamaran and you sail back from the trip with music and rum punch.

If you let us know your ages and interests we can make more recommendations.

paulg

Looks like Rum Point is the place to be! We will be 40 (going for a joint birthday trip w/o the kids) and tend to be more active on vacations ie. we didn't come all this way to lay on the beach.

Erica

eileen

Agree with previous poster, don't go in the morning! Of all the places I have been, Grand Cayman was the most inundated by the cruise ships (I too came on one of the ships). It was crazy as almost all the cruise tours go in the morning. What we did instead was go to the beach in the morning and then have our tour (it was a small boat I found on the internet, sorry, can't remember the name but don't think it was any you mentioned) company pick us up from the beach. It was great because there were hardly any people there and my kids are still talking about this experience and it was some years ago. We also went in November, the downside was the water was choppy but I don't know if that has anything to do with time of day or the month.

SSypniewski

Good to know! We're headed to Grand Cayman in July - just booked a the stingray city tour with Captain Dexter. Thank you!

Kristen1206

Soto's is a good small opertor. Though the dock was a bit tricky to find. Captain Marvin's was good as well but took out larger groups.

CaribbeanChick

Do they still do tours for the sand bar?? That's the one we WANTED to do, we ended up at Stingray City... we used Red Sail Sports.. no complaints either.. but looks like Captain Dexter is the one to use!
Have fun!!

TurtleTagger

Most of the tours will go to the Sand Bar. Red Sail has a 4x per week snorkel trip from Safe Haven Marina to the original Dive Site. Just about every other SRC "Snorkel" trip heads to the Sand Bar. Just ask when booking if you are unsure.