Stingray City catamaran trips?

Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 1:45 pm Post subject: Stingray City catamaran trips?

I've been going to Cayman for 22 years and use to take a catamaran cruise to SRC. I haven't been back to Cayman since 2003.
Does anyone know if they still offer these cruises? It included a reef snorkel trip as well as src and some drinks too!! It was very inexpensive and left from one of the marinas near the Great house(on the bay side).
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as we will be on the island for new years and beginning of January.

Frequent Flyer Joined: 24 Sep 2008 Posts: 25

I've been on a couple of catarams, Hawaii, Turks&Caicos. They are fun if you just want to relax, IF you can find one that does not take too many people. I would ask first and if they take more than 10. OR if they take cruise ship passengers, well then I would not go that route, at all.

After a LOT of reading here, we are going with Soto's Cruises. After seeing the video and all the pictures, compared with so many of the other boats packed with hundreds of people, I went ahead and booked that trip right away, to be sure not to miss it on a non-cruiser day.

Another thing about catarams... they are S L O W. You see all the other boats wizzing past you, knowing that you will have the same or better time with the stingrays, and be back in your condo drinking pina coladas while the catmaran people are still bobbing around out there. The Caymans are a pretty expensive place to visit and I am not going to waste any of my time drifting around on a slow boat, probably packed with people from what I have been reading.

Temporary Resident Joined: 15 Aug 2007 Posts: 136

erebia is spot on. All the cat's I've seen in Cayman are very large, very crowded, very slow. There is also not much wind most of the time in the part of the island where stingray city is, so plan for many hours on a slow boat with diesel fumes. Me, I'd rather get out and back, spending most of my time (and like eribia said, VALUALE vacation time) with the stingrays, not on a slow, crowded boat. My opinion, of course, YMMV.

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 6:43 pm Post subject:

randyg.......WELCOME to the board! As you've already been informed, Soto's cruise really has the least crowded, fasted boat to see the stingrays and the coral gardens.......so nice to go with just a small group and not have a lot of people swimming, screaming, jumping about and ruining your experience with so much noise and activity. Nice crew and CAG discount too.......winwinwin

Personally, I LOVE catamarans and suggest looking into going on one for a sunset cruise......aaaahhhh, perfection.

Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 12:07 pm Post subject:

Thank you all for your input.
The catamaran I was on before only had about 11 people total, so it was awesome! We went to the barrier reef snorkeling as well as looking for starfish!
I actually enjoyed the slow quite ride on the boat....being in the sun and enjoying the beautiful sea and views of the island. That's relaxing~!
If only I could remember the name!!!!!! Mad

It was a white/blue older catarmaran that left from morgans harbor(i think).
If all else fails, we will most likely go with soto's.

*** And we are already planning on doing the jolly roger sunset cruise too!!!!

Newbie Joined: 20 Jul 2008 Posts: 6

I've read enough of Joe's (and others) posts to know the catamaran option is NOT for me.

I did the math just for fun based on a week’s stay, and factored in EVERYTHING I could think of, from cab fare to the airport, to the flight itself, the condo (even with Anchorage giving us a free night and gift... thanks to the Hotel Search), car rental, gas, insurance, license, tips, higher cost of food, liquor, activities (just based on what’s already in must do list, so maybe a little more or less) etc.... right down to the last dollar, and I’m planning a fairly cost saving type of vacation, much thanks to all the savings and tips here.

For just my wife and I, it breaks down to almost a THOUSAND DOLLARS A DAY, just to be there and do the things we enjoy doing. Break that down little bit further… subtract 8 hours a night for sleeping and it’s costing us about $62.50 for every waking moment from the time we leave our house to the time we return. Since we lose at least 4 hours each way just getting to and from the airport, flight time, clearing customs, and factoring in all the other tips and expenses, it is costing us right around $100 for every hour we are actually on the island and awake.

So the difference to me between a fast 3 hour $30 boat trip like Sotos, with most of the time in the water snorkelling, compared to a slow $60+ catamaran that takes more like 4-5 hours with the same or less time actually in the water…

are you ready for this…

The Catamaran trip ends up costing us $150 - $200 MORE!

For LESS time in the water!

I’ll stick with Sotos.

Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 6:14 am Post subject:

To each his own. I am not budgeting my money while on vacation. I am coming to the island to enjoy everything I can and relax. I won't be pinching pennies. The catamaran cruise I took before cost LESS than $30 per person and we were in the water MORE than sotos or the other boats. We even went snorkeling by the barrier reef. It was MORE than enough time "in the water" and more than just a "fast' boat ride back and forth.
So, however you figure out your costs, that's fine, but to put a dollar amount down to the hour is quite ridiculous to me.
To me, this vacation is priceless, so I won't cheap out on things we want to do.
thanks.

Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 6:39 am Post subject:

randyg.........you could possibly be thinking of Red Sail for that catamaran trip you took. You get a very mixed experience with that operation.......the cat can be PACKED with people, which makes things very unpleasant for snorkeling and kissing rays

or you can get lucky and have less people........it just depends on the trip, and you never know how many people will sign up.

The same goes for many of the other operations that offer the stingray/snorkel trip.......that's one of the main reasons we all speak so highly of Soto's........in addition to the CAG coupon, and the great crew........they WON'T take too many people and they get you there fast, so you have the rest of the day to enjoy other activities.

Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 6:30 am Post subject:

It wasn't red sail. It was an independant operator. The boat was kind of older looking. It was blue and white. Oh well,no big deal.
Thanks anyway.
When we get to the island, we'll take a drive to morgans harbor and see if it's still there! Wink

Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 9:48 am Post subject:

randyg,

What a great way to spend The New Year!!! clapping

Wish I was going... crying

Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 11:46 am Post subject:

oh......sorry I wasn't much help randyg........and I agree with tracya.....GREAT way to spend the New Years!

Celine

Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 5:20 pm Post subject:

Thanks everyone! We are looking forward to spending New Years in Cayman! It should be one to remember.

Native Joined: 18 Feb 2005 Posts: 1719 Location: Illinois

randyg

In case you haven't spent New Years in GC, one of the things that we love is the fireworks at midnight. Lots of places have them and you can just go out on the beach to watch.

We used to stay in a condo complex that had a big bonfire and pot luck supper and then the fireworks topped off the evening. Another condo complex had a big barbecue new years dinner. We definitely did not want to be on the roads there late at night on New Years.

Hope you find your catamaran and that you have a wonderful vacation

Shelly :-)

Native Joined: 18 Feb 2005 Posts: 1719 Location: Illinois

hammaker

Are you an accountant or mathematician? anchorage is very nice. Our friends stayed there last year and loved it.

Hope you have a great trip

shelly :-)

Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 11:19 am Post subject:

I went on a blue and white catamaran that was affiliated with the old Holiday Inn in the early nineties. It was older and went slow, but it was wonderful. They had a 3 cruise deal for $99 that was awesome. They did SRC, a SMB snorkel over the Oro Verde and a sunset dinner cruise in North Sound.

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