Grand Cayman diving and snorkeling trips

[Ann-Marie]

We are going with our children and grandchildren the end of April. 6 adults, 6 YO, 3 YO and 3 month old. Our children want to do a snorkeling / diving trip. We also want to do a trip to Stingray Beach. We are trying to figure out what tour companies are the best. We are staying at Morritts on the east end and we will all have a car, so we do not need transportation. Especially with the car seat situation. Our 3 month old grandchild is all set with a life preserver. Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[Egret1986]

We are going with our children and grandchildren the end of April. 6 adults, 6 YO, 3 YO and 3 month old. Our children want to do a snorkeling / diving trip. We also want to do a trip to Stingray Beach. We are trying to figure out what tour companies are the best. We are staying at Morritts on the east end and we will all have a car, so we do not need transportation. Especially with the car seat situation. Our 3 month old grandchild is all set with a life preserver. Any suggestions? Thanks

Be sure to check for cruise ships in port. I'd stay away from Seven Mile Beach and other nearby areas on days with ships visiting.

https://www.caymanport.com/ship-schedules-calendar/

On Wednesday, April 26, there will be 4 cruise ships in port with 12,192 cruise ship passengers. Many will go to Stringray City.

We've never been to Grand Cayman. We'll also be staying a Morritt's mid-April. It's getting close now!

 

[mjm1]

Thanks for posting the link to the cruise ship schedule. We will be at Morritts from April 28- May 5, so will have two ships in port on three days. Looking forward to the trip as this will be our first visit.

Enjoy your time there.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[RLS50]

We've never been to Grand Cayman. We'll also be staying a Morritt's mid-April. It's getting close now!

Curious to hear your report on Grand Cayman. We have never been before either but frequently have considered one of the Morritt's properties.

 

[LannyPC]

Our children want to do a snorkeling / diving trip. We also want to do a trip to Stingray Beach. We are trying to figure out what tour companies are the best. We are staying at Morritts on the east end and we will all have a car, so we do not need transportation.

We were there for a week about seven years ago. Are you looking for a tour company for a dive/snorkel trip or to Stingray City? I can't comment too much on Stingray City but if you are going diving, I like Ocean Frontiers. They are just down the road from Morritts but they will come pick you up there.

 

[dmbrand]

We just returned from Grand Cayman in early February, with a stay at Morritts. My husband got his open water scuba certification with Ocean Frontiers during this trip. They were excellent and also have snorkel trips available. He also booked a dive, and our Stingray City excursion with Red Sail right at Morritts. No complaints, they were good operators.

We brought our own snorkel gear and rented a car, so we were able to hit as many snorkel spots as we liked. My favorite spot was Cemetery Beach. Access is a bit hidden, but it opens up at the north end of Seven Mile Beach. We were there early, 8am, and snorkeled virtually alone for an hour. Saw a beautiful eagle ray.

Other areas we enjoyed:

Governor's Beach: Located on Seven Mile, arrive before the cruise ship excursions. The fish are used to being fed, so they come quite close to you as you snorkel.

Spotts Public Beach: in the afternoon between 3-5pm the sea turtles come to feed on the grasses which are fairly close to the beach.

Barefoot Beach: swim out to close to the reef and float with the current. See nice coral and rays. May not be the most suitable for youngsters.

Morritt's Pier: you will see loads of fish right under the pier.

Stingray city excursion: typical tourist spot, but I still enjoyed it. The rays come right up to you. My husband got a permanent "souvenir" on his hand from feeding one of the big ones. There were a couple of children on the boat that didn't end up going into the water; they were a bit fearful, which is understandable. We used Red Sail, booked at Morritts. The crew was very personable.


One hint I got from TUG, don't remember who mentioned it, but definitely download Google Maps app to your phone. Then download the map of Grand Cayman for offline use. Before you leave, mark every beach, restaurant, and tourist spot you want to see as a favorite. The map will work, with voice directions, even if your cellular is turned off and phone is set to airplane mode. We didn't need to worry about Internet service while driving.

Hope you enjoy as much as we did.
Dawn

 

[Ann-Marie]

Thanks everyone. We will be at the Tortuga 4/21-28 and Grand with our children 4/28-5/5. Our other daughter is at the Wyndham two buildings down. I'm thinking we should have had our alone week after our children and 3 grandchildren leave!

 

[Suesue1738]

We will be back at Morritts Grand for 2 weeks in July; the first week being "girls week" (me and my best friend, my mother and her best friend, and my sister and her best friend). The second week, our families join us! This is our 3rd or 4th time to Morritts and we love it there! It's our favorite destination! We love snorkeling right under the pier, and do it almost everyday while there! The huge tarpon are cool, and a little scary looking, but so fun to swim with! We've seen flounder, rock lobsters, sting rays, etc right there under the dock. The kids love it! Sting Ray City is a MUST DO, especially on your first visit there. We stayed at The Coral Sands one year, over on Sevin Mile Beach, and saw all the touring boats bring their snorkeling tours right there in front of our condo. Side note - we much prefer the peace and quiet of the East End over the 7 mile beach area.

 

[Egret1986]

We just returned from Grand Cayman in early February, with a stay at Morritts. My husband got his open water scuba certification with Ocean Frontiers during this trip. They were excellent and also have snorkel trips available. He also booked a dive, and our Stingray City excursion with Red Sail right at Morritts. No complaints, they were good operators.

We brought our own snorkel gear and rented a car, so we were able to hit as many snorkel spots as we liked. My favorite spot was Cemetery Beach. Access is a bit hidden, but it opens up at the north end of Seven Mile Beach. We were there early, 8am, and snorkeled virtually alone for an hour. Saw a beautiful eagle ray.

Other areas we enjoyed:

Governor's Beach: Located on Seven Mile, arrive before the cruise ship excursions. The fish are used to being fed, so they come quite close to you as you snorkel.

Spotts Public Beach: in the afternoon between 3-5pm the sea turtles come to feed on the grasses which are fairly close to the beach.

Barefoot Beach: swim out to close to the reef and float with the current. See nice coral and rays. May not be the most suitable for youngsters.

Morritt's Pier: you will see loads of fish right under the pier.

Stingray city excursion: typical tourist spot, but I still enjoyed it. The rays come right up to you. My husband got a permanent "souvenir" on his hand from feeding one of the big ones. There were a couple of children on the boat that didn't end up going into the water; they were a bit fearful, which is understandable. We used Red Sail, booked at Morritts. The crew was very personable.


One hint I got from TUG, don't remember who mentioned it, but definitely download Google Maps app to your phone. Then download the map of Grand Cayman for offline use. Before you leave, mark every beach, restaurant, and tourist spot you want to see as a favorite. The map will work, with voice directions, even if your cellular is turned off and phone is set to airplane mode. We didn't need to worry about Internet service while driving.

Hope you enjoy as much as we did.

Great info. Thank you for sharing. We were wondering who to book Stingray City through. Now we know that there's a great onsite operator.

Three weeks and counting down!