Best Excursions for Grand Cayman, Cozumel & Coasta Maya??

[thymed]

We are travelling with friends on the Fantasy July 7th and I am wondering what are the most fun excursions for the ports of Grand Cayman, Cozumel & Costa Maya? Normally we just stay onboard and enjoy the boat but our friends are anxious to try some of the ports. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

[KBT35]

subscribing.....I'm planning this as our next cruise for May 2013!!!

 

[scrapycruiser]

Would also like to know !

 

[Lizziemom]

Stingray City and swimming with the stingrays is my favorite excursion of all time. Going back to Grand Cayman next year to swin with the stingrays again. Can't say for the other two ports.

Lizzie

 

[noahsmom]

Grand Cayman - Stingray city! Last time we booked with Native Way, so far it's been our favorite excursion - ever. We are doing it again this July.

Cozumel we are spearfishing (never done it before), Costa Maya we are doing the dune buggy adventure (booked through Disney since our time in port is so short).

 

[luvslikepi]

Last time I went to Grand Cayman I did the Butterfly Gardens and Beach tour - though I ended up coming back early from the beach and walked around some of the shops near the port.

For Cozumel I went across to Playa Del Carmen and visited the cenotes at Chikin-ha. You can snorkel, hike, bike, zip-line, visit a Mayan shaman and get a delicious Yucatan meal. Best excursion I've ever done.

Note - these were with a Carnival cruise so I don't know how available they are with Disney.

 

[Tower]

This link should answer your questions. I'm watching it too!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2873059

 

[jlwhitney]

Cozumel: We just did the Secret River and Playa Del Carmen...OH MY it was wonderful....the river is an unground river with caverns and such and it is so beautiful, highly recommended!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Costa Maya: Honestly it would be better to stay on the ship, there is not much to do here at all and personally port area is not super kid friendly, it is basically bars and shops and many of the shops have workers trying to convince you to come in and are pushy.

Grand Caymen: We did the reef and shipwreck snorkeling and that was really fun, booked through Disney. THe turtle farm is also pretty cool.

 

[disneycruiser22]

the stringray thing sounds cool for grand cayman...anyone have any pics? thanks!

 

[ilovetexas]

I LOVE Nachi Cocum in Cozumel. Private all-inclusive beach about 10 minutes by taxi from the ship. Good food, good service, good drinks (kids can get fancy virgin drinks from the swim up bar) and an un-crowded beach all for the bargain price of $50 each. May be less than $50 for kids, I've never been with any but a lot of people here on DISboards have said their kids enjoy it.

Stingray City in Grand Cayman!! We went with an outfit called Moby Dick Tours last year and are going again in three weeks. Great guys and our boat wasn't loaded down with people like some of the other tour boats were. No pics, sorry.

 

[golfnsuch]

For Costa Maya, we loved Maya Chan! Its a private beach where they take excellent care of you. We could kayak, snorkel or just laze around in our hammocks in our own private palapa.

Drinks and food included and lunch was one of the best meals we had on our cruise. They also take care of getting you from and back to the ship.

Our only negative was we didn't have nearly the amount of time there we would have liked given that we got into port at 8:00 and had to leave by 2:30.

 

[scrapbookmomma74]

Grand Cayman is my most favorite port! We always do the Island Tour with Stingrays, which takes you to the Turtle Farm and then to Stingray Sandbar.

Our children LOVED this excursion!

 

[E&EMom]

In Grand Cayman we did the turtle farm with our kids and they loved it. We have also booked (pre-kids)with Captain Marvins for a snorkel and sting ray city and that was incredible as well. Grand Cayman is one of my favorite ports and I love just to look in the shops at the port.

In Cozumel we haven't done any excursions except I did take my 4 year old daughter to swim with the dolphins at Dolphinaris. I have used them and Dolphin Discovery and I have to say that Dolphinaris is MUCH better - smaller and less chaotic and VERY close to the ship.

Costa Maya - we would stay on the ship next time. It is mainly a tourist stop with shops/bars. I wasn't impressed. I can't say anything about the excursions as we haven't done any there.

 

[thymed]

Thanks everyone! Please keep the excursion reports coming!! I am getting so excited for our trip

 

[Wailea]

Grand Cayman is my most favorite port! We always do the Island Tour with Stingrays, which takes you to the Turtle Farm and then to Stingray Sandbar.

Our children LOVED this excursion!

Which tour company did you use? With our port time being 10:45am - 4:45pm, I can't find any tours that would start at an appropriate time.
Thanks!

 

[rosermama]

We went to Grand Caymen and did the Stingray sailing and loved it my DD was 11 at the time and hated it. This is not something to do with kids espically if they are not super adventorous since the stingrays are large. We used Stingray Sailing they were cheaper than Disney and were nothing but wonderful people. We had an issue with being double charged and emailed them and they apologized and took care of it right away.

http://www.stingraysailing.com/?gclid=CJTm2c36ya8CFUERNAod8GGTYQ

We had plenty of time after our trip (we took the morning one) so we had a slow lunch at Margartiaville and then walked all around the shopping area (which isn't much) then got back on board early before the crowds at the little boats.

Here is a page from my photobook it should give you an idea of what it is like

In cozumel we rented a jeep and drove out to the tequilla factory which was pretty intresting. Then we drove all the way around the island on the opposite side of the island from the pier there are some beautiful beaches with no one on them. We ate at Coconuts which was ok a little over priced beautiful by the sea. We also stopped off at a roadside store and got some great souviners. We really enjoyed this aspect of seeing the island as opposed to being on the beach all day.

 

[healeylvr]

We are travelling with friends on the Fantasy July 7th and I am wondering what are the most fun excursions for the ports of Grand Cayman, Cozumel & Costa Maya? Normally we just stay onboard and enjoy the boat but our friends are anxious to try some of the ports. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

you may be interested in tyhe cruisr meet for this cruise http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2714463

 

[scrapbookmomma74]

We booked directly through DCL, it was called "Island Tour with Stingrays". Due to the limited time, it seems like that is the best plan if wanting to do a whole day excursion.

 

[algae]

Just got back from the Fantasy. Excursion recommendations always depend on what kinds of things you like to do. Most people say snorkeling is a must do in the clear waters, but I don't care for swimming in salt water so we skipped that this time around.

In Grand Cayman, we did the Atlantis submarine. Pretty cool to dive about 100 feet down. Saw lot's of fish and scuba divers. I'd recommend this.

In Costa Maya, not a whole lot there to do. We went to the Chacchoben Mayan ruins. First time to Mayan ruins, so this was pretty cool despite the rain(!). I'd recommend this only if you haven't been to any Mayan sites before.

In Cozumel, we went to the Secret River excursion. This is an amazing tour through underground caverns--some filled with water. I'd highly, highly recommend this one. Not too many places in the world to experience this.

 

[lisa702]

you may be interested in tyhe cruisr meet for this cruise http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2714463

I second that!