Stingray City and Cayman reefs snorkelling tour: what reviewers say
The verdict: a smaller boat and a shorter trip than the catamaran, and it costs more per person. That trade is the entire decision, and the reviews do not settle it for you. This page shows more than half of its reviews, complaint and four-star review included. The score, the sample size and the price are in the panel below.
A case where the readable reviews match the published score
Nine of the seventeen reviews are readable. Eight are five stars and one is a four. That averages 4.89, which rounds to the 4.9 the platform publishes. Here the readable reviews match the published score.
With seventeen reviews, the difference between 4.9 and 4.7 can move quickly. The complaints below are not exceptions. They are roughly a fifth of everything written about this tour.
Two of the nine complain about the same thing
The photographs. One is the only four-star review in the pool:
“The activity were excellent. 3 different stops to snorkel and engage with the rays. The guides were very knowledgeable about the rays who were very comfortable around people. Unfortunately I think $100 for their photo/video was too expensive.”
“The organization was excellent from start to finish. Unfortunately, the prices for the photos were too high.”
“Top Very friendly crew Lack of a little freedom with the rays”
Two reviewers out of nine, unprompted, on the same add-on. Whatever the on-board photo package costs on your day, expect to be offered one and expect to think about it.
And look at how Mark wrote the number: “$100”. He does not say which dollar. If that was CI$100 it was US$120, because CI$1 has been pegged at US$1.20 since 1 April 1974. A single ambiguous dollar sign in a review is a twenty-dollar question, which is the entire premise of this site: the CI$ or US$ guide.
Simon’s sentence is the other one to sit with. “Lack of a little freedom with the rays” is a customer noticing that the interaction is managed. It is managed everywhere at the sandbar, staff hand out chunked squid, and there is a sourced concern about what supplemental feeding does to the animals. That is set out on Stingray City.
What the positive reviews actually say
Small boat, and crew who handle weak swimmers. Both come up more than once, and both are the practical difference from a fifty-person catamaran:
“Great combination tour of stingray city a coral snorkeling! The team was super friendly and welcoming. Made sure everyone had a chance to meet a stingray and helped those not strong at swimming to get around”
“It was really nice in small group, very private., very professional. Price was ansolutely reasonable”
“Kevin and the captain were incredible. Great trip to see and interact with the sting rays I definitely would recommend this tour”
Marina calls US$99 “ansolutely reasonable” for a small group. Mark, in the four-star above, describes three separate snorkel stops in two and a half hours. Those two are the case for paying US$20 a head more than the catamaran asks: fewer people, and the boat carries 24 rather than 50.
The booking complaint, and the reviewer with no name
“It was wonderful. My issue was with booking.”
“Absolutely amazing experience from start to finish, a memory to cherish always.”
“It was just super nice 🤩”
One thing about that quote. Quoted reviews leave out the names of tour operators, transport companies and booking platforms, so where a reviewer named one the sentence stops and the cut is shown. The words that remain are theirs, in their order, with their spelling.
Richard Carl’s review continues past that second sentence and is quoted up to that point. He gave five stars to the tour and had a problem with the booking, and those are two different things happening in one review, which is the theme of every page in this cluster.
The last of the nine has no first name at all. The platform published it as “GetYourGuide traveler”, so that is how it appears here.
Every price on this page is in US dollars, which is what the booking panel is set to quote. Ashore, a price written “$” is very often CI$, and CI$1 has been pegged at US$1.20 since 1 April 1974. Read a CI$ price as US$ and you are out by 20 per cent. The whole argument is on the CI$ or US$ guide.
What works
- Nine of the seventeen reviews are readable, and they average what the platform publishes
- Up to 24 aboard rather than 50, and two reviewers single out the small group
- One reviewer describes crew helping people who were not strong swimmers
- Three snorkel stops in two and a half hours, per the four-star review
- The second-highest score on the site, on the second-largest sample
Worth knowing
- US$99 per person against US$79 for the catamaran, for an hour less on the water
- Two of the nine reviewers complain that the photo package is too expensive
- 17 reviews so far, so the score can still shift
- One reviewer reports a booking problem, resolved only after he chased it
- “Lack of a little freedom with the rays”, in one five-star review
This is the shortest trip on the site at two and a half hours. If your ship anchors off George Town, short is a feature: you tender in, you tender out, and the whole thing is over before a longer excursion has reached its second stop. If you are staying on the island, the extra hour on the catamaran costs US$20 less, not more.
The alternatives at the same price and below
Most reviewedGrand Cayman: Catamaran Cruise with Stingray City & Snorkel
Most stops4-Stop Ultimate Grand Cayman Tour
Both other review pages: the catamaran cruise and the four private charters. The counts for all seven products are on the reviews hub, and the full list is on all seven tours.
Quotes are verbatim from each product’s own page, read on 16 August 2026, with first names and star ratings as published. Spelling and punctuation are the reviewers’. Scores, review counts and prices move; check the live figures in the booking panel before you pay.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Stingray City and Cayman reefs tour better than the catamaran?
It is smaller and shorter and costs more: up to 24 aboard against 50, two and a half hours against three to three and a half, US$99 per person against US$79. Its 4.9 rests on 17 reviews and the catamaran’s 4.7 on 325. The extra buys the smaller boat.
What do reviewers complain about?
The photographs. Two of the nine readable reviews say the on-board photo and video package is too expensive, including the only four-star review in the pool. One reviewer also writes of a “lack of a little freedom with the rays”.
Can you do this tour if you are not a strong swimmer?
One reviewer, Mitch, writes that the team “helped those not strong at swimming to get around” and made sure everyone met a stingray. That is one person’s day rather than a stated policy. The sandbar itself is about three feet deep; the reef stops are not.
Is 4.9 from 17 reviews reliable?
It is the second-best-supported rating on this site. Nine of the seventeen are readable and they average 4.89, so the visible half matches the published number.