Trekeo

For a video review of our experience with Barefoot Sailing, click here.

On our October 2008 Sky cruise we stopped in Freeport and Nassau. We did a Sail & Snorkel Cruise with Sand Dollar Cruises in Freeport on a catamaran. We opted for snorkeling again in Nassau, but this time aboard a sailboat. We booked the All Day Island Cruise with Barefoot Sailing Cruises.

Our day in Nassau was rather gloomy with gray skies and choppy seas, but the rain held off for most of the day. Once at the dock we met up with our captain and mate and after handing over our shoes (they take Barefoot Sailing seriously) we boarded our vessel for the day, Riding High, a sailboat along with a dozen others. It was a full boat.

Due to the weather the Captain changed the itinerary for the day to give us the best day possible given the conditions. He was able to find us a reef area to snorkel that was protected form the wind. We enjoyed our time snorkeling and saw 3 stingrays, two lionfish, a sea cucumber, a starfish and an eel. Not bad.

The boat was anchored off the shore in the area in the two pictures below. We swam towards the shore and then followed the shore line down a ways snorkeling. It was a little work to get to the reef, but it was nice to be in this protected area where the water was calm.

Lunch was provided on the boat. While we were snorkeling the Captain and First Mate prepared the food. Obviously some of the work was done ahead of time, but they fired up the grill on the boat and threw down some delicious food. It really was an amazing lunch with BBQ chicken, ribs, beans, etc. After lunch those that wanted headed back for more snorkeling. Scot and I were the last ones back to the boat at the end of the day trying to get every last second in the water that we could.

We really enjoyed the day in Nassau with Barefoot Sailing, but we have to say we enjoyed our morning with Captain Tony of Sand Dollar Cruises in Freeport even more. Why?

1. Well, we really liked the catamaran. It was much roomier. She was a beautiful boat.

2. The weather was better which was an unfair advantage, but truthfully factored into our enjoyment.

3. The reef in Nassau was good, but the reef in Freeport was incredible. We saw more fish there than we did snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

4. Captain Tony was a stand up guy to take us out even though we were his only customers that morning. The folks at Barefoot Sailing told us he was crazy and he lost money doing that. I’m sure that is true, but what Tony gained was two loyal supporters who have been singing his praises ever since.

For a video review of our morning Sail & Snorkel with Sand Dollar Cruises, click here.

Scot and I were wanting to do some snorkeling while we were in Freeport. I had heard good things about Captain Tony and Sand Dollar Cruises on www.cruisecritic.com so we decided to give him a try and booked a 3 hour snorkel and sail cruise for the morning we were in Freeport. We are so glad we did. It was a highlight of our cruise.

We got off the ship in Freeport and caught a shared van ride into Port Lucaya. The cost was $5 per person and the ride was 15 minutes or so. The van driver got us headed in the right direction to meet Captain Tony in front of the Port Lucaya Hotel and Yacht Club. Captain Tony was waiting for us and walked us down to the Sand Dollar.

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For a video review of our Rays, Reef & Rum Point Tour experience, click here.

My husband and I are just back from our cruise on the Norwegian Pearl and did this tour on 10-17-07. We loved it!!! Never would have known about it without Cruise Critic.
The tour is offered through Native Way Watersports in Grand Cayman. I made our reservations online. We were on the Pearl and got into port at 10:00am and of course had to tender. Native Way was willing to work with our ships port time and start a tour later. We met up by 11:15 and headed to the bus. We were the only ship in port that day and had 12 people on our tour. Never felt crowded. The bus ride was about 15 minutes, I would guess. I had never been to Grand Cayman before and enjoyed seeing some of the island.

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For a video review of our day at Nachi Cocom, click here.

Here is a review of our day at Nachi Cocom on 10-16-07. We made reservations through Island Marketing about a week ahead of time and paid $12 each as a deposit. Our ship the Norwegian Pearl was in port from 7am to 4pm. We were one of three ships in Cozumel that day. Our ship switched to local time which gave us an extra hour of sleep.

We got off the ship and grabbed a taxi and were at Nachi Cocom around 9:15am. The cab driver did ask us if we had a reservation and made the comment when we arrived that we were early. Taxi ride was $15. My reservation from Island Marketing stated the hours are 9am-5pm. When we walked in they seemed surprised to see us that early, but someone asked if we had reservations and we were taken to chairs, given wrist bands and they collected the remainder of money due them.

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