I can't review this tour because we never went on it. We booked the tour, were charged for the tour, paid to be taken to the meeting spot, and no one was there. We tried calling and emailing the business to no avail. We eventually had to get a refund through TripAdvisor. If you are not going to have a tour then do not allow people to book. If a tour is canceled then contact the guests and let them know. It would have saved us time and money had we known they would not show up
We booked a private tour, at least my receipt said it was. First of all, they didn’t show up on time, no answer when we tried to contact them, another tour guide was finally able to find them for us. We got in the van with our guide who proceeded to get on the phone with his boss, who then asked for another $100 because there were no others on the tour and “gas is expensive”. I understand that we are in the off-season, but that was downright scandalous what he did. We had already driven in two and a half hours from the south to do this tour, so we reluctantly paid the extra and tried not to think about it. At the end of the tour I tried to tip our boat captain, which was promptly taken by the “tour guide” behind my back.
As for the sights and activities of the shark ray alley and snorkeling, it was absolutely a must do. They sharks and rays come right up to you and are just like a gaggle of puppies. So much fun, plus the reef is gorgeous!
Total bait & switch. So mad, so disappointed.
We booked the "Coral Garden & Shark Alley" excursion. So did one other couple who arrived at the dock when we did, from the cruise ship. There were another 12 people who booked the "turtle" excursion and 8 who booked the "beach" excursion. They put all of us on the same boat, the boat left 45 minutes late. Then we had to stop and drop off the "beach" group, which took more time and the boat was having engine troubles, so we had to stop multiple times on the way to the reef, which cost us another 20 minutes at least.
No one talked to us about the delays, and no one offered any explanations or told us about an itinerary change. We dropped off the beach group, stopped quickly by the restaurant to order lunch, and then headed to the reef. Turned out, it was not the "Coral Garden" but instead, they took us to Hol Chan. Hol Chan is great, but I've snorkeled there twice before, which is why I didn't book that excursion in the first place. I was not happy but had no choice. We swam around a bit and then got back on the boat and went back to pick up the others and head back to port. No sharks, no rays, no Shark Ray Alley (I've been there many times before and know for certain, it's not in Hol Chan) We simply did not get what we paid for, what we signed up for and no one told us there was going to be a change, ever
Why did they put three different tour groups on the same boat, knowing that they all had signed up for 3 different destinations, and would need to be dropped off in different places, which of course, takes a lot of time? By doing this, combined with all the engine troubles of the boat, and the late start, we lost over 90 minutes of available time. No wonder they had to change the itinerary, but again, none of us were asked if we were ok with the change.
The saddest part is, Stacey, our snorkeling guide was the best guide I've ever had. She knew her stuff, she managed the group perfectly, she was awsome. But, I wanted to have her awesome guiding skills at the Coral Garden & Shark Alley like I signed up for.