Private Tour Mud Volcano

We started with an hiccup. There was a miscommunication about the pick up location. The pickup location it gives you in maps was not where we were. We went outside the port and waited and waited. Saw no one but people wanting to give taxi rides. Emailed and gave my phone number and kinda just waited in the port but figured we were not in the right spot. 45 min after pickup I get a call asking where we are and the driver is there. We sprint our front and Freddy was waiting for us. We must’ve just missed each other out front. Was super kind and understanding for him to wait that long. We apologized, as did he. We didn’t think we would even get to go, but the adventure began! About 1 hour drive to the volcano. Waited briefly for our turn. Got in, got rubbed pretty aggressively lol. I’d say I’m just a wimp for massages though, kinda hurt more than anything but it was nice enough. They got everyone out and we had the whole thing to ourselves. They assigned a guy to carry our towels and shoes etc. Another to take photos. After we had our fill in the volcano, which was honestly so cool. We felt weightless, the mud was basically the same temp as the air, maybe even a bit cooler? We got out, walked down to the water. We were offered the showers but chose the experience of the river. Got bathed with a bowl by a woman. Very thorough is all I can say haha. Walked back to the car where we were bombarded with everyone who helped us. Reading reviews we had seen $2-3 per person per helper. Meaning $4-6 to each person who helped the both of us. Photo guy, towel guy, masseurs and the river helper. We offered this to them and were told no we helped you we get $20 each. After much back and forth my friend gave them at least $35-$40 and told them split it as they see fit. Got in the car to leave. We were told an English speaking guide would be with us, we did not. Freddy was very nice and energetic, but not much in the way of talking or helping navigate the uncomfortable situation. He had said in to a translator that tips were voluntary before arriving. We knew we would tip, just didn’t plan to spend more than double what we anticipated. Didn’t leave much for Freddy of the cash we had, and we did want to tip him more than we had left. Overall, be prepared to be hassled, but would recommend to anyone! Just for the experience alone, it was worth it. Also the extra money for the private tour I believe to be worth it because the car gets there faster than a bus, we were not cramped on the bus in uncomfortable seats, and we did not have to wait for 40-50 guests to make their way up the stairs, time in the mud, time to wash. We believe even if you rushed up to be first in, you’d be waiting for the rest of them to finish (likely estimate of hours waiting) and then vice versa. Go last, you could be rushed, or you just stand in the sun waiting for everyone else.

(1) Wear a conservative one piece bathing suit. The massage is … vigorous. (2) Whether or not you need it, wear a tampon. Trust me. Mud gets everywhere. (3) Wear shoes with excellent grip, as the stairs are slippery and uneven. (4) We went at 7am and were the only ones there. Strongly recommended. (5) Do not assume you will go from the volcano to another event. You must go back to your hotel and hose off (no the showers there are not enough). (6) Good experience overall but def once in a lifetime ;)

Being in the mud itself was a cool experience and enjoyable but the staff were quite aggressive demanding tips and grabbing them from your hand before being able to hand them out at the end. Our driver from the cruise ship and back spoke no English and we were told we would have an English speaking guide. We learned nothing about Colombia as we were not able to ask any questions about the country. It was a very expensive excursion that we booked privately for only 15 minutes in the mud. We were encouraged to buy mud to take home and were told it would be 50 pesos or 25 US$. The conversion of 50 pesos is NOT 25$!!! We were told we could stop for a beer after at the lagoon, but we were rushed back to the car to return to the port. If our driver spoke English ( as promised) we could have asked him to take us around the old city and enjoy exploring. We left at 8am and were back to the shop by 11:30am. We had three more hours to enjoy our visit but were dropped off at the port. For 175 US$ it was not worth the money.