7mariavalentinam
30 Sep 2025
THE WORST TOUR OF MY LIFE. IF YOU’RE THINKING OF BOOKING WITH THEM, DON’T.
If you don’t want to end up burned from the sun, insulted by a man, stung by a jellyfish, extorted for tips, and humiliated in front of your own family, then look for another tour. Trust me, it’s not worth going through something like this.
We booked this tour thinking it would be a fun family experience, but from the very beginning it was a disaster.
When we arrived, Mr. Arturo Díaz came up with the “rule” that we could only apply sunscreen on our neck and shoulders because, according to him, it would harm the ocean and the animals. I am allergic to the sun and my skin breaks out in rashes if I don’t protect it, so being responsible, I decided to buy biodegradable sunscreen to avoid harming the environment. The problem? They never told us in advance that it had to be applied before arriving, so once we were there, they wouldn’t let me use it. From that moment, I felt deceived and unprotected.
Later on, I went into a little shop next door to buy snacks for my nephews. Since my bag was very small, I had to take out the sunscreen to reach my wallet and pay. I came out holding the food bag in one hand and the sunscreen in the other. At that moment, Mr. Arturo started yelling at me in front of everyone, accusing me of hiding to secretly put on sunscreen. He shouted at me in front of my parents, my siblings, my nephews, his own employees, and other tourists, pointing at me as if I had done something wrong. I felt attacked and treated like a liar. Never in my life had I been put through such an uncomfortable situation on a tour. It is one of the most degrading things to be yelled at like that by a man in front of your family for something you didn’t even do.
The treatment was so abusive that even one of his own employees came up to me to apologize while Arturo wasn’t looking, telling me that if he treated customers like this, she didn’t even want to say how badly he must treat her as his worker. That made me feel both scared and furious: how is it possible that such an arrogant, aggressive person has direct contact with families and children? I was afraid to have my nephews anywhere near him, but since we had already paid, I didn’t want to ruin the trip for my family.
They took us to places to see fish, but 3 people on the tour came back with jellyfish stings. I know that’s not entirely their fault, but at least take tourists to safer spots.
Snorkeling and seeing the animals is nice, yes, but they completely ruined it with how they handled tips. Before letting us off the boat, they practically forced us to give them money. My brother gave $10 and my mom gave another $10, and the man’s response was: “That’s not even enough for a taco.” Absolutely rude, abusive, and disrespectful toward paying customers.
This tour wasn’t just a scam, it was a traumatic experience. I left feeling humiliated, insulted, and abused. They made me go through unjustified embarrassment and treated my family as if we “owed them something.”
Don’t risk going through the same. Do not book this tour. There are plenty of beautiful snorkeling options without having to put up with an arrogant, abusive, and rude guide.