Published on Nov, 2024
Wow is all I can say!!!
We booked the tour the evening before. I read all of the reviews so I had a good idea of what to expect. We stayed at the Marriott and took a taxi where we were greeted by Christian and Mario. Christian was our guide and Mario was the photographer otherwise known as paparazzi or Cuba. Both made the trip so much fun!!! Their English was very good and they both really added a personal touch to the trip. We had a blast!
Check in was very smooth. You do need to show ID so don’t forget to bring your drivers license.
You are provided soft drinks and waters throughout the tour. These are complimentary.
I would highly recommend wearing gym shoes. There will be some walking on cobblestone streets.
I would also highly recommend bringing cash. The first stop is an overlook of lovers rock for a photo opportunity. There are several street vendors selling souvenirs.
Our next stop was at the botanical gardens. We had an hour of free time to do as much walking or as little as we wanted. I highly recommend looking around. The gardens are very beautiful. They do have a restaurant I would recommend going to the top and having a cocktail and taking in the view.
Our next stop was tequila tasting. That was so much fun! I think we tried nine different types of tequilas. We ended up buying a bottle and it was US$66.
Our next stop was lunch. Lunch is included, and you have a choice of four different meals. I had the chicken fajitas and my husband had the quesadillas. Both were outstanding! Lunch is on a beach and has a great view. FYI, we had to park a few blocks away from where the restaurant on the beach was. Again, you definitely need your gym shoes.
From lunch we boarded our boat. We were on a very small group of only two couples and neither of us were interested in snorkeling. FYI, the water is very cold. You’re not allowed to wear shoes on the boat so we had to take off our shoes and go barefoot. They offered to watch our belongings, but I still recommend bringing a beach bag and taking them with you.
The view was spectacular from the boat. The crew threw some food into the water so we got to see lots of colorful fish. We were so lucky we got to see three whales. Our boat followed the whales so we were able to see them at a distance, but still felt like we were very close. This was amazing!!!
All in all this definitely gets a 10 out of 10 stars! They only do one tour a day and we highly recommend it. We tipped Mario and Christian at the end of the tour and they earned every penny of it. Christian even walked us to the street and hailed a taxi for us.
