Manta's highlights & Montecristi Hats

Excellent tour from start to finish. Informative and entertaining. Easy to find the tour reps, comfortable bus, great info, each of the stops worth seeing.

Denis really cared to show us all the items included in the trip. We saw alot more than friends who booked a Princess excursion

Manta Ecuador is a thriving fishing and boat building community. The locals are friendly and hospitable.

Our group of 16 had multiple problems. Our guide was not a regular guide, but a substitute. I don’t think we had a regular driver either as they got lost trying to find one of the main stops. We wasted at least 30 minutes ending up in a residential area without any clue where we were supposed to be. We had another stop where it seemed to be the driver’s first time in finding the location. The guide was a nice guy, but he seemed very inexperienced as a guide and provided very little information on Manta or Ecuador. We probably would have been better off taking a taxi.

What was supposed to be a general sightseeing tour of Manta and Montecristi turned out to be drop offs at the fish market, a hat shop, a tagua processing facility (after GETTING LOST trying to find this place), and a chocolate shop. The guide (Denis) was a nice & friendly man, but he could have done a better job providing more narration / information about points of interests that we were passing by (and about Manta & Montecristi in general) during the drive…which, in my opinion, was the point of the “guided” tour. I will say that the hat shop in Montecristi was a nice experience, but that was because the shop had a demonstration on how the Panama Hat is made, which was well organized and informative. Kudos to the shop! Also, I asked Denis where to find the “MANTA” sign at the beginning of the excursion and he said he was going to point it out when we pass it (which he never did). When I asked him about it again at the end (a showed him the picture again), he then said that’s an old sign which had been replaced, and “offered” to take me there if I order a taxi (which I declined). I spoke with another couple from the ship (that I met on a guided tour in Puntarinas, Costa Rica) who booked a different “guided” tour with SOS Manta that same port day and they were also disappointed with their experience and their guide. I strongly recommend AGAINST booking an excursion with SOS Manta. Find a tour with a different operator, or just wait until you get to the port for local offerings (which is what I plan to do if I ever return to Manta).

Well organized and very informative. Our guide was friendly and made or tour interesting. The group is smaller making the whole experience more enjoyable

This tour covered a considerable number of places that were all very interesting. The guide made sure everyone had enough time at each stop. The roads were bumpy and, at times, the traffic was conjested. I was amazed to see cars parked on both sides of a narrow street, blocking entry. Turns were also difficult but the driver handled things well. We made it back to the ship 2 hours before all aboard time, leaving us plenty of time to look at the stalls at the Cruise Terminal. My criticisms would be that the guide didn't tell us what time we had at each stop. I would have made a lot better use of this time if I knew how long we actually had. He instead waited until the last person returned. He also didn't tell us where the restrooms were. We had to ask. While the hat making demonstration was good, the hat shop was very small and crowded.

The fish market, boat yard, hat factory and button factory were all a lot of fun. It was a group of 14 people. A little tight in the van.

We saw how much was planned, shot everywhere very quietly. We were in Ecuador for the first time and you never know exactly what to expect, but we were surprised by the kindness and helpfulness of the people

Saw a lot of different aspects of Manta, and guide was very good. Excellent value for all we visited. Thank you for the tour.