12 Waterfalls & Port Time?? Who's Best?

[amy2313]

Hi Everyone,

 

We are booked on the Carnival Magic next month and planned out all of our excursions back in December/January and did not realize until now that Carnival finally added the waterfalls excursions. Unfortunately it is already sold out!! However, considering that Carnival has added this tour, this must mean there is enough time to do this tour during our time in port (9am - 4pm).

 

With that said...

1) Considering the Carnival Tour is sold out already, who would people recommend as our best private tour option? I have read a lot of posts that mention either Marysol or Iguana Mama. What are the pros and cons of each?

2) We would like to have a little time at the port to take a quick swim and walk around, does one get us back earlier then the other?

3) Any chance Carnival with have any open slots once we board the ship?? If so, how many falls does the Carnival excursion do? Are we better going with the private option anyway??

4) What is the water temperature? Is it cold??

5) How clean is the water?? My sister thought the water looked "murky" and was concerned about swimming in it/unintentionally swallowing some water.

6) Would you consider the tour dangerous?? If so, how so?

 

Thank You!!!

[Readytocruisenc]

We are on the Magic later this month. Both time slots for the waterfall excursion sold out, but a couple of days ago they added a third time option (10:15) so we booked it. With Carnival I believe you can cancel excursions up to 24 hours before sailing and get a full refund, so there is still a chance that some people will cancel for your sailing - or that they will add another time slot. Good luck!

[gartam]

We were on the Magic last week. We did the waterfalls on our own. We left the ship as soon as they let us off. We hired a taxi--he drove us to/from port for $20 pp--that was round trip and was a comfortable, air-conditioned toyota van. He waited for us while we did the falls, which was nice because he kept our stuff locked up in the van and he was ready to go as soon as we were. He also told us where to go to purchase tickets, etc. We bought the lunch, thinking it would be easier, but we felt the food wasn't that great and we wouldn't do lunch there again. Be sure to specify that you don't want lunch, because that is just what they assumed when we purchased our tickets. If you don't eat lunch, you can have even more time at port afterwards. With the lunch, we only had enough time to do a couple of shops before getting back on the ship.

 

You can easily do the 12 falls while in port--and it was a blast! It was definitely one of the best excursions we've done. The water is a little murky, but you can see the green and rust colors on the rock walls--meaning there is a good amount of copper and iron in the water. It is spring water, and some of the guides were even drinking it. I wouldn't recommend drinking it, but I also think accidentally swallowing some won't likely hurt you. Being spring water--it is cold, but the air temp was warm enough that we were generally comfortable temperature-wise. We didn't feel that the tour was dangerous, although when it comes time to jump 20+ feet, your head is telling you to not do it!

 

Bottom line--if you can do the Carnival excursion and are more comfortable with that, do it. I can't speak to the other tour operators at all, but the two you mentioned have great reviews. And if you really want to save money, do it all on your own. Most importantly, enjoy the beauty of the rain forest, the thrill of the waterfalls, and the memories you make!

[Luke gs Daddy]

We just did a tour with Marisol and if I ever do it again I would do it on my own as mentioned above.

Walk out the main entrance and there you can get a taxi and the park is a national park so all is safe and no worries.

Have fun!

[soupercb]

We just did a tour with Marisol and if I ever do it again I would do it on my own as mentioned above.

Walk out the main entrance and there you can get a taxi and the park is a national park so all is safe and no worries.

Have fun!

Can you tell me why you say you would do it on your own? Was it just for the money savings or was there a problem with Marisol?