mandoo vs sunsation?

[mudcatmike]

We will be in Grenada on 8/18 and we are trying to set up a tour. I have heard lots of good things about mandoo and nothing about sunsations on the board (at least didn't see anything). We will not make the regular sunstations tour but they are offering a private tour at $20/hr minimum 4 hours. Mandoo is charging $40 a person. There are 5 on us going on the tour. If anyone has experience with sunsation please post as we would like to make our reservations shortly.

 

Thank you

 

Mike

[mringenoldus]

I have booked with Mandoo for 10-13-04 and he has been very responsive!

[Kelfly]

Do you have a 1/2 day or full day booked with Mandoo? What does your tour comprise of and is it a private tour or group (how many people if group)?

I sent an e-mail to Mandoo and he replied quickly but did not answer my specific questions. I sent another and never heard back. We won't be sailing until the first week of Dec. so I have a while... but I like to plan ahead!!

[mudcatmike]

I booked with Sunsations and had a good time. Toured with a nice guy named Ian, a transplanted Brit ( didn't hold that against him). The highlight was my son getting to see monkeys in the rain forest up close. We set up a private tour as their pre-arranged tour package leaves early in the morning. Met us right at the dock (after tendering in) and dropped us off right there too in plenty of time to get back.

[taterules]

How long does the Mandoo half-day tour last? I think the ship probably isn't in port long enough for a full-day tour, only 9.5 hours.

 

Do I have to wait and see if he gets enough people to run a tour on the day my ship is there, or can I just book it?

[tispwisp]

We are booking a full day tour with Mandoo when we are in Grenada in November. We have decided on the Northern Tour. The cost is $70 per person and includes lunch and entrance fees. The hours of the full day tour are 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Have heard nothing but great things about Mandoo tours and we are greatly looking forward to this tour. He has responded either the same day or the next day to all of my emails.

[Greene]

We took Mandoo's tour last week on Grenada. What a wonderfully knowledgable person he is. We had a very pleasant time with him and enjoyed every minute of the tour. Only hope that Grenada - as beautiful as it was last week - will be there when others travel. Hurricane Ivan did some terrible damage. If a cruise goes to Grenada - got to do Mandoo's tour!!!

[jlines]

We booked with this company for our day on Grenada. I found them on an official Grenada tour site. They quoted $25 per hour for 8 persons. When we arrived our guide had a sign with my name and after introductions were made Brian took us to his waiting van. He explained many things about the island and showed us many plants and some large, beautiful caterpillars that felt like velvet. Unfortunately we didn't see the monkeys he was hoping to find for us. He took us to Grand Etang and helped us hike to Seven Sisters Waterfall (one of our group has a hard time hiking because of past surgery to her leg and he was wonderful in assisting her), Dougladston Estate, and a beach to snorkel. I would highly recommend this company as all 8 of us were very pleased with Brian's services. They will customize whatever you want to do for the flat $25 per hour. We were out for 8 hours so it ran us $25pp plus tip and was well worth every penny. They also had regular tours listed on their website if anyone is interested in any of them. Their website is http://www.grenadasunsation.com if you'd like to see what they have to offer.

[Walterswife]

We had a wonderful tailor-made tour with Ian of Sunsation. We totally agree! Wonderful tour! Highly recommended and truly the highlight of our cruise in every respect!

[Boatingmom]

Their tours look interested but how do they drive? We did a tour with Frank in St Lucia and my daughter got car sick from the hills, heat and the crazy way the driver drove. She never even got queasy once on the ship.

[Walterswife]

The roads are winding. In my opinion, the roads in St. Lucia are better than those in Grenada. However, speak to the guide. They aim to please and will be more than happy to slow down the pace.

 

I suffer from some motion sickness problems due to migrane headaches but did not have any problems. I would address it in the email in advance--that way you are clear in your expectations. Ian is a great guide. You'll love him!

 

Celeste

[Boatingmom]

Thanks for the advisse. I think we may try it as we have already gone to Grand Anse. We're only in port till 2:00 or 3:00 so a half day would be great. Thakns again!

[Arubalisa]

Has anyone toured with Sunsation recently? Looking for good and bad.

 

We are a party of 10, but have 4 kids. Is 4 hours too little time to see the highlights before the kids get disinterested?

[Arubalisa]

Has anyone returned recently with experience with Sunsation?

[Arubalisa]

Mini Review of our day with Sunsation Tours

qkspice@caribsurf.com at the end of December...my favorite tour of the trip.

 

For this day, for our family of 9, 4 kids- ages 10 - 17, and 5 adults, we had booked a private tour. I had communicated via email with Diedy and she always promptly responded. We had purposely asked that the tour be limited to a maximum of five hours to save us from the wrath of the children!

 

I think the kids were a little grouchy at the start of the touring. Yes, a day at the beach might have been nicer. This was just the same old being driven around in a mini-bus with someone talking at you or was it?

 

Wow though, Sunsation Tours definitely delivered what they promised on their website, "we choose driver / guides who are communicative". You could not help BUT be interested. This was one of the most thorough tours I have ever taken. Our driver gave us a running commentary and was actually interesting...the economy, geography, history, flora and fauna, politics ...you name it we most likely talked about it. St. Lucia was nice and picturesque, but Grenada somehow had more allure for me.

 

First off you can not but sympathize with these people who survive mainly on agriculture and tourism. Both came to a screeching halt when Hurricane Ivan struck in September 2004 as a category four hurricane with sustained winds of 130 miles per hour. The island suffered destruction of 90 percent of her agricultural crops as well as the same percentage of loss of roofs to structures. Considering the tiny island nation of Grenada, pre-hurricane Ivan, produced 20% of the world's supply of nutmeg and it will take the new nutmeg trees 7 - 12 years to begin reproducing, things on the island are very tough for her people. BUT the attitudes of everyone is unbelievable. The Grenadians were proud, upbeat, friendly, enthusiastic and gracious.

 

The Nutmeg Processing Stations are cooperatives and the majority are still closed. We took a guided tour of the Gouyave Nutmeg Processing Station. The guide has worked there since 1965, he is one of only 6 employees still working at the station. Pre-hurricane Ivan there were 150 employees working here. While we were at the station an older woman came in with her nutmeg to sell to the cooperative. She offered a plastic shopping bag such as the ones we acquire at the grocery stores here in the states. The growers were selling their nutmeg (these are actually the seed off the trees) to the cooperative at about $4 for the best quality grade. At that rate she is going to need a lot more nutmeg to make a living.

 

The tour showed the processing steps of sorting by grade/quality, cleaning and aging. After aging, 3 months I believe, the seeds are then packed whole into 50 pound sacks and sold to companies (some in the US) who take the whole product and break it down for the mace, oil, etc. and spice itself.

 

We stopped on the roadside on many occasions, if only for our driver to call out to someone walking by to pick something off a nearby tree so 9 people did not have to go tumbling out of the van to view it. His requests were always fulfilled with a smile. We saw besides bananas, plantain, cocoa, citrus, fruits of all varieties, avocados, root crops, sugarcane, corn, flowers and more flowers and of course nutmeg trees.

 

Our driver stopped at a small roadside store where we were given a demonstration on nutmeg and all of its parts and end products and then we were free to make purchases of our spices. Very very low key and no pressure to buy whatsoever. Other highlights of the day included: Annandale Waterfall and Garden, the view of Carib's Leap, Grand Etang National Park & Crater Lake, plantations, a few fishing villages, the coastline, the rainforest and a short stop at a fairly secluded beach.

 

There were some Grenadians at most of our stops along the way selling whatever they could offer up. Two women outside the Annandale Waterfall offered to pose for a photo with their mighty baskets of fruit perched a top their heads. Once we reached the waterfall there were two men who said that in order to "make a living", for a small donation of an amount of your choosing, they would climb up and jump from the top of the waterfall. For a couple of bucks the guy was probably going to be able to eat that night, the kids got a kick out of seeing it and it was a good photo opportunity for yours truly. Were we suckers? Maybe, but the way I look at it, putting myself in their shoes and with such limited opportunities you gotta do what you gotta do to support yourself and your family. It beats picking my pockets or slashing my bag to get to my wallet, any day.

In the course of our day, there was a man who allowed you to pose with his monkey, there was more than one musician...you get the picture. Our driver had advised us of all of this beforehand and we were under no obligation at all.

 

One of our last stops was a short guided tour of Fort Frederick given by a young fellow who gave a very detailed history of the US invasion of the island in 1983 and made us all very aware of the fact that, though not all Grenadians necessarily felt that way, he for one was extremely happy with the outcome. You even have a perfect view of the prison below where those who incited the coup and survived the invasion are now being held in prison for life.

 

The tour started at 8:30 a.m. and was about 5 hours. Afterwards there was still time in the afternoon to take a taxi from the pier to Grand Anse Beach for some swimming before the ship departed.

[vickie_bernie]

thanks for such a detailed review, much appreciated.

vickie

[2Canucks]

Hello there!

 

I've just gotten our confirmation for our tour in Grenada on Jan 22/08. (Not a ship's tour) Really looking forward to this tour.

 

I"ve talked to Mandoo on the phone and he's a real gentleman. After talking to him and reading the many rave reviews for his tour on the CC boards...we decided to book his tour. If you are interested in seeing his website...here it is.

 

http://www.grenadatours.com/tours.htm

 

His email is mandoo@grenadatours.com

 

Pat :)

[Packman1000]

Perhaps someone could help me decide on taking the Mandoo tour. It sounds great and I would certainly like to take his tour, but here is my problem. I will be on the Emerald Princess sailing on December 6th. We are in Grenada from noon to 7PM. However, it appears we will have to tender to shore as we are the 3rd ship in port that day. The Emerald has 3,100 passengers and the Crown Princess is there that day as well with another 3,100 passengers. With the crowds and the tendering, I'm expecting that I won't get to shore until at least 1:30 - 2:00, and the tour wouldn't commence until 2:00-2:30. I'm a freak for getting back to the ship well in advance when taking a private tour. And I'd also like a little time to walk around in the port.

 

Should I take the Mandoo tour, or just use one of Princesses tours? The price is nearly the same. I don't want to be a nervous wreck and not enjoy the excursion because of worry about getting back well in advance of sailing.

 

Thanks.

[Benita]

I would take the tour offered by Princess - Mandoo can use a large bus, so there may be waiting for lots of people involved. Princess will probably have the tour groups meet in the theater and tender over together, so the buses can fill up easier. Looking at the itineraries offered and the prices, his are comparable to the ones offered by Princess, and this way, you will not have to worry.

[ndavis7515]

Last year I took a Mandoo tour and he was wonderful. Unfortunately there was supposed to be 12 people and only 7 showed up on time. The other 5 never showed up and we waited over an hour for them.

[hubble]

Does anyone know what his rates are on the 1/2 day tours. Nothing is posting on the website.

[Packman1000]

From what I can tell, it seems like Mandoo charges $45 for all of his group tours - somebody please correct me if I'm wrong. When I emailed him with several questions regarding a tour, he promptly emailed me back, but didn't answer the question I asked about price. I've read from other poster's that his tour was $45.

[tomstur]

If trying to choose between the ships tour and Mandoo's tour, it's a no brainer. Pick Mandoo every time. You will be glad you did. This is no doubt the best island tour our group has ever taken. And some folks in my group are very tough to impress! It is unfortunate that some times people do not show up for the tour which causes a delay. Mandoo should collect all money up front. But he is too kind and considerate. Take this tour!

[luv2travel2beaches]

We are on the Emerald Princess in Grenada on January 20. We are taking the tour with Mandoo. He responded to me and told me the price is $45 per person. I hope we don't have too much trouble getting ashore and on to our tour in good time.

[ndavis7515]

We are on the Emerald Princess in Grenada on January 20. We are taking the tour with Mandoo. He responded to me and told me the price is $45 per person. I hope we don't have too much trouble getting ashore and on to our tour in good time.

 

He is so considerate, he will wait for you. When we went with him in April 2006 he waited an hour for 7 people that was supposed to be on our tour and they never showed up, so we finally left.