Whales Patagonia Tours - Yes or No

[2travelers]

Hi All: we have been looking into private tours to the Punta Tumbo Rookery and have received information from Whales Patagonia. Has anyone out there used them and have any opinions - either good or bad. I can't seem to access too many private tour companies for this trip. I have gotten great reviews for Port Compass, but unless you have a van full of people (which we don't so far) it is pretty expensive. I am interested in anything that you CC posters have to say. We leave in March, so time is creeping up on us.

Thanks for all your great info -

Ronnie

[englishmum]

We used Whales Patagonia to visit Punto Tombo and Gaimen in Feb of this year and we could not fault them.They were waiting for us at the quay side and we left promptly, arriving at Punto Tombo well before the ships buses,so we we had the place to ourselves, which was great.We arranged a private tour for just the two of us.

[2travelers]

We used Whales Patagonia to visit Punto Tombo and Gaimen in Feb of this year and we could not fault them.They were waiting for us at the quay side and we left promptly, arriving at Punto Tombo well before the ships buses,so we we had the place to ourselves, which was great.We arranged a private tour for just the two of us.

 

Thanks Englishmum: I have read some posts about this company from people who used them as you did at the beginning of the year and had problems with auto repairs, and tires that were no good. One poster said that by the time they got to the Rookery the cruise lines were already there and it was mobbed. They barely made it back to the ship on time. I am also a bit concerned that they quote a price, but then at the end of the itinerary it states that prices can be changed without previos announcement...I hate being snookered. We have always had good luck with private tour companies, but these boards are so quiet that I can hardly access any tours or information. While I tend to ignore naysayers (some folks are never happy with anything) many of the messages were the same - so I am a bit hesitant. One person said they had to stop four times for car repairs...don't need any of that. So, how did you hear about this company and have you heard any of the negative comments that I have seen? I too, am thinking of just doing a private tour, but for four - but I need to do my homework. This tour looks wonderful, but not if I am stranded in the middle of barren land :(

Thanks, Ronnie

[englishmum]

I did all my research for all the tours for our South America cruise on this board.At the time I was doing the research there were many people that were recommending Whales Patagonia and one couple even put their video on this site which I downloaded,so I felt quite comfortable booking them.I never came across any bad reports for this firm,but like you we were worried in case anything should go wrong especially as it is quite a treck to PuntoTombo,my hubbie had visions of spending the rest of his life in the middle of Patagonia!! I think you just have to take a gamble sometimes,I always feel happier when I have read several good reports about a particular company.Punto Tombo was one of the highlights of our cruise it really was a spectacular sight,you won't have any regrets doing this tour.