Help me better understand the taxis & tour ops...

[BonnieVA]

Let me get this straight ... inside the port bldg there are tour ops as well as personal taxi drivers that you can hire to show you around at Santo Tomas. There are also taxi drivers OUTSIDE the port building that you can hire that some say are less expensive.

 

Is there a difference between the drivers INSIDE the bldg vs OUTSIDE the bldg? Are the inside drivers licensed vs non-licensed outside? Are the drivers inside more trustworthy? Are the outside drivers truly cheaper?

 

How about everyone's vehicles ... are the inside drivers' vehicles more comfortable/safer/reliable? Do ANY of the drivers have vehicles that could hold a family of 6 comfortaby?

 

I'd love to hear of your experiences w/ these persoanl taxi drivers.

 

Thanks in advance!

[harryjr]

We (4) went with a tour operator who had a booth inside the port building. For $35 ea, we got a taxi with driver plus a separate licensed tour guide for the day. Both the driver and guide were excellent and spoke English very well. The van was new, comfortable, and well-maintained. I suppose you could hire a taxi (7-seater van) independently and get a decent tour if you got a knowledgeable driver who spoke English.

[paulgduck]

We talked about doing an excursion and talked to some of the folks at the excursion booths. In the end we decided to do our own thing and walked outside the cruise area gates in search of local downtown shopping. This is not for the faint of heart as the security and overall feel changes a great deal outside the gates. However for us this turned out to be a great experience. We hooked up with a local named ORLANDO who for $40 per cab (there were 12 of us, 6 adults 6 kids) was willing to drive us wherever we wanted. We went to the falls at the nature reserve Las Escobas, checking out some local plants/trees and some beautiful waterfalls. Orlando also arranged discount pricing into the Reserve. Considering NCL offers this same tour at $70 for adults and $50 for kids, we probably saved $150 per family of four.

[BonnieVA]

We talked about doing an excursion and talked to some of the folks at the excursion booths. In the end we decided to do our own thing and walked outside the cruise area gates in search of local downtown shopping. This is not for the faint of heart as the security and overall feel changes a great deal outside the gates. However for us this turned out to be a great experience. We hooked up with a local named ORLANDO who for $40 per cab (there were 12 of us, 6 adults 6 kids) was willing to drive us wherever we wanted. We went to the falls at the nature reserve Las Escobas, checking out some local plants/trees and some beautiful waterfalls. Orlando also arranged discount pricing into the Reserve. Considering NCL offers this same tour at $70 for adults and $50 for kids, we probably saved $150 per family of four.

 

How many people could fit in each cab? Are there any out there that will hold 6?

[Sherry Baby]

Yes, most of the tour operators have minivans. We were four adults (Jan. 15, '09)and got a tour for $160 total. The van could easily have held two or three more people. Our guide drove us around all day, about 6 hours and stayed with us when we made a stop. We saw Santo Tomas, Puerto Barrios, (both poor, run-down cities), and Las Escobas Waterfalls Park. We paid admission into the park separately, $8 per person. This operator was right at the port, where all the cruise passengers disembark. I believe these would be the most trustworthy operators. They may be controlled by a larger agency or the gov't.

[maryn680]

This was our second time in Sant Thomas (the last we went with Gus and it was great), this time we decided to just take a taxi through town, some shopping, and lunch.

 

We went outside of the tourist village and were met by the 'taxi people' that soon arranged a cab for us and another couple that were game for seeing the town with us......

 

It was fine, it was nice, our cab driver spoke very little english and therefore he took us to places that he wouldn't have to talk to us about.

 

It was reasonable and interesting and lunch was good......the only thing I would suggest is to insist on getting a driver that can speak english...might cost you a bit more.....but i think it would be worth it.:D

[cricket59]

Let me get this straight ... inside the port bldg there are tour ops as well as personal taxi drivers that you can hire to show you around at Santo Tomas. There are also taxi drivers OUTSIDE the port building that you can hire that some say are less expensive.

 

Is there a difference between the drivers INSIDE the bldg vs OUTSIDE the bldg? Are the inside drivers licensed vs non-licensed outside? Are the drivers inside more trustworthy? Are the outside drivers truly cheaper?

 

The ones inside charge per person for packaged tours the ones

outside charge per cab for what you ask them for, so yes they

are cheaper, I have no idea how the ones inside get in there.

When we went in 06 to the ruins (2 hours away) our driver

spoke little English but we felt safe enough with the ones we used.

although they drove really fast:eek: Definitely a different feel out side

the terminal area. We are comfortable with this your family may not be!

 

How about everyone's vehicles ... are the inside drivers' vehicles more comfortable/safer/reliable? Do ANY of the drivers have vehicles that could hold a family of 6 comfortaby?

 

Well it got us from the pier to the ruins and back, no air, no seat

belts, whats your comfort level, we called it an adventure:o

 

I'd love to hear of your experiences w/ these persoanl taxi drivers.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

BonnieVA - We are planning to get a taxi outside the terminal area to the falls, friends did this in 06 and had a great time, only spent a couple of hours but had a good time. Cab cost around $35 I think. I don't remember seeing vans available, but we had 9 people (6 adults) so knew we needed two car so didn't really look. We also stopped at a wonderful restaurant with a beautiful garden for drinks (I don't eat anywhere off the ship). If our cab driver knows of this place we will stop again.

[SuMac]

We talked about doing an excursion and talked to some of the folks at the excursion booths. In the end we decided to do our own thing and walked outside the cruise area gates in search of local downtown shopping. This is not for the faint of heart as the security and overall feel changes a great deal outside the gates.

 

Are you saying not to venture out walking in search of a town to look around and shop? If so, is there a taxi that will take you there and for how much?