Avoid Aventuras Naturales

[weboys]

We paid cash for the Jeep tour for 15 of us - 7 adults and 8 kids. We understood it would be an adventure, but we lost so much time on broken down jeeps. We had 2 broken down jeeps, a shredded tire on another jeep (no key to unlock the only spare), and a clutch that was inoperable. We were forced to go from 20 people in 5 jeeps to 3 jeeps. At one point, we had 8 people in my jeep. There were no safety vests or boogie boards to swim to the reefs with. The reefs were in very deep water and a 15 minute swim, which was not possible for the adults or kids in the rough waters.

 

The beach was filled with trash. We had to sit on wet towels to eat our lunch. No utensils were provided.

 

We spent a lot of money and spent most of the time sitting in the jeep...waiting.

I had read great reviews about this tour. The other family on the tour echoed our same disappointment.

[richtersl]

Our experience with Aventuras Naturales was the opposite of yours. It was just me, my husband, and our guide Heather on the tour.

 

We saw the trash washed up on the beach too. But from what we were told some of that trash was still there from Hurricane Ivan and some was from cruise ships that dump offshore. The east side of the island is sparsely populated and they don't have cleanup trucks combing the beaches like they do in NJ. I have to laugh, because even though I saw some trash it didn't phase me or my husband at all -- must come from going to the beach in NJ as children...LOL. I still remember the days of finding tampon applicators and lord-knows-what-else washed up on NJ beaches.

 

We were there on November 18 and a short time before our arrival they'd had a storm rip through the area. The ocean was still stirred up from the storm, so it didn't make for good snorkeling on the beach. We ate our lunch, which was delicious and then headed to a different snorkeling area on the west side of the island. The snorkeling there was fantastic! Heather had packed a boogie board and we were able to use it to rest during our snorkel.

 

Sounds like you folks had horrible luck the day you were there. :(

[GummyBear]

Just for the record........

 

Today’s cruise lines are VERY environmentally conscious and would never intentionally dump trash offshore. All trash is either separated for recycling or it's kept in refrigerated lockers until it can be properly disposed of when they are in port.

[stlrboo]

weboys: So sorry to hear you had a bad time.. :(

My DW (girlfriend at the time) and I, another couple from NY and an older lady with her daughter and two kids had a great time with this vendor!!

The 'older' lady even insisted on driving one of the jeeps.. :eek:

I asked Heather about the Jeeps, as ours were Chevy Geo's vs. Jeeps.. I was expecting a real Jeep..! She said 'due to Mexican laws', the excursion owner had to RENT the Jeeps so the gov't could make sure they were 'safe' etc.. and for some other reason that made no sense to me.. :rolleyes:

I was amazed how well the little things held up, tho.. (and these were automatics, to boot!)

I'm guessing it would just depend on the day you book and where the vehicles come from..!!

Again, we had a wonderful time.. and yes, the beaches are littered, but they also aren't cleaned as they are in the States.. miles and miles of beautiful beaches on the other side of the island, and by the 'ruins', and no one uses them.. ?? Sorry your experience wasn't like ours..