We booked a trip that included fishing, restaurant experience and a waterfall exploring adventures with Valeria I and its crew. The boat itself was nice and the captain and his helper were very straightforward and to the point. There were 7 of us and none of us got to fish or even touch the rod. They said they would show us how to fish the first time and then we could try after but the first time never came. They handled all the equipment themselves throughout the trip and there was no fish in site. There was no mention of the waterfall throughout the trip at all and the restaurant they took us to (los Conos, I think) was owned by their family. The food there was mediocre and overpriced. He mentioned taking us snorkelling after the restaurant but then rushed us to get us back after eating and said we ran out of time. We did not spend more than about an hour and 15 mins at the restaurant. As the captain and crew who know how long it takes from one point to another, they should have planned the trip out better and constructed a schedule that included all the advertised activities. Overall my family thought this trip was a waste of money and there are way better excursions we could have done for about $630 CAD.
*At a different excursion, I told my tour guide where the captain took us fishing and he said “no wonder we didn’t catch anything.” Apparently it wasn’t a good fishing spot and was on the way to his father-in-law’s restaurant. So, I don’t know if they took us there due to convenience or what but there were no fish in sight.
**Edited: After reading the response from the captain on my post and on other negative reviews, the lack of professionalism speaks for itself.
First of all, not once did we mention going into the kitchen to cook the food. Back when we booked the trip they mentioned if we caught any fish they would cook it to our liking and we asked if we would be able season it to our liking as well and the captain said we could. However, since we didn’t catch anything anyway none of that mattered or came up again.
Secondly, my family is from the pacific Islands and my mum and dad have fished all their life to support our family and run our business. Since, we moved to Canada they haven’t had a chance to fish in an ocean for over a decade and we booked this trip to give them a sense of home. Therefore, we all know how to fish and go out fishing in lakes every summer. We didn’t get to fish not because we didn’t know how to but because the crew didn’t even give us a chance. It’s funny how he just assumed we were Indians based on the colour of our skin and the fact that we wanted out food to be spicy and well seasoned. I guess that goes to show you’re not free from racism wherever you travel.
As for the price, I said the food was overpriced because the restaurant caters to tourists mostly I guess and hikes up their prices. We had way better food and for much cheaper just one town over on a different excursion with Vallarta Adventure (amazing experience). And we never disagreed to pay for any differences in prices. This part is just a flat out lie. On our end the prices showed in CAD (As shown in the picture) and we paid whatever was asked of us without any hassle. Also when paid, we were charged about an extra 300 pesos than what the captain had quoted us. We figured that maybe it was an auto gratuity that was included and didn’t say anything. However, when we docked the men asked us to tip them on top of what we had already paid so I’m not really sure what the extra charge was for. We are not opposed to tipping is the service was good but no one in my family enjoyed their time and did not like being put in a position where we felt like we had to. Despite all of this we still tipped because they claimed tips are what they live off of and we felt bad.
I changed my rating for them after reading the captains response but would like to mention the boat itself was nice but the experience was just plain terrible.
We booked a trip that included fishing, restaurant experience and a waterfall exploring adventures with Valeria I and its crew....
