Visite culturelle d'une demi-journée de la ville de Punta Cana pour petit groupe

This was a scam, plain and simple, and this is coming from someone on their third time doing this exact type of tour in the Dominican Republic. I know what a real version of this looks like, and this was not it. Our guide, who introduced himself as Andy and claimed to be a higher ranking police officer, did not guide us at all. He talked to the driver the entire day and only spoke to us to ask for money. None of the photos in the listing matched anything we actually experienced. We spent the entire "half day tour" being driven around on rough, unpaved local roads in an old, tired van for what felt like the majority of the day, leaving us exhausted, hungry, and thirsty, while the actual touring parts of the day added up to maybe one hour total. The van stopped for gas and we were nearly out again on the way back, meaning the vehicle itself was barely being maintained for the route. While the driver fueled up, the guide bought water for himself and never once offered to get us any or even mention we could buy some. The river stop listed in the tour was skipped completely. At the so called cacao and coffee farm, we were told the weather was too dry to show us anything, despite the fact that I did this same tour in July before and was walked through a full garden, shown the entire cacao and coffee making process, and given a fruit platter to try. Instead we got a five minute cacao taste and nothing else. Lunch was not at a restaurant, it was beans, rice, and chicken at the family's actual house, and my kids would not touch any of it. On a previous version of this tour we were taken to a real restaurant with options, fruit, and drinks. On top of that, we were pressured into a 20 dollar donation to the family, then pushed into buying a 20 dollar bag of mamajuana with wild, unverified health claims attached to it. The tipping never stopped. Tip the guide during the day, tip him again before he might not come back, tip the horse handlers at the end. And the horse riding itself was the most dangerous part of this entire tour. There were no steps, no mounting block, nothing. The horse handler physically grabbed my daughter and me and put us straight onto the horses, then walked us directly into active local road traffic on a public road with cars driving past us the whole time. This was not a controlled activity, it was genuinely unsafe. Do not book this tour. It is not the cultural experience advertised, it is a string of unsafe conditions and constant money grabs disguised as a half day tour.

From beginning to end the excursion was great. One of the best excursions I have been on. The night before the company let us know what time our pick up time was which was great and very accurate. Our tour guide was amazing and very knowledgeable about the Dominican Republic, he spoke English, Spanish, and French. I can’t remember his name but I know he was a police officer, hopefully if you go you get him :). It was very nice seeing outside of the tourist area, we went to the famous Catholic Church, a school, a shop, the market, a lady house, Macao beach, and as a group we decided not to do horse back riding. We had lunch at this restaurant which was originally supposed to be at the lady’s house but that didn’t happen unfortunately due to certain circumstances but our driver made it right and we still got lunch. Overall the experience was a 5/5. Highly recommend!

Great communication about pickup and planning. The guide was very kind, knowledgeable, and friendly.A great tour, not too long, nice blend of culture and experience!

We had a wonderful tour with Andy who speaks wonderful English and is very knowledgeable about the area as well as local Dominican culture. We participated as a family with two children age 11 and 15 and it was a very memorable experience for everyone, so much was packed into one day but we did not feel rushed. I like that we were able to make many visits and sample local products but there was not pressure to purchase. It was more about seeing how things are made, and getting a sense of how people live in the area around Punta Cana. We visited the iconic church, local market, rolled cigars, tasted fresh macao, had a delicious home cooked lunch, visited a beautiful local beach (better conditions than our hotel due to sargassum) and horse back riding, all this and we were done before 3pm. We chose to stay longer at the beach and uber back to our hotel because it was so beautiful there. Wonderful service and communication throughout. Even if we had rented a car there is no way we would have uncovered so many hidden gems and so efficiently. Thank you!

Warning... long post but MUST READ! DEEPLY DISAPPOINTED IN VIATOR and the "operator" of this tour. We booked this tour with family members (5 in their family, 4 in ours) for a special Father's Day outing. We showed up promptly at 7:00 am for pick up. The van was there waiting. The driver had their family's name but not ours? Despite having my confirmation booking number, proof of payment, etc, the director had no record of us. Thinking perhaps it was some snafu with Viator, and us not wanting to miss the trip, we discussed with the van driver, who was extremely helpful, agreed we would pay for the trip AGAIN ask for a refund later, and he would arrange a second van since this one would not fit all of us. At approximately 8:00 am, a second van came and we were on our way. It was a nice day, friendly people and we had fun. Please keep in mind, we left AFTER 8:00 am for a 7:00 am tour and NO OTHER vans were there to pick anyone up. Also PLEASE keep in mind the minute we left the resort I had ZERO cell service.... Fast forward to the end of the day... we return back to the resort to see missed calls and WhatsApp messages (which I don't have WhatsApp so it was difficult to respond) on my phone starting at 8:16 this morning from THIS company(?) asking where we were? Where we were...? We were there at 7:00 am!!! Thinking that van was YOU! SO essentially where were you??? You were late, we had no idea this company we toured with wasn't the one we booked with, YOU were late and didn't notify us!!? So I requested a refund thru Viator, at which time I received all sorts of snarky messages from this tour company... how dare we ask for our money back? Because we paid twice! Then Viator fully rejected our request because this operator denied it? I'm sorry, we had absolutely NO IDEA this company was running over an hour late, that this company was not the company my family booked through, and that this company wasn't our tour guide the morning of!!! This is extremely unfair! We're out $240.00 because they were an hour and 15 minutes late. We were at the gate the entire time waiting and had we seen any other van (there was NONE) we would have inquired. So buyer beware with these guys... first off, if you book with a group make SURE you're all in the same tour company and secondly make sure if you don't even get to go on THEIR tour they're not going to keep ALL YOUR MONEY and not compromise or even offer a partial refund!! Personally, I will not tour with Viator again.

Loved the tour! Great authentic experience of the culture and the tour guide was very helpful and knowledgeable. The only downfall was the transportation timing; we stayed at the Vista Sol Punta Cana and were the first to be picked up and last to be dropped off, totaling to three hours just in transit. So what was it supposed to be a five hour excursion turned out to be eight hours. Other than that, we love the tour! So if you’re staying at that resort or a surrounding resort, just make room for the transit timing.

Robonsen was an amazing tour guide. He was very knowledgeable. Speaks perfect English too among other languages. Sandy was a great driver too!

The guide was very knowledgeable. You will really get to see how the locals live and their communities. Highly recommend.

This half-day tour was a great way to experience the local culture outside of the resort area. The guide was friendly, knowledgeable, and shared interesting information about the history and daily life of the Dominican Republic. We visited several local spots, learned about traditional products, and had opportunities to interact with local people. Transportation was comfortable and the tour was well organized. I felt the experience offered good value for the money and gave me a better understanding of Punta Cana beyond the beaches. I would recommend this tour to anyone looking to explore the culture and see a different side of the area.

It was a good experience. I was expecting something different but at least I had a good time. ......