Manta's highlights & Montecristi Hats

The experiences are generally underwhelming. The bus: Bus windows were filthy, inhibiting photography. Some wouldn't open & the driver had to use brute force. The seats for my wife & I were broken - they would not stay upright & at the least jolt, we ended up in the reclining position. The seat in front of us was permanently in the reclining position. The bus had no sound system so the guide had to use a portable one, but the noise of the rattling air-conditioner often drowned him out. The suspension was shot, so you felt every pothole or ripple in the road. The transmission was no better - the driver had problems with the gears. So we were constantly jerked around. We often wondered if the driver/owner even knew how to drive. On any hill, everything on wheels passed us & there was a constant joke about the likelihood of reaching the top without getting out & pushing. Itinerary The Fish Market/boat building were a waste of time, the ivory button factory was a small backyard enterprise, interesting but limited appeal. The Montechristo hats were the highlight but just a demonstration in the back of a shop. We didn't see them actually being made. The Chocolate Factory was a gimmick - our guide explained cocoa history (read direct from a wall poster) before we were released to buy chocolates at exorbitant prices. The factory tour was a glass window revealing 1 person packing what we believe may have been chocolates. The mausoleum was neglected, indicating apathy towards their history. We wouldn't recommend this particular company's offering. Bus Safety. The bus door closed as I was alighting, slamming into my elbow & it is still painful 5 days later. There were no apologies from either the driver or guide. The door failed a second time on return to the ship but fortunately there was no one exiting at the time. The bus should not have been on the road.

Manta’s highlights tour provides an excellent insight into the fishing industry of Manta, a hands on experience of the hand-woven “Ecuadorian” (Panama) hats and a good understanding of the history of Ecuador and Manta. The extensive +5-6 hour small group tour provided by Jay, our guide, and the driver, was outstanding. I would highly recommend this tour.

We had a good time. The shipyard was very interesting to see, but the fish market itself is not so great if you cannot buy anything there (like if you are on a cruise ship). Montecristi was great. The hat demo was very interesting, though the hat shop is narrow so be prepared for it to be full of people. The museum was okay. The chocolate shop had very good chocolate but there was no talk by the proprietors or demonstration or anything like it. The tour guide read from a posted board and then we bought chocolate. There could have been more here. Victor was our tour guide and he was great. Very informative, and made sure we all stayed together and got where we needed to go.

Our tour guide Victor Cordova gave us a very interesting, amusing, extensive and enjoyable view of Ecuador, and especially of Manta, whose history he could describe in incredible detail. He was very knowledgable about its political history, traditions, small business developments and current economic status. He could answer questions about anything we could think to ask, and his English language was easily understandable. The range of sites visited gave us a wide-ranging picture of Manta today, and we learned more about the city than we had expected. I would definitely recommend this tour to anyone visiting Manta for the first time.

We enjoyed our tour. Our guide was very engaging and accommodating to those in the group who needed additional assistance.

A lot of time was spent walking through a fish market along the shore. Everything was caught that morning, very fresh. But we were all from a cruise ship. There was no point in any of us buying a caught fish and bringining it on-board the ship. They brought up to a factory making jewelry from a large dried seed. The material was surprisingly hard. Machine tools were required to cut the seeds to shape. It was interesting, never seen anything like this. Next, we visited a panama hat making shop. This is now an extremely rare skill. The hats were of a remarkably fine quality. But hardly anyone in our group wanted to spend the money to buy one.

Very well organised tour. Everything went like clock work with an amazing enthusiastic guide Juan Carlos who took us through the different venues efficiently despite the amount of tourist in the areas. I highly recommend this tour

We had a lot of fun while learning all about Manta and the love everyone emits. Great demonstrations that were above our expectations and very appreciated. We ended with some yummy food with a great view of our ship and the harbour/port. Everyone was professional, helpful and even helped with language translation. We were very happy with everything.

We arrived on an NCL cruise and wanted to customize our tour. I reached out to Fernando and we bonded as we worked thru a modified agenda. We wanted to focus on 3 activities: the chocolate factory, hat making in Montecristi, and ending with a nice lunch. And they delivered on all 3. Our guide (whose name I unfortunately can’t remember) was a real professional, knowledgeable and fun. We spent ample time at each location with rave reviews from our entire group. I was given “star” status for putting this tour together but all the credit goes to Fernando. We all stocked up on the delicious and inexpensive chocolates. Half of us bought“Panama” hats and everyone enjoyed a delicious meal with a view. Job well done!

Be aware of the amount of time you spend shopping. Others are sometimes waiting to move on. We enjoyed the opportunity to learn how chocolate, vegetable ivory, and Panama hats are made. The fish market was wonderful and NOT smelly! A little bit of the ship building was interesting. The museum was unremarkable, but the view from on top of the mountain was nice.