Montecristi & The Rain Forest
Description
Lower prices, high quality! this tour will show you our culture, our traditions, our cuisine, History, nature, handcraft and heritage in just 5 to 6 hours, with the friendliest Ecuadorian tour guide in town, we will be able to see howler monkeys, wildlife, the palm tree that we use to weave the Panama hats, the fish market to see how the fish is being brought to the shore, sharks, marlin, tuna, we will be visiting Ciudad Alfaro museum, and we will be seeing how they make the Panama hats, this tour covers almost everything you do not want to miss, and also how they make buttons out of a particular palm tree that only grows in tropical areas. Warning: there are 800 meters of this trail in PACOCHE are strenuous, not recommended for travelers with heart or walking problems, please wear running shoes at least and mosquito repellent.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Visit to the fish market, we will see how the fishermen bring the fish to the coast, and we will see the seafood the market is offering.
Visit to the boatyard in Tarqui, you will be witnessing how the boatyard are being built.
This is one of the 56 protected areas in Ecuador, where you will be able to have contact with nature, this ecosystem has a diverse number of animals, such as howler monkeys, Machalilla frog which is the second smallest in the world, humming birds and plants that are part of our living. Warning: there is 500 meters of this trail in PACOCHE are strenuous, not recommended for travelers with heart or walking problems, please wear running shoes
Downtown Montecristi, where you will be able to witness how the artisans weave a fine Montecristi hat, you will be able to visit the church of Montecristi and shops.
This town is located 15 minutes from Manta, known by the "Montecristi" hats. This city has become an icon for Ecuadorians, many visitors come to see how the "Montecristi" hats are woven; also we will visit Ciudad Alfaro, a complex that was built in order to honor our ex president Eloy Alfaro, who regardless of being a wealthy man, he fought agains the inequality in 1895, and where we singned our last constitution in 2008.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
We accommodate our start time to match your arrival, take the free "Shuttle" to the ship terminal, our representatives will be wearing uniforms with MANTA SOS'S logo, We will meet you at the waiting area, inside the terminal, next to the exit door as you see on the pictures on the tour description.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- During December and May we face the rainy season, so we might have to deal with some light rain.
- If you require a guide that speaks another language other than English or Spanish, you will have to notify us, extra charges might be applied.
- Boots or running shoes, do not wear sandals, Mosquito repellant long pants and long sleeve clothing
Reviews(25)
Bring mosquito repellent for the rainforest!!!! The tour and tour guide were great. Very informative and you get to do a good amount of things. The fish market is super interesting but we spent way too much time there. Grab a snack at the rainforest gift shop because there's not another location to get food. They really need to add some places to grab snacks or lunch along the way. Maybe the hat demonstrating place could work with the empanada cart across the street to be open on the day and time when they'll have a bunch of people coming to their store.
Hello, There is a version of this tour that includes lunch, you picked the one without it, however there are two restaurants next to the rain forest path, and many other stores that our guide would have loved taking you to. Thanks so much for your suggestion Kind regards
The paccoche rain forest has little to offer and the fish market is not terrible in short a very well organized good team but few interests for us.
An excellent tour! A great ‘sampler’ tour to experience Ecuador and the area around Manta for those of us visiting here for the first time! Very informative, interesting and a great guide (and driver). We arrived here via cruise ship and would HIGHLY recommend other cruisers take this as it was well organized and easy to do — at a more economical price point than a ship tour!
Our guide Mariss was fantastic - so friendly and knowledgeable. We especially enjoyed the fish market and the walk thru the preserve. The guide at the preserve was also excellent. The hat store in Montecristi was interesting but took too long.
Thanks so much for your nice review, we will pass this to our guide. The warmest regards
For a short cruise stop in Manta a perfect experience. Good mixture of interesting sightseeing points.
Thanks so much for your visit, we hope you can come back again. Greetings
This was a day full of nice and interesting experiences. I just loved everything that Manta and surroundings had to give
Thanks so much for such a nice review. We appreciate you using our services. Kind regards
Fernando was a terrific host and great ambassador for Monte.Ecuador. we highly recommend you go with Fernando! The next time we are in Ecuador, we will definitely find Fernando for our next trip.
Thanks so much for such nice words We hope you come visit again
Fortunately, the tour is not intended as a juxtaposed succession of routes, spaces and repetitive information. There are people who love their work, and Fernando, the guide, is one of them. His punctuality, friendliness and knowledge enriched a personalized experience that included a visit to the coast, the seafood market, a shipyard, the rainforest and respective hat and chocolate factories. Iconic moments: a freshly captured cherna brought to shore in a small boat, a wooden skeleton being polished by a bunch of carpenters to become a boat; a shy herd of howler monkeys in the middle of the jungle; an on-site demonstration of the conformation of a Panama hut and a tasting of pure chocolate in a craft factory. In a few hours, and thanks to the empathy of the actors at every step of the way, the result cannot be better: a real journey of introspection to a Blanket that goes beyond the tourist postcard.
Best tour guide I’ve ever had super friendly, great conversations 100% recommend I was so happy with this trip it’s the best tour I have ever gotten
Thanks so much for such a nice comment and using our services. The warmest regards
The tour was similar in scope and price to what was offered by the cruise ship, but going in a small group made this tour better. We enjoyed the stops, especially the hat factory. The museum was closed so the tour guide substituted with a stop at a vegetable ivory (button) family business. I would like to have went a little faster on the rainforest hike since it was hot and because there were no animals to be seen in the hot part on the day. Also, there were 2 ships in port and it would have been nice to group tourists from the same ship together, especially since we were able to input arrival info when we purchased the excursion. The trip was delayed by 45 minutes while waiting on the other ship to arrive. Eventually, we left without some of the guests after waiting those 45 minutes. My recommendation to the company would be to group by ship, give a 15-minute grace period, and then get going. Alejandro was a fantastic guide, both on the bus and during our stops.
