I booked a combo tour for Cueva Ventana and Gozalandia Waterfalls via Tripadvisor. PR Tours was the actual service provider. The tour cost $135 per person. Honestly, that's a bit pricy in my opinion, but it's worth the money if you don't want the hassle of driving yourself. You are literally paying for someone to drive you to the attractions and that's it though. Our tour guide didn't visit the cave and didn't swim at the waterfall.
The cave and waterfall were enjoyable experiences. The two star rating is primarily for the service provided by our tour guide Angel. Angel arrived promptly. He was an affable, young handsome twenty something. He picked us (party of 2) up in a minivan and said there'd be another two people joining us. He picked up another couple at a nearby hotel. The other couple were of Puerto Rican decent and one of them was a native of the island. We sat in the back of the van adjacent to the rear speakers, the male tour guest sat in the middle of the cabin and his girlfriend sat in the passenger seat.
Angel and the other couple laughed and talked the entire trip in Spanish. Angel also blared loud Spanish rock/pop music throughout the ride without regard for us (the customers). He made no attempt to include us in the conversation and only talked to us a few times the entire day. Once was while helping us order lunch and another time was while the other couple was swimming at the waterfall. (My sister and I didn't swim) He also talked to us before picking them up and after dropping the off at their hotel. Other than that it was as if we were invisible. Generally speaking, it's not the job of the tour guide to entertain guests so I don't care that he didn't talk to us. It didn't bother me that they were speaking in Spanish either. My problem was that Angel didn't provide the same level of service to ALL of us that day. He seemed to forget that he was working. He wasn't hanging out with his friends for the day. I get that he probably had a cultural connection with the other tourists, but that shouldn't have affected the way he did his job. At one point we got out of the car and all walked towards the waterfall. Angel began to point something out to the other tourists in Spanish. It seemed to be about the location, but he was clearly talking to them since he was well aware of the fact that we did not speak Spanish. I thought that was a bit rude because at that point he was blatantly excluding us from the conversation. Either make an effort to include everyone or don't talk to anyone at all. We were all tourists... we all PAID for the same experience. If the other couple had been white or another nationality (not of Latin/Hispanic decent) then Angel's behavior would've been different. My point is that it shouldn't matter who is on the tour. Everyone should be treated the same.
Angel also drove much too fast at times in my opinion. He took curves and turns daringly fast without regard for how we (the paying customers) may have felt. The attractions were far from the city in an extremely mountainous region. The ride was bumpy with a lot of twists and turns. On two occasions I saw him cut drivers off as they were trying to merge on the highway. I don't think that he was purposely being reckless. I just don't think he's even aware of the way his driving may impact the tourists he encounters. In my opinion, he drove the way many young guys drive... fast and fearless. The problem with that was he was WORKING. He wasn't cruising with his buddies. He should be more conscious of his behavior and how it may be impacting his customers. I went on another tour via Tours by Locals and our tour guide provided excellent customer service. He was a careful driver, he asked us if the radio volume was ok and genuinely cared about the quality of the service he was providing. He was older though and had been giving tours for years so he understand that the needs of the customers is the only thing that mattered. I gave him a $20 tip and he earned every penny.
I didn't give Angel a tip because I was unhappy with his level of service to us. He drove us to and from the attractions, but we paid for that. The tip isn't mandatory and shouldn't be expected by the service provider. It should be earned. I always tip and believe that people should do so generously or stay home so I felt bad about not tipping Angel, but he failed to earn it from US so I decided not to give him one.
I did speak with a young lady from PR tours prior to the tour to confirm and found her pleasant and professional. I don't recall her name. This review isn't a reflection on PR tours or the overall experience I had dealing with them. I'd absolutely book a tour with PR Tours again in the future. read more