Happy Fish Travel

Is anyone familiar with them? I'm planning on taking their tour to Livingston at the Santo Tomas port, and btw, I heard that Livingston is the most interesting place around there. Is it true?

Last January my group of 6 booked with Happy Fish inside the terminal after we arrived in Port. I had read reviews beforehand so I felt confident it was a good choice in Guatemala.

We had to wait until they had a full boat of people but we had seats in a shaded area where you could order refreshments. It took around a half hour, as our boat also had to wait its turn for us to board. The river was really beautiful and there was a lot to see, the guide stoped at a few spots to explain what we were seeing. At the furthest stop their was a cove filled with lily pads and little children in dugout canoes that paddled up to our boat. They were adorable and I happened to have several dollar bills which is what they were looking for. Some had little wood carvings and shells to sell, I took a couple of great photos.

We stoped a the pier in this area and there were trinkets you could purchase plus a lady making tortillas that you could have her fill with meat (marsupial) and white cheese. Our guide encouraged us to try them for free, they were interesting. On the way back we stopped at the hot springs where one of our friends slipped and hurt his knee. The caves were closed at the time but we stopped at the gift shop anyway.

Traveling back down the river a small boat pulled up next to us and our guide bought freshly caught fish from the two young fishermen. In Livingston we walked up the hill to Hapy Fish's restaurant and they cooked the fish for our lunch which was included in the price.The meal was delicious and included one beer or pop, we even had entertainment. Afterward we had time to walk around and explore the small "colorful" village. The return trip to Santo Thomas was a fast bumpy speedboat ride.

We had a great time on this tour except for the injury (which could happen anywhere). My cousin and his wife took the Rio Dulce excursion through NCL which cost a lot more but they saw less and it did not include lunch. I would do this tour again.

For: Cruise Directions

Hi Nancy, this is Paleotrekker here having the pleasure of greeting you. I have a couple of friends who are the eternal bargain shoppers and because I know fairly well the towns around Bahia de Amatique (which is where Livingston and Puerto Santo Tomas de Castilla are located) they asked me for a couple of tour operators that they could hook up with once they are in the area. What was the price of the Rio Dulce-Livingston Tour that you did with Happy Fish? I would like to pass this info on to my good friends archeologist friends, Thanks and SEA~~~~ You Around!! Paleotrekker

For: Cruise Directions

 

Hi Nancy, this is Paleotrekker here having the pleasure of greeting you. I have a couple of friends who are the eternal bargain shoppers and because I know fairly well the towns around Bahia de Amatique (which is where Livingston and Puerto Santo Tomas de Castilla are located) they asked me for a couple of tour operators that they could hook up with once they are in the area. What was the price of the Rio Dulce-Livingston Tour that you did with Happy Fish? I would like to pass this info on to my good friends archeologist friends, Thanks and SEA~~~~ You Around!! Paleotrekker

Hi Paleotrekker,

I think it was in the $30-40 per person range about half what the ship charged. It was well worth the cost.

Did you need to pay Happy Fish before your arrival?

Did you need to pay Happy Fish before your arrival?

No!

Is anyone familiar with them? I'm planning on taking their tour to Livingston at the Santo Tomas port, and btw, I heard that Livingston is the most interesting place around there. Is it true?

Mario - we are on the same cruise as you and are interested in one of Happy Fish tours in Guatemala - did you make a reservation with them online??

Mario - we are on the same cruise as you and are interested in one of Happy Fish tours in Guatemala - did you make a reservation with them online??

by their site

https://www.happyfishtravel.com/

where you'll find the contact us tab

Have used Happy Fish 3 times and enjoyed each and every trip to Livingston. The boat trip is very interesting and Livingston is even more interesting.

DH & I stayed with the tour guide on our first trip to Livingston but broke away from the tour group on our next 2 trips to do some shopping and spend more time at the Happy Fish restaurant.

Don't miss visiting the Heritage Hall at the dock in Santo Tomas. The building is filled with local crafts and the history and heritage of the country is depicted through song and dance on the stage throughout the day.

Santo Tomas is among our favorite ports visited in 31 cruises so far.

Dianne

Just got back from our cruise, which included a Rio Dulce tour by Happy Fish. Just a word of warning: If you are squeamish about fast boat rides, you may want to pass on this trip. Also, Livingston is indeed colorful, but some folks in our group found it a little TOO colorful. There is also a good amount of walking around, and it's hot, so be prepared. Also, lunch doesn't come until 2 or so, so you might want to take a small snack. All that being said, I enjoyed the trip quite a bit. Photos are on http://www.pbase.com/rooothy123 if you want to get a preview of the Rio Dulce trip. Then again, Happy Fish's web site gives you a pretty good idea of what you'll see and do. Freddy, our guide, was great - very personable, friendly, and entertaining. It was also great to see him at the dock when our cruise ship left, hours later, dancing and waving while Garifuna women danced as a send off. For $50, I thought the Rio Dulce trip was very worthwhile and fun.

Roothy123- I just tried to get to your web site but it failed. When I looked closely I noticed that there is one too many "o"s in Roothy123 so after adjusting for the right number of "o"s I found your pictures. I'm going to be in Guatemala on the Ryndam in November so I really appreciated your pictures. Thank you for posting them

Roothy123- I just tried to get to your web site but it failed. When I looked closely I noticed that there is one too many "o"s in Roothy123 so after adjusting for the right number of "o"s I found your pictures. I'm going to be in Guatemala on the Ryndam in November so I really appreciated your pictures. Thank you for posting them

Moonothebay, thanks for the tip on locating the pictures. I will be doing the Mayan Mystique in December 2012.

Roothy123, excellent pictures that helped to make my choice 'Happy Fish'.

Thanks All

At Santo Tomás de Castillo in March 2013, we did a prearranged tour with Happy Fish for $50 per person. I would recommend it, but I do think they could improve their scheduling and organization. We docked at 7:00, and the tour was supposed to begin at 9:30. We, and several others on the tour, wondered if this was local time. I was not aware in advance that ship time was going to be different, or I would have clarified this ahead of time. So a bunch of us showed up early just in case. Happy Fish told us the tour was set for 10:30 ship time, but they would leave as soon as they had a group assembled. We killed time shopping at the port (best & most unique shopping of the cruise!) and just hanging around, hoping to get started.

Well, the tour left exactly as scheduled, and we could see from the organization that there had never been any possibility of leaving earlier. That’s fine, but I wish they had been upfront about it, so we could have put our time to better use. It would have been easy to book at the port instead of prearranging. Some of the folks on our tour booked through HAL at a greater cost.

Once the tour finally started, it was excellent. Guatemala was very hot and steamy that day, so we were happy to have a tour that ran mostly by boat. The bay crossing was scenic, and the Rio Dulce canyon was one of the most beautiful places any of us had ever seen. We were amazed to see U.S. Army gunboats patrolling the river. The whole tour felt very exotic, and very different from any other excursion we have done. Absolutely stunning scenery!

The Mayan school village was practically deserted, since the children had been sent home early for Holy Week. This was a surprise to our guide, but she did the best she could. We enjoyed the fish lunch in picturesque Livingston, although it was very late (2:30 our time).

At 3:30, we were supposed to walk around Livingston, but our tour group had to protest because we had only one hour till all-aboard, and the bay crossing takes 30 minutes. We all agreed that we would have enjoyed seeing more of Livingston and less of the hot, deserted Mayan school. Also, the tour was supposed to include a drink, which would have been welcome on such a hot day. The tour was great, but would have been even better if it started earlier, provided lunch earlier, and spent more time in Livingston and less in the humid jungle.

CoralReef - , was there any access to bathroom facilities on the "3 hour boat ride" ??