El Yunque Excursion

[KJtravel]

Can anyone give me a good tour company to book an excursion to the El Yunque rainforest? We are traveling on the Elation 4/30/06.

[Kate1]

Try to find a company that uses vans instead of buses. We were with one where we had about 10 people in a van. It was really nice because we got to talk with the guide a lot, and even got to stop some places where a bus would not have. One of our party wanted to stop at a fruit stand to buy bananas and the driver actually made the stop. They bought banans for everyone in the van for $1! Unfortunately I don't recall the name of the tour company, but I think any one that uses smalled vehicles would be good.

[KJtravel]

Try to find a company that uses vans instead of buses. We were with one where we had about 10 people in a van. It was really nice because we got to talk with the guide a lot, and even got to stop some places where a bus would not have. One of our party wanted to stop at a fruit stand to buy bananas and the driver actually made the stop. They bought banans for everyone in the van for $1! Unfortunately I don't recall the name of the tour company, but I think any one that uses smalled vehicles would be good.

Thanks Kate, if you remember the name of the company let me know.

[Optifire]

We will be in San Juan next month from the Constellation so I started to look for a taxi tour to the rain forrest and to see Old San Juan. I sent out emails to a few and CountrySide Tours wrote back with a price quote of $50.00 an hour and said to see both would be a 7 hour tour that would be needed. So this excursion would cost us $350.00 for 2. It might just be me, but I thought that was very expensive as we have taken private taxi tours in Bermuda and we are also doing one in St. Maarten that is no where near that amount.

 

So for that reason, we are booking the rain forrest tour with the ship and it will only cost us $32.00 each. I am not one for doing excursions through the ship as I like to book on our own, but the price is far Better then $350.00. Has anyone else done taxi tours in San Juan and if so do you remember the price that it was? I thought I misunderstood his price and wrote back and questioned it, but he said that was the correct price. Our tour in Bermuda was $35.00 an hour, but that was for 4 people for that price. The other companies wrote back and said they were unavailable on the date we would be there.

[carraizo99]

How many people are going?

[Crystalcat]

My family just returned from San Juan last week after an RCI cruise on Adventure of the Seas. We were staying at the Holiday Inn Express, just 1 block south of Ashford Avenue. We were able to catch local bus B21 for 75 cents per person which took us to Old San Juan. A local publication "Que Pasa" had a walking tour detailed, and Frommer's Caribbean Ports of Call also listed a walking tour. My kids are 9 and 11 so we explored the forts San Cristobal and El Morro which took a few hours and I thought were very interesting if you like history. If you tell the ticket taker that you plan to see both forts, the rate was $5 per adult. Kids were free. San Cristobal also had a good video presentation showing the history of the 2 forts.

 

For El Yunque, I waited too long to book. We went with Atlantic San Juan Tours (www.puertoricoexcursions.com), and our tour guide was Andres who I felt was quite good, however the rates were a little higher than what the cruise ship was asking ($45/ adult, $40 for kids). (Another company email info@gsipuertorico.com had similar rates.) On the upside, we had a very nice air conditioned van with only 11 passengers including us that day. BTW, El Yunque is an hour's drive away from San Juan. DH did not know this. The only drawback, was that after we were in El Yunque and had visited the observation tower, we learned that there were 2 trails our guide recommended. (A short one which people with inappropriate footwear and health conditions choose, and a longer one (1 hour) which went past La Mina Falls which half our group went on.) Our guide stayed with the group on the short trail. I think it would have enriched our experience to have the guide with us. Perhaps it was my own faulty expectations, but I was hoping to see one of the tree frogs that reside in the rainforest. (We could hear them, we just never saw one.) We could also hear birds in the tree canopy, but only saw a humming bird, and one other black and yellow bird.

We also stopped to see La Coca waterfall (the one supposedly believed to be Ponce de Leon's fountain of youth). In all fairness, I'm sure the waterfall is spectacular after a heavy storm. I'll try to post a few photos in a new thread.

Cathy

[countryside]

Ask the tourist board government certified tour operators for more information,

http://travelandsports.com/cgi-bin/exp.cgi?lng=ENG&typ=TO&lk=to

[carraizo99]

Try to get a hold of Bruno which has a 21 pass bus and has the permit and insurance to go to the forest. I think his email is jlv98@caribe.net

[Optifire]

I posted before about Countryside Tours charging $50.00 an hour to go to the rain forrest and San Juan. I have sinced learned that it was a misunderstanding on my part. I was given prices for a private tour for that amount. It seems you can do regular tours with a group for a fixed rate or private tours for the hourly rate. Sorry for the misinformation.

[KJtravel]

Thanks for all the info. We may just book thruogh the cruise line. All the prices are the same and most of the tour companies want a group of 4 or more for advanced reservations.