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Oaxaca Culture and Nature Tour: Full-Day Experience
4.6
23 Ratings
Pochutla
Embark on a 4-in-1 tour in Mazunte, including a visit to a cacao factory, La Ventanilla, and a turtle spawn. Experience the best of culture and nature in one day!
Embark on a 4-in-1 tour in Mazunte, including a visit to a cacao factory, La Ventanilla, and a turtle spawn. Experience the best of culture and nature in one day!
Duration:
10 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Pochutla - The journey begins at the Artisan Chocolate Factory owned by the Franco GarcÃa family. With a rich history in cacao cultivation, this family pursued their passion to educate others about cocoa’s remarkable health benefits and to share their aromatic and delectable products. These range from cocoa-infused raw honey to chocolate treats…
- Pochutla - The journey begins at the Artisan Chocolate Factory owned by the Franco GarcÃa family. With a rich history in cacao cultivation, this family pursued their passion to educate others about cocoa’s remarkable health benefits and to share their aromatic and delectable products. These range from cocoa-infused raw honey to chocolate treats with organic chili, mint, or ginger, chocolate spreads, and organic hot chocolate powder. By utilizing traditional tools from this Mexican region, they have successfully preserved the authentic cocoa flavor in all their offerings.
- Mazunte - Upon reaching the charming town of Mazunte, visitors will be taken to the Mazunte Co-Op, established by local women and Anita Roddick, the founder of The Body Shop. Entering the co-op, guests are greeted by the natural fragrances of flowers and trees, along with the warm smiles of the women working there. This community of women made a significant and necessary lifestyle change. Previously involved in hunting turtles and selling their eggs, they realized the importance of preserving nature. With this mindset, the Mazunte Co-op was created to protect local wildlife and offer natural, organically grown beauty products.
- Mazunte - There will be free time to explore the enchanting town of Mazunte, wandering through its cobblestone and clay streets or enjoying a cup of locally grown coffee while observing the relaxed lifestyle of this unique place.
- Mazunte - Guests will be taken to a favorite restaurant to savor freshly prepared meals and refresh with cold beverages.
- La Ventanilla - Following a traditional Mexican lunch, the journey continues to La Ventanilla, a quaint fishing village with a stunning beach and lagoon, which serves as the estuary of the Tonameca River. For most of the year, the lagoon is separated from the sea by the beach and is surrounded by red and white mangroves. The tannins from these mangroves give the water a reddish hue in shallow areas and a darker shade in deeper waters. The estuary is home to a vast array of wildlife, including hundreds of birds whose songs will captivate any nature lover. Visitors may also encounter crustaceans, turtles, deer, and iguanas. However, the main highlight at La Ventanilla is the crocodiles.
- La Ventanilla - As the day concludes, guests will witness the awe-inspiring sight of hundreds of turtles coming ashore to safely lay their eggs on the beach. This magical natural event, a massive turtle spawning, is truly a spectacle to behold.
What's Included
- Bottled water provided
- Access to La Ventanilla included
- Air-conditioned transportation
- Bottled water provided
- Access to La Ventanilla included
- Air-conditioned transportation
What's Not Included
- Lunch
- Lunch
Additional Information
Please be aware: A minimum of two guests is required for this reservation!
This unique tour offers exceptional value for your money. With over 20 years of experience in providing tours in and around Oaxaca, this experience is designed to showcase the very best in a single, enjoyable day. Guests will enjoy a comprehensive cultural and natural experience….
Please be aware: A minimum of two guests is required for this reservation!
This unique tour offers exceptional value for your money. With over 20 years of experience in providing tours in and around Oaxaca, this experience is designed to showcase the very best in a single, enjoyable day. Guests will enjoy a comprehensive cultural and natural experience.
Our friendly, professional, bilingual drivers and guides are dedicated to making your tour a success and a cherished memory.
- This tour only operates with a minimum of 4 guests. All solo travelers are welcome to book this tour. However, if we do not meet the minimum amount required we may have to cancel the tour.
Location
Pochutla
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.6
(23 Ratings)
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Sle0n71
May 3, 2023
Once in a lifetime experience - 4-1 tour was excellent. Our tour guide, Ramiro, was very informative about the local area and friendly. We got to see a lot of wild life out in the open, small towns we didn't know existed and excellent local food.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Laurie
Apr 29, 2023
Great way to explore Oaxaca - Ramiro, our guide, was great! There were 2 couples, the others spoke fluent Spanish and I had limited fluency. He made sure to talk to both of us so we understood, and explained the history of the region as well as the current activity. We loved the chocolate shop, I would recommend washing your hands first, since they put samples in them to try. The turtle sanctuary was really cool, and releasing babies was wonderful. It's a bit of a walk on the beach in the sun but a great experience. The body products facility was also nice, and they have decent products. We bought the citronella mosquito repellent creme, like it so far. The crocodile lagoon is also a great way to see a lot of native species in their own environment. The food on the island is fantastic! Try the sopes and the quesadillas, and use the nopales on both. We also tried some mezcal...good stuff! Over all it was a long day, but really worth it for the experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
617carolyns
Apr 6, 2023
Excellent tour - All was top notch. We lived it and learned a lot. Our guide was super. We couldn’t be happier. Highly recommended.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nehal_n
Feb 26, 2023
Great way to spend a day - We truly enjoyed this experience with an excellent guide. The highlights of the day were walking around Mazunte, Ventanilla National Park and turtle release
Review provided by Viator
Waukeshanorthstar
Feb 14, 2023
An enjoyable experience - Our guide was Romero. His English was excellant. We particularly enjoyed the newly hatched turtle release. We released about a dozen at a very remote part of the beach which is also a research station. The authenticity of the exp .erience was enhanced by the presence of several deceased mother turtles in from the beach-making it both a sad but uplifting experience of nature-once again "mothers giving their all" to continue the circle of life. The guides kept the preditory birds away as the release was carried out and all our temporary wards made it safely to the ocean. We had walked about a quarter mile along the beach to find a spot where the birds were less prevalent. One thing to keep in mind-wear sunscreen and have a hat for shade as well as shoes/sandals suitable for walking along the beach.
The second most educational experience was the crocadile sanctuary and preserve-some massive crocs, with one actually swimming up to the .boat we were in as we were apparently a little closer to her nest that she wanted us to be. One thing to watch for on this leg is the park guide (not our tour guide) trying to convince us to buy insect repellant for mosquitos-from a local store--we did so, but did not see a single mosquito when out on the lagoon or island sancuary reserve. Out tour guide had apparently noticed this happen and after the fact admonished the park guide - a young lady who just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. I think Romero made arrangements for us to get off the island on another "canoe" so that we did not feel obligated to give the park guide a tip-no worries as she would not have gotten one anyway as we knew we had been scammed. Just something to be aware of.
We also enjoyed the short visit to the artist colony in Mazunte-where credit cards did work! One thing to always keep in mind on tours in the Huatalco area is that credit cards are very hard to use due to limited cell phone coverage. Make sure you come prepared with plenty of pesos-though some merchants, like the cacao factory do take dollars. Knowing some Spanish is also helpful.
We enjoyed our day with Romero and they did a good job communicating with us at Tao as to pickup-make sure you have WhatsApp. It was an educational and memorable day and highly recommend this tour operato
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sidney_a
Nov 18, 2022
Great fun tour - Great guide. Coffee thing a little funky but very educational. The park ride in a boat super interesting. The guide had some ties with park releasing the turtles. Really cool!
Review provided by Viator
646adeg
Feb 27, 2023
Very good experience - We enjoyed the experience very well Mazunte magic village
We would certainly return
And the sunset on comet tip
Review provided by Tripadvisor
F8318tocarlosp
Jan 6, 2023
50% disappointment - The visit to the chocolate and cosmetics factory very bad, it is not a factory, it is a shop, you can save it, crocodiles and turtles highly recommended.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tifa01
Jul 23, 2023
Over priced, DO NOT BOOK - I have to start by saying this excursion was EXTREMELY over priced. We paid around $400 for my husband and I to take this trip. We were promised 4 stops, everything included except for lunch including water, and access to parks, for $400. Our first stop was to a trash filled parking lot at a beach called Zipolite. I'm not even sure why we stopped here. It literally was a trash filled parking lot for a beach that we didn't get to do anything in? He said we could take a picture in front of the sign? Again not sure why we even stopped here. Our next stop was to a cacao and coffee shop. That was fine. Our next stop was to the park where the crocodiles were located. We were told we had to pay admission to this park. We should not have been made to pay admission to this park! We paid $400 for this trip! We SHOULD NOT have had to pay access for this. Also, if we EXTREMELY hot. No water was provided. We had to purchase water everywhere we went. Then we went to lunch which was good. Our next stop was supposed to be the sunset turtle release. It was 5 o'clock. Our tour for tried to have us pay again to release the turtles, we told him no that was included. He said okay and I guess talked to the turtle place to let us release the turtles? Anyway, the whole trip was to release turtles. It literally was just holding a turtle in a coconut shell in the hot sun. That was it. There was no sunset release where you get to relax and watch the turtles. This excursion was COMPLETELY over priced and NOT WORTH IT. TripAdvisor I want my money back from being charged to enter the parks, upon booking this excursion of was listed that that was included. Also you will need lots and lots of water because it's not included and you will need pesos. Do not book this trip!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Q2009sjrichardl
Jan 28, 2023
Terrible - We booked this tour for a full day. Late on the evening before the tour a Whatsapp message was sent - which we never got because we were never told they communicated by Whatsapp- and the morning of the tour we were asked if it was possible for us to "take the tour on a different day". The reason given was they had checked with Ventanilla and were informed "they won't have a turtle release during the week but on the weekend it will be available" This was a Wed. As we had some flexibility we agreed . Despite being told the turtle release wasn't going to happen "during the week" were asked if Monday would work. As we were leaving on that day we indicated that wouldn't work. Besides if turtle release was on the weekend and part of the tour why would we wait until Monday. We were then told Saturday and this was confirmed for 10:00. Twenty minutes after the appointed time we asked where they were. The response was "we took a group yesterday" and "did not see much turtles" and "we prefer to wait one more day". In short they had unilaterally decided without notice not to show up. They then advised that part of the reason was on Friday "we took a group yesterday and did not see much turtles". Not sure why they would take them having been told there was no turtle release . Equally confusing is if this was such an important component of the tour they didn't bother to tell us and elected to merely not show up.
We strongly suspect we were being juggled to fill a tour and the turtles were an excuse.
We have other Viator tours booked - much more expensive and lengthy -coming up in the Spring in the middle East. Given how poorly we were treated this time - our first time - we will be taking a serious look at alternatives. We had serious concerns that we just weren't being told the truth. We wasted an entire day of a quick vacation
Review provided by Tripadvisor
