We booked this tour at the last minute, literally a
couple of days before our cruise ship arrived at Nha Trang,
having not been inspired much by the overpriced excursions
offered by the cruise company. This was a bit cheaper than
the bus tour offered by the cruise ship, and we were
expecting it to be a similar group tour with a bus full of
other guests. What a nice surprise it was to discover that
it was actually a private tour. Me, my wife, a driver and a
tour guide. I don't recall seeing the tour described as
such, so it was a bit of a shock.
Ahead of our arrival, the guide made contact via
Whatsapp, sending a picture of himself and the meeting point
just outside the port gate, which was really good - other
tours I have done abroad, I tend to just have to hope that
someone is holding an obvious sign up in the location that I
am hoping is correct. This pre-contact made it a whole lot
easier.
The guide was great fun, and spoke good English, and took
us round the sights listed, giving good information along
the way, and was generally really helpful. He kept a good
eye on the time to make sure we were on track to be back to
the cruise ship in plenty of time. The beauty of a private
tour like this is that it is completely adaptable. We were
at least an hour late getting off the ship due to problems
with the tender, and as such didn't expect to be able to see
all of the listed attractions - luckily able to keep in
touch with the guide via Whatsapp throughout the
disembarkation. As it turned out, due to us being young and
agile we were able to make up a lot of time over the course
of the day, so we did get to see everything. Our guide said
that with older, less mobile clients, it would have been
harder to get everything in, with our late start.
As for the sights, we got to see the Cham Towers, and the
Long Son Pagoda, both of which were well worth the visit. We
also saw the rocks at Hon Chong, which are essentially some
rocks in the sea. Very picturesque, but not sure it was that
special, its something to consider sacrificing if you are
time limited.
We also got taken to a restaurant for an authentic
Vietnamese meal which was really tasty - lots of separate
dishes, but it was all very nice.
Booking and paying via the Viator app was really easy
too.
On the whole, this was a really enjoyable excursion for
us, well beyond our expectations, and I would definitely
recommend it. There wasn't anything on this trip that I
didn't enjoy.