This tour will take us along the main coast road in Manta to the historic fish market, the base of the local economy as well as the Traditional wooden shipyard right on the beach. The daily life of the fishermen has not much changed in generations and the massive wooden skeletons of the fishing trawlers being built are truly impressive.
Start times will adjust to Ship arrival. The first stop is a trip to the green abundance of the Pacoche rainforest. Secluded in the humid microclimate this national park houses an immense variety of birds, monkeys and all sorts of local wildlife. Your guide will team up with a local resident here to help highlight all the interesting sights and sounds. The walk is 2 hours long, with the first hour being very easy mostly level terrain with some steps with bamboo railing. The second half is a little more demanding as we traverse some rocky terrain and local dear tracks along and across small streams. Feet will likely get wet here. Less adventurous types can turn back at the halfway point and meet us and the finish point on the bus.
Famous as a breeding ground for sea turtles, during the winter months, we can often see the eggs hatch and the baby turtles striving towards the surf. They will return 40 years later after reach breeding age. This awesome little town is home to various expats who have accomplished their dream of living and working in paradise. We can get a traditional meal at the beachfront restaurants and bars. Youll see a lot of strange dishes that are really tasty. We recommend the Tongas.
Normally we take our clients to eat in Pacoche
Next, we will travel to the home of the famous Panama Hats, Montecristi. Sheltered at the feet of the Landmark Mountain is the town that birthed these sombreros many generations ago. Once in the small town center, your guide will show you the Panama hat makers workshops and stores as well as a huge variety of local artisan goods. We can also see some of the last examples of the traditional wooden architecture in the central plaza next to the cathedral.
Rainforest Wildlife, Panama Hat Makers, Traditional Cuisine. SHORE TOUR - Manta
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Tour Information
Key Details
- Mobile Voucher Accepted
- Hotel pickup Available
- Duration: 7 Hrs
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Language:
English
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Departure Time :
Rainforest Wildlife, Panama Hat makers, Traditional Cuisine. SHORE TOUR, 5/22/2019 - 8/27/2024Monday - Sunday : 08:00 AM - 04:00 PM
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Cancellation Policy : This activity is non-refundable Tours booked using discount coupon codes will be non refundable.
Overview
We emigrated from the UK over 10 years ago and we know what you're looking for. We always put you first, but the quality of our tour locations are a very close second. We won't tolerate establishments that merely tolerate tourist travellers. They have to excel in in Service and Quality, or we leave them out.This tour is a favourite for the more active Cruise ship passengers and tourists alike. We spend a day enjoying local wildlife, culture, food and drink. The rainforest section can include light and easy walking for up to 1 hours, and then a much more adventurous active hike for the second hour if desired. If not we can hop back on the bus and meet the rest of the group at the finish line.
Know More about this tour
Itinerary:
This tour will take us along the main coast road in Manta to the historic fish market, the base of the local economy as well as the Traditional wooden shipyard right on the beach. The daily life of the fishermen has not much changed in generations and the massive wooden skeletons of the fishing trawlers being built are truly impressive.
Start times will adjust to Ship arrival. The first stop is a trip to the green abundance of the Pacoche rainforest. Secluded in the humid microclimate this national park houses an immense variety of birds, monkeys and all sorts of local wildlife. Your guide will team up with a local resident here to help highlight all the interesting sights and sounds. The walk is 2 hours long, with the first hour being very easy mostly level terrain with some steps with bamboo railing. The second half is a little more demanding as we traverse some rocky terrain and local dear tracks along and across small streams. Feet will likely get wet here. Less adventurous types can turn back at the halfway point and meet us and the finish point on the bus.
Famous as a breeding ground for sea turtles, during the winter months, we can often see the eggs hatch and the baby turtles striving towards the surf. They will return 40 years later after reach breeding age. This awesome little town is home to various expats who have accomplished their dream of living and working in paradise. We can get a traditional meal at the beachfront restaurants and bars. You’ll see a lot of strange dishes that are really tasty. We recommend the Tongas.
Normally we take our clients to eat in Pacoche
Next, we will travel to the home of the famous Panama Hats, Montecristi. Sheltered at the feet of the Landmark Mountain is the town that birthed these sombreros many generations ago. Once in the small town center, your guide will show you the Panama hat makers workshops and stores as well as a huge variety of local artisan goods. We can also see some of the last examples of the traditional wooden architecture in the central plaza next to the cathedral.
Inclusions
- Attraction tickets
- Bottled water
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- All Fees and Taxes
- Guide
Exclusions
Additional Info
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Service animals allowed
Public transportation options are available nearby
Specialized infant seats are available
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Traveler Reviews
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Our Manta Tours guide Christopher and his driver we waiting for us at the terminal even though we were 30 minutes early. This gave us a very long tour, and we enjoyed every minute of it. First stop was Dos Manos coffee plantation with 75,000 coffee plants. The owner employs 9 full time workers and hires 20 more for the month of September to do the hand picking of the beans. We had a lovely hike through the rain forest plantation and were thankful we had remembered our Deep Woods Off wipes. Managed to exist with lots of mosquitoes without a single bite! Lots of fruit trees were growing among the coffee bushes and many trees were filled with bromeliads. The jungle home had outdoor furniture made with wood from a tree called Samon. All pieces were beautiful. Next stop the home of the plantation owner which was an ocean view home he had designed and built himself after his first house was destroyed by an earthquake in 2017. While there we were given a demonstration about how the cacao bean was turned into chocolate and were able to taste both solid and liquid versions of the results. Yummy!! Ecuadorian chocolate is among the best in the world as is their coffee. Another big export is roses which the locals claim have the biggest buds in the world. These grow around volcanoes in the rich volcanic soil. Chris had brought a little fly box with about 15 kinds of chocolate for us to sample while driving. Next he pulled out a flour and butter dish he called Ecuadorian pretzels. The slight problem was the small bag contained 8000 calories of delicious snacks. We worked hard to control ourselves. Since there were just the 4 of us on the tour, we went to a restaurant Chris loves at a beach where he brings his family. First we shared Charlotte’s shrimp ceviche, which was quite good and not raw tasting at all. Next we all had a yellow rice dish filled with local shrimp. The mound of rice was the size of a large mixing bowl on each of our plates, and we enjoyed digging for the shrimp without consuming too many rice calories. The local beer was a perfect side dish. The restaurant was filled with local families enjoying Sunday lunch and a day on the beach. This is the first country other than the US I have visited where the currency is the U.S. dollar. Seems in the late 90’s they were having trouble stabilizing their currency so just switched to the quite stable dollar in 2000. I’m somewhat surprised the entire western hemisphere has not followed suit. Chris said his grandfather lost ⅔ of his savings with the change, as did most of the people who had accumulated any wealth. The wealthiest people in the country seem to be the owners of the tuna fishing boats. Off to Montechristi, a town near Chris’s house and the home of the famous Panama hat. It seems Panama hats were first made by 19th century revolutionaries and sold to Panamanians to raise money for the cause, hence the name Panama hat. The authentic ones are still hand made in Montechristi, and, of course, Bob had to do the finishing touches to one and buy it. I’ll admit he looks dashing in it! The hats are made from fibers in the stem of a plant that looks just like a SSI palmetto plant. On the way back to the ship Chris shared his adventure in the 2016 earthquake. He was 200 miles from home purchasing peach trees with a friend and driving toward home when the road suddenly started buckling like a roll-a-coaster. Everyone started turning back to the hills fearing a tsunami. Chris and his friend headed back to town and their hotel not even thinking about how dangerous the building was. There was no phone or radio service so no one knew what was happening. Chris finally found a police officer who let him listen in to his radio where Chris learned emergency vehicles were on the way. He and his friend joined the convoy toward Manta which was led by army engineers who repaired roads along the way. At one point there went over a big mountain of rubble only to discover several days later the bottom of the pile contained a bus filled with people who did died. Fortunately, Chris’s family was all safe but much of Manta was destroyed. The main business district had to be demolished because none of the buildings were safe. All in all it was a great day in Ecuador!
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Everything about this tour was perfect. A small group led by Juan who was very engaging and informative. The pace of the tour was perfect and the lunch was great. Tom who greeted us and was also there at the end of the tour to make sure everything went smoothly. I learnt a lot and saw lots of new things on my day out. Thank you for making it so special.
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The tour guide, although very friendly, could have been more informative. The beach cafe lunch was way too long and the food was not great. No point in going to a closed fish market. Very few opportunities to see any animals on show. You should consider refunding us.
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We had a very interesting tour with Alex, a young guide, born in Germany, and his wife Kata from Manta. Both waited for us and the other people of the small group outside the cruise terminal. Alex is able to speak english, german and spanish fluently, so it was easy for us to follow his explanations. First we saw the fishmarket and got a lot of information. After a dinner with a yummy ceviche we had a little walk through the rainforest. Sadly there were no monkeys to see, but to hear. But that is nature! We spent sufficiant time at the shop of the hatmaker for the famous Panama hats. We bought two! Dear Alex, dear Kata, we enjoyed our tour with you so much. We had a lot of fun. We will never forget your dancing lessons on the bus on our way back to the ship!!! Thank you. Beate and Dieter from Germany
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Juan was an excellent guide. Very knowledgeable of the area. Heavy rains the evening before reduced the rain forest portion, for safety reasons, but it was a great tour nonetheless.
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The rain forest was probably what I looked forward to the most. Mother Nature doesn’t always cooperate so we didn’t see the Holler monkeys but we could definitely hear them. Lots of floral and fauna along our trek. I would have preferred more time in the rain forest and not have lunch (but that’s only because I wasn’t hungry.)Alex and Kata were very thorough in their explanations and danced for us on the small minibus on our return to the ship.
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Unfortunately, this tour was not as advertised. We had a tight ship schedule to start with but the drive to 'the rain forest' was long and the tour guide, while very friendly with good english, was very passive and didn't give much information about the area we were passing. We didn't even realize we were going to the main site until driving in and then it was a coffee plantation. There was no structure and very little information. It felt we were just on our own without knowing where we were or what the agenda was to be. The owner was there and helped with information and, if prepared for this type of visit, it might have been okay. We left after quite a while, had to skip the beach, ship building and only stopped for the views from a high point overlooking the sea near a lighthouse. The stop at the panama hat making was interesting and worthwhile in a local street but even there it was a disjointed experience. Way oversold it the description compared to the reality. The cost was high for what we did too. Complaints were made and those nosiest about it got some refund...not me.
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My wife and I signed up for a local tour with Manta Tour Guides (Manta Ecuador). Until we took this tour, we always used the cruise ship's excursions. Our experience with Manta Tour Guides changed our ways. This company was excellent. We did more and saw more attractions than two combined cruise line excursions. We saw and intermingled with locals at the wonderful fish market, saw Panama hats being woven and took a walk in the rainforest. The tour was topped off with a lovely meal at a local restaurant on the beach. And when we got off the bus at the ship terminal, we were greeted by the owner with a tasty local cocoa treat...a nice touch. Also, this company tries to keep the group to 8 or less which is great. The only ding against this company is they didn't have our names on the tour list.....good thing I brought the email confirmation which solved this issue. The tour guide, Rosario, was excellent also. I recommend this company for tours if you go to Manta, Ecuador.
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Brüllaffen waren rar, die Landschaft war toll, auch die handwerklichen Präsentationen der Hutmacher waren sehr interessant.
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Visited during cruise of South America and enjoyed the area. Bought an original Panama hat after watching the people making them. Very hard working people who get little money for a full days work.
