Despite completing a dream of swimming with two of my favorite animals in person (a manatee and sea turtles) I felt pretty uncomfortable with this tour. I hate that I have to share that, but they don’t send you your photos and videos until you leave a review (when, for $99, you honestly should get them automatically), and I feel compelled to leave an honest one. It certainly could’ve been worse, but it also could’ve been better, which is why I want to share my honest thoughts, which I regrettably didn’t feel comfortable doing in person. So here goes.
My instructor could have greatly improved the experience by taking more time to explain and assist myself and the other person who booked the tour that day. There was one other (very nice!) gentleman who signed up for the tour and who felt a little apprehensive about the swimming. However, it was clear he was willing to try. The instructor sort of let him fend for himself and after only a few minutes of the gentleman having a problem with his flippers the instructor told him he had to get out and (presumably) leave without getting his money back. I honestly believe if the instructor had stayed near him and attempted to help him for just a few moments he would have been just fine. Instead, the instructor complained about him to me and kept it moving. (The instructor also made fun of a heavier woman to me, calling her a manatee, before we even began the tour. I didn’t even know how to respond; it made me really uncomfortable.)
In general, I think he could have been a little more patient. With me, he kept swimming away to show me spots and then got upset with me when I lost sight of him. He told me I can’t swim off by myself and even when I explained that he was swimming too fast to the point that I could no longer see him under the water, he still insisted that I was just trying to get away from him, which really put me out of sorts. I’m only an okay swimmer and I would’ve felt so much more comfortable if he had gone at my pace rather than continually leave me behind.
I came to Puerto Rico to support the locals, and I only found out once I got to the tour that the owner is a U.S. citizen from North Carolina. The two instructors with us were also not from Puerto Rico. I wish I had been able to directly support someone from the island, so for that reason and the reasons mentioned I wouldn’t recommend this tour. Instead, grab a snorkeling kit and head to Escambrón beach to snorkel by yourself. It isn’t hard to do it solo and you’ll be saving yourself a lot of money!