A Puerto Vallarta Must-Do!! - We had heard so much about this “Hidden Beach”, and the photos we had seen were spectacular, so we booked a trip. Maui was the best guide. We saw humpback whales in the morning and afternoon, and one welcomed us with a beautiful show just as we pulled up to the island. The crew knew what they were doing, and were super organized - everything ran extremely smoothly. #1 Tip: Even with life jackets, YOU NEED TO BE A GOOD SWIMMER. From the time you jump in the water, until you need to be back on the boat, you have a total of 30 minutes. The guides swim with you the whole way. You’ll swim under the arch (it’s pretty low, and you will be wearing a helmet), and the quicker you get to the beach, the more time you have to explore. You can’t take your camera, or anything else, onto the beach, but 2 very fun, very professional photographers will be there to do a photo shoot with you. We bought the photo package, and I’m very glad we did. The photos were great - they captured the experience perfectly. We were supposed to go snorkeling, but there were jellyfish in the water, so instead, we toured around the islands, and Maui gave us a fabulous history of the island, along with information about its abundant bird life. We were given some light snacks on the boat, and then we headed back. Overall, a fantastic day, and we were back in town early afternoon.

Marietas Snorkle - Danny and the ENTIRE crew made this a very informative and FUN experience! 100% recommend, even if you don't actually snorkel. Whale watching was good too.

Marietas “Island Discovery” Tour - Love this tour! - We’ve been using VA for years and have done multiple different tours. They are a great, solid, well organized company. Their website gives great information so I’m going to list a few things I didn’t see and wish I knew. We did the Island Discovery Tour which is just a tour of Las Marietas and the hidden beach there. You’re on a speedboat (20-25 passengers) and not one of their bigger catamarans. You can’t put on sunscreen after departure due to the sensitivity of the ecosystem and there is no shade. They do offer snacks (apple, banana, granola bar) after the activities but no water or alcohol. They do offer towels which was unexpected. I definitely recommend this tour and love swimming thru the tunnel to get to the hidden beach. Our tour guides: Felipe, Chema, Angie and Captain Dan were great. The tour is in Spanish and English. My only con are the photos. They took too many of each couple. We would’ve been happy with 2 pose requests but felt like we did 6-7 each time. Also the cost of photos is so ridiculous. Our whole digital set for a family of 4 was $150! We would’ve liked a few and probably overpaid a little but only bargained down to $110 for the whole set. I suggest you bring your own camera/phone. Highlight we did see some whales at the end. Our tour was a little longer than 5 hrs prob closer to 6.

Amazing adventure! - Wow! What can I say? We had such a wonderful time. This was such a great trip. My mom and I were greatly taken care of! Maui, Ruben, Yobani, and all the staff made us feel welcomed, comfortable and safe! Thank you so much! I will refer all of my friends and colleagues here! We can’t wait to book for next time! Thank you!!!!!

Highly recommend - Amazing tour, great service by Daniel, Jaja, Fideo and Martin. Exclusive location, best snorkeling I've done. Don't bother bringing a camera. The two professional photographers get great shots at a good value.

Once in a lifetime experience - My husband and I went out on this excursion for my birthday and it was the experience of a lifetime. The ride there was rocky but it was evident that our captain Felix aka Happy was very skilled and was able to take the best route to get us there safely and quickly. Once I jumped in the water I immediately got scared to swim the 100 meters into the cave but our tour guide Moses was kind enough to help me with reassuring words and a little help so have this once in a lifetime experience. Oh I forgot to mention we saw humpback whales!! They were so amenable to let us stop and whale watch, how cool. I am thankful for Moses, Felix, Greta & Yaya for helping me have the best birthday!

Marieta Islands - The attention and kindness of all the collaborators was impeccable. I only consider that the tour is not really what is stated on the official website. Since there are pictures where you see people on the islands. We took this excursion because we were there and it didn't happen.

Snorkeling tour without snorkeling - You are considered as a walking wallet in this tour with really poor organisation. The group was too large arriving at the island from what we heard from the guards (not the first time he told our host apparently), so we wasted 30 mins by splitting the group in 2 and waiting for each group to do the first and only activity we had. You swim to the pretty hidden beach, to be shot by a photographer, you cannot bring your own camera, GoPro or anything. After that, there were jellyfishes at the snorkeling spot (50 meters next to the hidden beach) so we could not do it. After that, we did some rushed bird watching and explanation about the island before going back. Did we do the hidden beach activity even though there were jellyfishes and not the snorkeling because they take pictures of you that they sell 100$ ? Maybe, or maybe we couldn't do the snorkeling because we wasted 30 mins with the poor organisation. With the port fees, the conservation fees, the photos price, the tips and the activity price, you have to pay US$250. No refund, even partial was accepted for the cancellation of the snorkeling.

This tour is not what was advertised... - My husband and I did this tour on Feb 18th from the Puerto Vallarta port (it was called "Island Discovery" when we booked it). First off, the wicket to purchase the port access tickets didn't open until nearly 7:15am, but our reservation email said we had to check in at 7:00am, so we woke up around 5:30am at our resort in Mismaloya to be there by 7:00am. The reservation email also said that the tour would begin at 7:30am, which it didn't. There was a cruise ship that came in late to dock, so we didn't leave until about 8:30am (see photo). The Vallarta Adventure employee said not to worry, the tour wouldn't be cut short as a result but it was. We left at 8:30am and returned at 12:30pm (see photo), which is a 4 hour tour, not a 5 hour tour as advertised. They have this advertised as a beach and snorkeling tour, which isn't accurate. The hidden beach part is pretty cool, but first off, it doesn't look like the photos they show on their web site. Once everyone gets in there, they shed their life jackets and helmets, cluttering up the hidden beach, which makes your photos not as nice as they have shown on their web site. Also, a big part of this tour is the two photographers taking photos of everyone in the beach area, making it difficult to enjoy the beach and the water without feeling like you're constantly in someone's photo. Not to mention, you only have 30 mins (strict) to swim in, take your photos and see the beach, and swim back out from the time the authorities there give you the helmets. So the swim in is frantic, rushed, fairly difficult with the tides, and the tour guides make you feel like you're holding up the show a bit. Oh, and the smell of the droppings from the resident birds on the island all over the rocks you're swimming past and under is ABSOLUTELY FOUL, which they don't mention. So that's the hidden beach part, which amounts to 30 mins front to back of the entire tour. Next, we went "snorkeling", which involved about 8 mins of snorkeling in dark, murky waters, where we saw precisely zero fish. Once people started heading back towards the boat because they had personally decided there wasn't anything to see, the guides started ushering everyone back to the boat, again in a big rush. So I'm not kidding when I say we were in the ocean "snorkeling" for 8 minutes. The rest of the 4 (not 5) hour tour involved driving around on the boat hearing about the local birds and fish around the islands and the trip from PV to the islands and back. This is NOT a beach and snorkeling tour. It's a boat tour with a 30 minute rushed beach visit. In addition, they wouldn't let us apply sunscreen even after we would no longer be in the ocean, so I ended up with a sunburn on my forehead and my lower thighs below my shorts line. And finally, we spent probably 20 minutes dealing with authorities, since our crew were getting fines for being too close to the rocks and some other infraction. All in all, not at all impressed by this tour at all. I wish we hadn't wasted $205CAD per person and several hours away from our resort for this tour. Don't book this is you're interested in an actual beach and snorkeling tour, because this isn't it. I would appreciate at least a partial refund for this tour, because it is definitely not as advertised and it was cut an hour short. I think this tour would have been worth about $80CAD per person, not $205.

DO NOT BOOK WITH VALLARTA ADVENTURES USING THEIR PAGE - Vallarta adventures is a scam. They have offers in their page and when you purchase them you have to be very careful as they change the rules once you have paid. I tried purchasing a 3X2 in their website which I thought I had bought only to receive an email that I had a 2x1 that applied only to locals and requesting I pay the full price. I like transparency and this company doesn't offer that.