Manta's highlights & Montecristi Hats

An excellent time

A really good time without any problems at all. All the visits were very interesting and informative. Seeing the Panama hats being made was excellent.

Great Day

Very enjoyable great guide Fernando would recommend to anyone prompt pick up at the cruise terminal. all areas we visited were good

Very interesting view of unique Ecuadorian skills

A very educational tour . The hat factory demonstration is fascinating and the chocolate factory and button making from a type of seed are very interesting . The only reason I don’t give five stars is the fish market was mildly interesting culture/wise but long time spent there seemed unnecessary, and the first bathroom break was a little too long for a hot day when we needed to drink a lot. The guide did adjust and make an extra stop for this when asked, so I am sure they can adjust the schedule better in the future. The guide was great and accommodating. truly watched out for the group . We had some long driving periods when a little Ecuadorian history would have been welcomed.

An enjoyable day trip

The tour guide was very knowledgeable, helpful and friendly. Throughly enjoyed the trip. I will not hesitate to recommend this tour to anyone who is interested in visiting Antigua.

Great day with Jimmy!

I'm so happy that we chose this tour company. We exchanged many, many emails because I had so many questions. They were always quick to reply and were extremely professional. We had a great tour guide named Jimmy and a wonderful driver named Javier. They both made sure that we had a fantastic day. They even found us a fabulous fish restaurant on the beach and we were able to get massages there. All in all, it is one of my best experiences ever.

Not so much to see as I had stopped

I've downgraded the tour a little because I felt there wasn't that much to see and I found both towns, Manta and Montecristo somewhat disappointing. The guide was fine and helpful and the excursion ran smoothly.

Wonderful tour in Manta and Montecristi

Chris was a great tour guide. He is a native English speaker but also fluent in Spanish so was adept at translating when we had questions. Our driver was also excellent and very helpful. The highlight was the fabulous demonstration of all the steps in constructing the beautiful, although misnamed, “Panama” hats! Thank you for a great day in Manta and Montecristi.

New experience with Ecuador life and history

Very interesting demostrations of button factory production and Modesta hats. The guide should have more control of time people spend in specific locations on the tour, otherise a lot of time is wasted. Otherwise highly recommend.

Excellent Tour

Victor, our tour guide, was phenomenal. He was very knowledgeable and never rushed us along. Manta is an interesting place. What a fantastic experience at the fish market.

all parts of the tour...

all parts of the tour were interesting. the meeting point was easy to get to. the tour guide was knowledgable and spoke very good English

Highlights of Manta area

Victor our guide was terrific. Tour was well organized and unhurried. It was a pleasure. All highlights of area were covered.

Can’t ask for more

Our guide Juan Carlos was best thing that happened to our group. Not only he was knowledgeable for the tour sites but his attention to details was fantastic. He even stopped the vehicle suddenly, exit the vehicle and went over to a road side lot. He came back with an indigenous plant and show us. He went on to explain the medicinal properties of that plant. WOW! That’s what I would call a tour guide.

Great tour of Manta

This was an excellent shore excursion/tour We were met in the cruise terminal. The reps were very easy to find. The van was comfortable. The fish market was great! So was the Hat and Button factory. Very interesting presentations. We also went to a museum in the town center. Just the right amount of time. I would highly recommend.

Ecuador coastal life and history.

Fernando was great guide, experienced and knowledgeable. We had an opportunity to learn something new and witness life of regular coastal Ecuadorians. I will recommend this simple and not overly time consuming trip.

Manta and Montecristi tour

Great trip the Panama hat and the button factories were the highlights. Fish market and boatyard was also good. Probably spent a little too long at the museum for us.

Tuna and Panama hats!

Manta has a cruise terminal with high end products and welcoming vendors. Carefully knitted covers for artisan chocolate, Panama hats, jewellery and handbags. The town has a good promenade and shopping malls. Dockside tuna are offloaded into waiting container trucks. The large tuna sign in the town emphasises the point. A bus drive out to Montecristi presents a small courtyard with a demonstration of how Panama hats are actually made. It’s intricate, back breaking work. A whole family shows us how. It’s a bit uncomfortable to watch. However, the sales team are keen and helpful. Buy a souvenir for life, to support them.

A great tour, a great guide

Have to do this in English. Soy Canadianse. This was a great tour with Fernando as guide. He speaks very fluent English (he actually lived in Canada for quite a while for all you fellow Canadians), was really nice company and very informative about the history and culture of the area. We saw lots of interesting stuff, but a highlight was a visit to Modesto’s Panama hat shop in Montechristi, a really nice family-run business where we watched him make a hat. Highly recommend.

Excellent Tour and Good Overview of Manta

5-7 minute shuttle bus ride to port terminal where Fernando of Manta SOS Tours was waiting for us. We were his only people so a private tour. • Nice overview of Manta, population about 300K, main industries government, fishing & agricultural processing (e.g. coconut oil). Tuna capital of the world. • First stop was fish market. Fresh shark being brought onto shore. The main prize are the shark fins, a set fetches $250-300 in China. Also saw wooden fishing boats being built. • Second stop was button factory. Made from coconuts and exported worldwide, mostly to Europe. • Then to Montecristi famous for making of the Panama hats. These hats were made popular and famous when the Americans took over building the canal and the hats were worn by many there including Theodore Roosevelt. Visited the catholic church built in 1952 and that was very nice. • Then to a Montechristi hat factory - one of 6 or 7. A good explanation of the whole process from harvesting the straw to pressing and finishing the hat. Prices started at $50 and went up into the the thousands. Our guide, Fernando, had a 10-year old $500 hat that looked great. Tour of the hat "factory" at back of retail store was very interesting. • Then back to Manta for final stop at Centennial Park along the water. Very nice park that is being significantly expanded. • Dropped us at the port terminal about 12:30 Excellent tour. Fernando was great and we felt we got a good overview of Manta.

Very good overview tour

Fernando was a nice guide who knew the town and the culture, easy to converse with. Manta fish market was very colorful, busy and interesting. Stop at the Panama hat shop & store in Montecristi was much more interesting than we expected, to watch the craftsmanship in action. The only downside was the 30 mins. lost time we spent to go back to pick up an ungrateful, rude couple who were an hour late for the tour! Next time, just leave those who are that late, as it detracted from the tour for the rest of us (who were on time) paid for.

Great Panama Hat Tour and More

We were picked up inside the newly built Cruise Ship Dock by our English speaking guide Fernando. Our guide and driver were friendly and professional. This tour provided us with opportunities to meet locals and learn about lifestyles and cottage industries that provide a main source of income to the area. Our trip through the fish market was colourful, the boat industry intriguing, the Montecristi Panama hat demonstration excellent and the button factory fascinating. We also had a brief stop at the Civic and Cultural Center "Ciudad Alfaro" which was built in honour of Alfaro Delgado as a legacy to his liberal revolution, which set the foundation of todays democracy in Ecuador. The impressive Alfaro Delgado's mausoleum is show cased here as well as a diverse craft market. We would highly recommend this tour if you are interested in culture and history.

Snorkeling Mantas Tour with Cesar

Cesar was suuuch an amazing tour guide! He had an outstanding personality and keen expertise about everything related to diving and free diving. 12/10 would recommend!!

Fun and informative

Due to a few unfortunate events, and my partner injured and stuck in a wheelchair for the duration of our vacation, we had to change our plans from the Galapagos to Manta. I saw the Manta's Highlights and Montecristi tour and was pleasantly surprised that this particular tour was wheelchair accessible. I was equally amazed by the accommodating tour guide, Fernando with Manta SOS! Not only was the tour informative, but delightfully smooth and fun. I would recommend this tour to anyone and hope to use this company in the future when visiting Manta.

Great time in Manta

Fernando is great tour guide. The constant professional. He was very informative and spoke very clearly. It’s clear he’s a local that knows and understands the area thoroughly. Definitely recommend his services. Was able to accommodate all our needs

Great Day in Manta

Fernando was a perfect and super knowledgeable and helpful host/guide. He went the extra distance to assure an outstanding experience

Montecristi/Coast Tours

Fernando talked about the sights we saw as well as much about Ecuador. Hes very knowledgeable and friendly. We really enjoyed the small group touring. We highly recommend him as tour guide!

A good small group tour

A very good alternative to the tours offered by the cruise we were on. It goes to similar but smaller locations for the tagua and hat-making. The visit to the fish market was unexpectedly good. The guide was good and spoke good English.

Montecristi

Excellent tour with Fernando who made it a memorable experience. Fernando's knowledge and pleasant personality made it easy to give a rating of '10 out of 10' for this excursion; very interesting and fun.

Delightful Manta and Montecristi

Very good tour,covered all highlights of Manta and Montecristi. We were in a group of 13 in a 16 seater modern van. However seating in van was cramped ,luckily did not have to travel far between stops. Only other slight negative was that our guide Fernando (a lovely young knowledgeable man) spoke very quietly and it was a problem to hear what he was saying at times. Still a tour well worth taking.

Amazing Fishmarkets

Very interesting tour which toured the mist amazing fish markets that we have ever experienced. Tour guide was very knowledgeable and nothing was too much trouble. Would have no hesitation in recommending Manta SOS Guide Day Tours to anyone. Thanks for a great experience.

Get your Panama hat here!

We had a shore excursion to Manta from our cruise ship. In the terminal we chose a tour with OPT ( Ocean Pacific Tours). We paid US$50 for a tour with just the two of us in a comfortable air conditioned mini bus. Our guide, Gabriella, took us to the Fish market, Ecuador is the tuna capital of the World. It was lively, fun and interesting with no bad smells or flies. A testament to how fresh the fish is . We then went on to Montechristi , the home of the production of Panama hats. We saw a demonstration of them being made, a painstaking and back braking process for the craftsmen. We then had an opportunity to visit some local craft shops and of course make that important purchase of a Panama hat! We were then taken to a square in town to see a variety of craft stalls and soak up the local atmosphere,. Our guide Gabriella was friendly, helpful when we needed to change money at the bank and help us with our transaction and her knowledge of Ecuador was never ending. Such a lovely day out and just the two of us. On our return to the ship, people had paid more than double what we paid with 50 people in the group. No brainer !

Amazing tour

It was eye opening and fun Tour guide was great Love the fish market and the Panama hats The booking of this tour was easy and she was so personable Thanks

excellent shore excursion

We had a wonderful time with our guide and driver. Both prompt, polite, and helpful. Small group tour of 6. Visited the same sites as princess offered tour but at a much more competitve price. Would use them again!

Everything fitted

Robin gave us very good information about the craftsmanship. It was very exciting. Especially the explanations about the Panama hat

Un viaje mágico en familia.

Un fin de año mágico, el tour estuvo genial ya que pudimos conocer lugares muy especiales; Fernando fue un anfitrión espectacular con un gran conocimiento de la zona, muy flexible para adaptarse a los requerimientos que tuvimos durante el paseo. Una experiencia inolvidable.

Paseo en Manta

Nuestra visita a Manta , Pacoche y Montecristi estuvo muy bien guiada y planificada por nuestro guía que con datos y buenas sugerencias nos dejó a todas un gran recuerdo de esos días de Paseo, muy recomendado para todos los que quieran visitar Manabí

Manta hermosa

Muy satisfecho de conocer Manta, una ciudad bonita, limpia, ordenada, su gente muy amable, una gastronomía exquisita. Montecristi, o Ciudad Alfaro con un museo muy interesante, con acompañamiento de un guía. La vista desde ahí muy bonita.