Ease, affordable, adventurous, monkeys and mountains - Rigo was absolutely amazing. Him and his nephew were professional and patient. They went above and beyond to take us up to the top of the mountain including the history of the D.R. and to see the monkeys. We sampled incredible coffee and hot chocolate, played with the animals and stopped by in town for the chocolate factory, shopping and ice cream. This was a once in a lifetime experience that we would do again and again. We cannot recommend them enough. Fair pricing and an unforgettable experience. We can't wait to come back and do it again. Skip the groups and book directly with them you won't be disappointed.

Could have been Better! - Let's begin with not being able to locate our tour guide/company. We were directed outside of the gates of the ship pier not by 1 but by several which tells me this company is not recognized. Secondly, there was no direct phone # for the driver to reach. A guide from another excursion was able to assist and finally began our excursion. Positive things of the trip - The van was comfortable. The driver/guide was very nice. Initially, it was silence as we were going to our first destination but our daughter asked for some music.. music turned on (very loud though that we could not hear him when he spoke). Our first stop the monkeys. This was great! The people in this location were pleasant, attentive and took their time with us. We were the first guests to arrive. We fed and played with the squirrel monkeys. We then had an opportunity to drink a HOT cup of coffee made brewed in a kettle on wood flames. We then were able to see how they make cigars and was given a sample to try. Many pictures were taken throughout this experience. My family and I loved it. Positive experience continued... We saw many street vendors selling roasted pig (we are Puerto Ricans, so this was a really nice treat to stop and by some Lechon with cuerito.. Yummy. We then stopped and purchased some drinks. The beer was dressed in white. Those that are Hispanic know what that means. Price was very reasonable. We then went to the Macorix house of Rum where we were able to taste test several rums. Things began to go downhill from there... this excursion was supposed to be a 5.5 hour tour. We are now is hour 2.5. I realize that it is Christmas Eve; however we paid for 5.5 hours of fun or at least 5 hrs. Part of the tour was to go to downtown Puerto Plata to see the beautiful walk-way with beautiful colorful umbrella's above us that had restaurants, ice cream shops and souvenir shops for us to spend time to shop and eat. Neither took place there. Our guide rushed right through it. As we went around the block, more shops and restaurant's but again walking right past them. Our guide seemed to have one mission in mind... I stopped in one or two shops anyway but our guide went into the stores behind us, we felt rushed. Really unable to enjoy the scenery. He did take us to someone he knew who had a little souvenir store and the owner of this establishment was pushy in selling us something from their store. That was irritating. The owner of this store seemed upset when we did not purchase at their expectations. Now back in the van once again... Negative - Total downhill from here... Once in the van, he said we would go to see the old prison. We kindly declined. He asked if there was anything else we wanted to do, we said shop and eat local food/local restaurant. However, every where we looked it was an excuse about parking or that we would not like. Eventually, he thought that going around in circles would make us forget what we had asked and he finally states... Okay then, hope you had a good time and took us back to the ship pier. We did not shop, we did not eat and we still had about 1.5-2 hours left of our tour but it was over. As a courtesy, we did tip the driver, after all it was Christmas Eve and we are definitely not the Grinch family. However, never again. I am not sure if was because it was Christmas Eve or this guide just did not get it and was new. Nevertheless, we paid for an exciting experience in a the Dominican Republic and did not get it.