5 STARS: "Where The Locals Go!" Nature-History Tour

Hassle-free sightseeing in Santa Barbara

Tour guide was young, friendly and very knowledgeable about the local history and sights of interest. Definitely recommend taking this tour to see the highlights of Santa Barbara without the hassle of driving yourself.

via Tripadvisor

A full tour

Joseph told so many stories about a wide variety of topics, but was willing to modify as you like. He also gave us resources for deeper dives into history, music, charity events and more.

via Viator

Not a private tour

Joe seemed to be a nice man. He kindly offered snacks and beverages. The reason for the rating is my family, a party of 3, found out when we arrived at the meeting point that the private tour in a car had become a group tour in a van. We had not been notified of this change and definitely would have canceled had we known in advance. We left the tour at the Mission and took a taxi back to the cruise ship. Another personal issue I had was not with Joe’s stories per se but the fact he stated immediately that not all were true and we were to guess which were true and which were not. I tour to learn the facts of the region and don’t quite understand Joe’s reasoning behind this. He needs to curtail the details of his personal life. For these reasons I cannot recommend this tour.

Response from the operator: First of all, we will offer a full refund to these first and only guests who gave us less than a 5 star review! Had these guests shared their concerns, we could have adjusted everything to meet their expectations. To respond to their specific comments: 1) Private Tour: this designation was given to let Cruise Ship guests know that it was not a "ship offered" tour. In other words, we are able to adjust and accommodate small groups to a more customized tour. To prevent any future misunderstanding we have changed that designation and explained in the description who we differ from Ship Based Tours (while this was the only one). We do have other vehicles and drivers and could have easily separated this group had they notified us at any time there was a problem. 2)Facts & Stories: In order to have fun on the tour, we do "offer" to play a game. The game only consists of "we the locals, personal stories." With regard to the History and Nature all the facts are true. We even provide a comprehensive brochure, and note that we also have an online brochure, providing detail of the Santa Barbara History and Nature facts. The game is meant to be fun, and we do mention at the outset if the group would rather not play, just let us know. In all the years of doing the tour, most people highlight and note that this part of the tour made the experience more enjoyable. Once again, had these guests shared their needs and thoughts we would have immediately met them. Let me emphasize that we will offer a full refund and apologize for any misunderstanding.

via Viator

Where the Locals Go

If possible I would give this a zero! No matter how many times the guide told us he always gets ratings of 5 changed our experience. We were told on our booking and additional communications we would be in a private tour of only our party of 4 in a car that included the guide but the day of the tour we found out we were a party of 9 in a van - 7 passengers plus the guide and one of his trainees. There was the option to book a bigger tour with a van BUT WE SELECTED THE PRIVATE 3-PERSON TOUR! The guide should have clarified this change in the numbers to us in advance and let us decide if we wanted to spend the day with additional travelers - we would have canceled and booked with another tour instead. This is my biggest reason for the low rating - we did not get the tour we were expecting. As to the tour itself - we did not find the van used to be comfortable at all! We could have sat all the way in the back row but I experience some motion sickness so not an option plus the we would not have seen much from back there. As it was we were sandwiched in 3 people in the smaller row behind the driver. Very uncomfortable and not pleasant. It was not the car we were expecting and thought we had booked. And then the guide started by saying he likes to tell stories - no problem there - but some are not true. Why do that? Also, we didn’t need to hear about all of his hobnobbing with the rich and famous. Were those the untrue stories? Who knows. We enjoyed the stop at the overview of the region. But when we finally got to the Old Mission, the primary reason we booked this tour, we were told we did not have time to tour the mission. This is where we bailed the tour and had a much better day going through the mission by ourselves and taking a taxi back to the port. Then my sister traveling with us got the strangest email from the guide about our leaving the tour abruptly and how surprised he was by that since everyone else had the best 5 star experience. Another false story? Who knows but I would not book this tour again.

Response from the operator: This review is from the same group that provided another identical review. First of all, we will offer a full refund to our first and only guests who gave us less than a 5 star review! Had these guests shared their concerns, we could have adjusted everything to meet their expectations. To respond to their specific comments: 1) Private Tour: this designation was given to let Cruise Ship guests know that it was not a "ship offered" tour. In other words, we are able to adjust and accommodate small groups to a more customized tour. To prevent any future misunderstanding we have changed that designation and explained in the description who we differ from Ship Based Tours (while this was the only one). We do have other vehicles and drivers and could have easily separated this group had they notified us at any time there was a problem. 2)Facts & Stories: In order to have fun on the tour, we do "offer" to play a game. The game only consists of "we the locals, personal stories." With regard to the History and Nature all the facts are true. We even provide a comprehensive brochure, and note that we also have an online brochure, providing detail of the Santa Barbara History and Nature facts. The game is meant to be fun, and we do mention at the outset if the group would rather not play, just let us know.3) Van uncomfortable: We take a maximum of 9 guests in a 15 passenger Chevy Express Van. This group only had 7. It is very comfortable and we have never had any complaints. In all the years of doing the tour, most people highlight and note that this part of the tour made the experience more enjoyable. Once again, had these guests shared their needs and thoughts we would have immediately met them. Let me emphasize that we will offer a full refund and apologize for any misunderstanding.

via Viator

Insider look

Joseph was very personable and very informative. He has lived in Santa Barbara for many years. We feel that we have seen many parts of the area probably not covered by the big your.

via Viator