Day Tour to Arraial do Cabo the Brazilian Caribbean

Terrible experience

We got on the wrong tour and the organisation did not even notice. The pick up time was 35 min late, we got on the bus and the organiser started messaging me “where are you?”. We checked if we were on correct bus with the guide and the organiser, BOTH confirmed it. We messaged multiple times though-out the day checking if it was correct again (the tour was not English speaking as promised), and they again confirmed everything was correct. At the end of the day the tour we were on realised the error and made us pay 420 reals per person. The original company to which we paid £110 decided that it was not their fault and did not refund us anything. Overall, I would not recommend to use this company and to go to the tour all together. The beach is crowded with people, and not a pleasant experience. Buffet was good (probably the same one), but also crowded.

Response from the operator: Thank you for your feedback. We apologize for the confusion and will forward your comments to our operational team to improve the organization and communication during our tours. Your input is valuable for enhancing our services.

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Arraial do Cabo Tour from Rio.

I had an amazing visit to Arraial do Cabo with Rio Passeios & Trilhas. It was well organized from pick-up, to connections to different stops, be mindful to carry cash with you to pay for Taxi transfers between stops, very important. The Tour itself covered 3 stops at different beaches in Arraial, it was stunning sites and though a bit over crowded still worth a visit to what can be considered Brazilian Caribbean beach. Thanks Felipe for the awesome tour guidance, tips and great chat! The boat crew is also pretty awesome!

Response from the operator: Hello how are you ? We appreciate your comment. We are happy for your satisfaction, We hope you come back soon to repeat this beautiful experience. Hugs!

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Not what was promised

First off we were supposed to get a tour guide who spoke English. The tour guide Andrea nor anyone else in our group spoke English. She typed out a little something at the beginning of the tour but that’s about all we got. She spoke to the group the whole time. We were totally lost. The itinerary didn’t match the description on the tour. The taxi cabs we rode in were “supposed to be clean and sanitized”. They were filthy. We didn’t take a boat ride. We went to one beach then was dropped off in some village to eat. Which we didn’t even know why we were being dropped off. No one said we were going to eat. We eventually figured it out because everyone was all split up we couldn’t just follow people to see where they were going. The buffet food was of poor quality. After we ate we were dropped off at another village that we stood around until it was time to leave. They said we were supposed to watch a sunset but that didn’t happen. We would randomly see our tour guide but it didn’t matter because she couldn’t speak English anyway. We seen more of the taxi drivers than we did our tour guide. They would just come up to us, point, and take us to the next stop. They couldn’t speak English either. For this reason we canceled our Buzio trip because we don’t want to get caught up in the same situation. I don’t blame the tour guide. I blame the company for not providing a service I paid for. We never had enough time to do anything because we didn’t know what we were doing at the last stop. We didn’t learn anything. It was a waste of a day because we didn’t get the service we paid for. I requested a refund but was granted a partial refund of $35.00. We paid $117 plus city tax. The math isn’t matching!

Response from the operator: Good evening, feedback is always very important for us, I will now answer you point by point. You paid to receive transportation from Rio to Arraial round trip, correct? Did you receive it? Yes You paid for a boat tour, correct? Did you receive it? Yes You paid for a bilingual guide. correct? The guide spoke English, Portuguese and Spanish. You didn't just pay for an English speaking tour. If you wanted a private tour you could do it, but you thought it was too expensive and opted for a shared tour where for 60 dollars you got a boat tour, lunch, transportation and a guide. Did you pay for a proper lunch? Did you receive it. Your bad mood, reported by the guide, up to the first impact, where all the people and our customers were having fun, starting from the bus journey, and your ZERO desire to interact with others led you to withdraw into yourself. Open up more to the world, smile more. live your life in a better way, smile, look at the sun at the sky, you were in arraial you met beaches that you will rarely know in your life. Always thank God for the gifts he gives us. When you see a glass you see the part half full and not half empty, try to be more smiling and receptive to the outside world because vibrating positive energies is all that is beautiful there can be in this world. I took the liberty of giving you some advice that I hope can help you.

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Way below our expectations

We received this tour as a wedding gift from a friend, how disappointing! The day starts with a 3 hour long ride from Rio to Arraial in a comfortable van. There is one break on the way. Close to arrival, someone enters to sell you smartphone protection cases for the beach. Indeed, you are only being told IN THE VAN that you will disembark in a speed boat with only a cellphone thus needing a protection case. The 2 stops at the beaches are too short to fully enjoy. The second stop is 40 minutes, which is absolutely NOT sufficient to go to the famous stairs. There is also a short stay in the water for you to dive where there are 3 fish and nothing else to see, except all the other boats. "Lunch" is offered at 4 pm in a restaurant. Food is not good, there is no variety. You then go back to Rio by van. On top of this, our "guide" for the day let the whole group WALK ALONE in Arraial from the van to the port and went with another person from the group with A TAXI ! She kept calling this person "the fatty one" which is incredibly rude. Really not recommend this tour, this is a big tourists scam.

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Beautiful day in Arraial do Cabo

This was a really fun and unique experience. When we arrived to Arraial we boarded a party boat with an upstairs deck and slides on the back. The bar on board served up good snacks and drinks. There were a lot of boats sailing around the bay with tourists and it was a very festive atmosphere with good music playing. Everyone was having a great time on the boat. We had a few stops to visit beaches and for using the slides, and also sailed on the outside of the cape for a bit which had great scenery. Note that the drive to Arraial do Cabo is about 3.5 hours each way (includes a short pit stop each way at an nice travel center) and you also factor in some time stopping at different hotels for pickups/dropoffs. This results in a long day, but the 5ish hours spent in the town and on the boat were really great and exceeded expectations. The scenery is amazing and a nice change from Rio beaches. Definitely worth doing if you can be patient and accept the drive time. The tour guide was professional and organized. I would recommend this tour.

Response from the operator: Hello how are you ? We appreciate your comment. We are happy for your satisfaction, We hope you come back soon to repeat this beautiful experience. Hugs!

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