Agencia de Viajes Traveling World of Stratum — Local services in Santa Marta

So why 1*?

We we're basically lied upon. The tourist guide promised us a tour to Palomino, where we could enjoy tubing and a visit to the beach + dinner was included (We needed to pay extra for the tubing but that he told us before.) Expected hour of departure was 4:30p.m. (or so he told us)...

We were asked 100000cop (whereas everyone else on the exact same bus paid 60000 for the exact same journey), so that's the first part of being scammed. The bus we went on was fully booked, we were the last to step on, so got horrible places in front with no AC or working security belts. Second part of the scam.

When we went tubing, we had delay and arrived at the beach at 3p.m.

Apparently, the bus was ready to leave already, so we quickly quickly got a bad meal (piece of cold meat and patacon) and didn't have time to even see the beach of Palomino for 5min. So 3p.m we went back to Santa Marta, and well we were quiet baffled that we didn't get to see the beach of Palomino (main reason to visit Palomino), as was promised by the tour guide.

We went back to the office of tourism to reclaim a part of the paid money (not that we care about 5€, but it was just the principle of it, that we were lied upon).

The girl at the desk quickly called in another male quiet agressive looking collegue and told us this is what they promised us and we could not reclaim any of the money. (In an unfriendly way).

We left the office and decided to write a bad review for the first time of our lifes and well here we are...

So anyways, the tubing in Palomino is really beautiful, you should do it, but there are many travel agencies in Santa Marta, so just find another one...

We paid 130,000 COP per person for a “snorkeling trip” at Bahia Conca. However, once there, they only provided a mask and not a snorkel tube. We felt this was false advertising because the tour was clearly sold as a snorkel tour. The agency afterward replied that after Covid they don’t offer tubes anymore. Well, first of all, obviously they should inform of that beforehand when they claimed it was a snorkel tour. Having to constantly hold the breath to see the fish (basically just free swimming with goggles) is much more tiring than with a snorkel tube. And despite what the agency said, we could not buy a usable snorkel mask/tube at the beach because all they sell there are kids toy versions which are not water tight (people tried without success). Secondly, a week earlier we had gone on 2 different snorkeling tours in Colombia, and both included quality snorkel tubes which were simply sanitized prior to giving them out.

The snorkeling area was a small-ish area that was closed off after a certain distance, and felt crowded given the number of people. It also only lasted under an hour in the water. Kids are probably satisfied with the experience (if they are old enough to comfortably hold their breath underwater while swimming) but adults will expect more. The one good thing is that you will see some corals and colorful fish. But for the price, you can find better snorkel tours in Colombia, with real...

I wouldn't recommend this place! My boyfriend and I booked a trip to palomino, we paid 100000 pesos each for the bus trip to palomino and the return with breakfast and lunch included. We wanted to go tubing (not included). After the tubing we were promised we could see the beach and palomino. The bus would leave back to Santa Marta at 4.30pm. We arrived, after the tubing, at 3pm on palomino beach. They told us to hurry, we got our food and needed to eat it in 5 minutes (the lunch was horrible, likewise for the breakfast). We said that we were promised to visit the beach and palomino after the tubing but they said that wasn't true. So after our lunch we needed to hurry to get on the bus without seeing anything of the beach or the village... On the bus we heard from others that they only paid 60000 pesos per person for the same service... This trip was extremely overpriced and wasn't worth the money. We went back to the agency and told them about our complaints. They reacted very unfriendly and were not understanding at all. It is the first time that I give a bad review, but for other tourists I feel the need to expose this scam. Colombia is a beautiful country, with a lot of wonderful places and people but traveling world of stratum isn't one of them. Although, I really recommend the tubing in Palomino, it was amazing and a very...