Snorkel Cook Islands — Local services in Takitumu

They asked us at the end to give them an honest review. So here we go. If you are thinking of going to snorkel with this company don't bother. This was the worst turtle snorkeling we have ever experienced anywhere in the world.

The picture in their info email of where you are suppose to arrive is wrong. The email says come 15 minutes early otherwise you are not going. While we did that we sat for another hour in rainy cold weather waiting for the rest of the group to arrive as there was so many people late. And for "the rain to stop". The rain never stopped. Meanwhile we watched two huge groups from competing companies go in.

When everyone finally arrived (the group was around 30ppl in total) there was a meeting where we got explained what was going to happen.

Once we got into the water and started swimming people didn't give each other enough space and were kicking each other etc. Then all of a sudden the guide announced we are splitting into two groups (which was not explained earlier at the briefing) and that's when the real chaos started. Two young girls were pushing to the front, both pushed me out of their way and I hurt my knee on the coral because the water was so shallow. People panicking, guides shouting to go left or right, no one knew where we were going. Some people couldn't even swim by then. While there was a guide pushing us from the back because they didn't want us to mix with another company's group. Disaster to say at least. I'm a confident swimmer now but if this happened to me few years ago I would have been absolutely traumatized.

When we finally got to the lagoon they told us to explore. Which would be fun if there was not another 100ppl exploring the same tiny pool. Turtle chased by 5 people with no way out is quite sad to see.

On the way back we walked through currents and I ended up supporting an older gentleman who couldn't do it on his own, but no one really cared much. I saw one lady fall 3 times before she finally got help.

They said they don't promise any photos, understood. However they tell you who is taking them and if you want one to hang around him. We asked the guy to take the picture of us and he never did. Even we were waiting for him to do so. So yeah everybody else got some pictures except for us.

All around we were disappointed beyond. You are much better to go snorkeling on your own at the beach. I only gave 2* because the team seemed to be nice and I can see if we had a smaller group it might have been a...

This tour is advertised a a small group tour with a maximum of 20 people and there were 35 people in our group. The tour is conducted from the beach, which we didn't expect, with a fairly extensive safety briefing. We geared up and after being shown a map drawn in the sand, which I wasn't going to remember for the life of me, we walked and swam out to where the turtles and other marine life are visible. There was an extensive crew of around 6 staff/life guards who were responsible for our safety. We were asked to stick with our group as there were several other groups of people out there. I happened to stray a bit because you're out in the ocean, with maybe a hundred or more other people, with your head under the water snorkeling and trying to get a glimpse of what you paid to see. One of the other tours staff members was quite rude telling me to stick with my group. I understand why the different tour operators would want there group to stay with them but speaking to people in a respectful manner, when they stray unknowingly from their group, would render the experience much more pleasant. Unfortunately I let this guys attitude get the better of me and I told our tour staff that there were to many people and asked how to get back to shore. At that point, a lovely young lady, shout out to Ally!, took me under her wing and guided me and my husband and daughter out to see the turtles and rays. Only then did I actually start to enjoy myself and appreciate why we had opted to do this tour. The way back into shore was also a bit hairy, we had to walk back in single file, with strong currents and rocks under the water to navigate. Ally was by my side all the way and I truly appreciated her looking out for me. I found it hard to rate this tour because the staff were lovely and really did their best to ensure the tour was enjoyable for everyone but there were too many people and the disrespectful nature of the other tour operator put a dampener on it. All I can say is try and stick with your group and if you get roused on give em the finger, because the ocean is there for us...

The hosts/guides were so friendly, welcoming and engaging and communications had been great but thats where it ended. A turbulent week of weather saw the postponement of our tour and they were able to accommodate our group on a new day later that week. Despite the ocean beyond the reef looking similar to the previous rough few days, we put our trust in the team to make the right call. Briefing all went well, the boundaries were explained in detail and we headed out, all passing the shallow water snorkel test as we left. From this point, things got a bit tense. We all had to battle through extreme currents and tidal pulls to reach the ‘safe zone’ where we could put our feet down and regain our breath, only to find that we were getting swept off the edge of the underwater cliff. The currents were quite simply terrifying, despite our group having great water confidence. At times we were struggling to retain our footing, fearful that if we were to misstep, we’d be swept away. In the end, we were told that the tour would be coming to an end as the tides were moving much faster than anticipated and told to wait on a coral reef battling to stay upright. We were then rescued by another company’s powerboat which we were all grateful for. We were safely shepherded all back to the shore, feeling grateful for the calm and capable leader Aunty who ultimately kept us all safe. Some members of our group didn’t even see any turtles which was pretty disappointing after having previously snorkeled with this company and having the most amazing time. Whilst I understand they can’t control the weather, the question remains whether the right decision had been made and whether we should have even been out there in the first place. No real acknowledgment was given to the obvious risks we had been faced...