Miami to Key West Shuttle — Local services in Miami Beach

I purchased tickets for the Everglades excursion online, and the instructions clearly stated to arrive 30 minutes before departure. When we got there, check-in was chaotic. We were told to wait for the bus, but the staff seemed completely unorganized. It was nearly 100 degrees, and we were made to stand outside in the sun with no direction. A bus arrived, dropped people off, then left. When we asked the staff what was going on, they just said the bus would come back.

Another bus showed up, and the driver was extremely rude. He barked that this was for the city tour, not for the Everglades or boat tour. When people asked clarifying questions, he snapped, “Does this look like a boat to you?” He even threatened that if anyone pushed or was rude, he would go sit in the air conditioning and leave us there. Ironically, this same driver screamed at the front desk staff, demanding they offer better customer service.

Eventually, someone came out and moved our group to a different location to wait—again, in the hot sun. We were pushed around and had to wait another 20 minutes. The bus finally arrived, 40 minutes late. Boarding was a mess with people shoving and no staff managing the line.

Once we were on the bus, we were told it would be over an hour-long drive. The bus was decent and air-conditioned, which helped a bit. When we finally arrived, the driver told us to check out the exhibit and be at the dock at 3:30 for the airboat tour and he will pick us up at 4:30. Unfortunately, because of the delay, we only had time to briefly walk through the exhibit. The staff at the exhibit were kind and passionate, it was the one bright spot. I felt bad that their efforts were overshadowed by how poorly the rest of the trip was handled. Which is sad because they rely on tourism for funding for their rescue program.

At the docks, there was no direction. We stood around with no staff in sight until a woman eventually called for the airboat captains. None showed up, so she had to physically go get them. One captain openly argued that it wasn’t his turn, then reluctantly took us out. While he tried to be a good sport, he clearly didn’t want to be there and gave minimal commentary.

We were only on the airboat for 35 minutes and saw absolutely nothing. For a “half-day Everglades tour,” that was disappointing. The return trip was just as bad—over two hours. The driver took us through downtown for no reason, even though no one needed to be dropped off there, adding an extra hour. He then started dropping people off at individual hotels. By the time we got back to the original meeting spot, it had been over six hours.

To top it off, the driver got on the intercom and sarcastically pressured everyone for tips, asking, “Really? No one’s tipping?” after the experience we just had.

This was an exhausting and poorly managed day with only 35 minutes of actual excursion time. The lack of professionalism from the drivers and staff, the disorganization, and the outright rudeness ruined what should have been a fun adventure. I cannot recommend this...

Mami Tours has proven to be a disappointing and frustrating experience. I attempted to book a shuttle online the day before my trip and received an email with instructions. However, I found no option to pay online; payment had to be made at their office.

Upon arriving at the storefront 45 minutes before opening, as indicated in the email, I waited from 6:30 to 7:20 AM but no staff were present. Instead, I noticed two unmarked vans, likely third-party services, assisting with the shuttle process to some extent.

I was instructed that I needed to wait for the next shuttle that would help facilitate the process; at around 7:45, an attendant finally showed up at the storefront and opened up. I had inquired about the shuttle to Key West and was instructed to show my voucher. I explained that there was no option to pay online to receive a voucher and then I was given the response that I would need to wait until tomorrow as there was an issue with the bus...

At this point I cut my losses and looked to get a greyhound bus instead. It was clear by the condition of the storefront that the business was a hodgepodge mix of ineffective processes and systems. Between the management of reservations via an Excel sheet, no online payment system facilitating the ordering process, the mix of technologies and general lack of organization in the storefront clearly show that proper practices are not being implemented at the detriment of its customers.

To the owner of Mami Tours: shame on you for either your poor business practices or lack of awareness regarding how your service is being managed.

To potential customers considering booking with Mami Tours: I caution you as your experience may vary...

Online booking doesn’t work, the customer service number doesn’t work, I had to drive all the way to their location across town from my home to pay in person. At the time of this writing, the company is called Miami to key west shuttle, although we were picked up in an unmarked van by a driver wearing a Key West Express shirt. I believe they are also affiliated with Miami double decker bus.

Told to show up at 6:30 for a 7am departure, left at 7:50 because they said they had to wait to leave with the other shuttle when it filled up, they weren’t going to turn on AC until multiple passengers asked. Driver is a chain smoker so the van smelled like a cigar lounge. Will be back to review the next leg of my trip.

UPDATE: The ride to Key West was uneventful, stopped in Key Largo for breakfast at McDonald’s and arrived in Key West at noon.

Next day we went to the pickup point to catch our shuttle back to Miami but the driver stated he didn’t have us on the roster. He called someone and we went back and forth on the phone trying to verify our reservation, sent him the receipt via text and he was still confused. He allowed us to board the shuttle back, no stops this time so that was great. Everyone we dealt with was reasonably courteous, just not proactive about customer service.

Overall very unorganized customer service, but if you’re just looking to get there and back it’s worth the cheap prices, you get what you pay for. I would use them again but I’ll be better prepared for the...