We’d just had two fabulous tours with this company. The itinerary for this third tour is very good but it just didn’t have the same good vibe that we’d experienced. For starters, we were on our way to pick up the second group when our guide Clyde mentioned tipping. Honestly, this is a real turn off. Yes, we would have naturally offered a tip for good service, and we did anyway. But to hear this before we’ve even left town is really not good. Next, the guide’s voice was a bit too soft to understand. I did once ask him to speak up. I expect to hear a Trinidad accent force, but not looking at your guests and speaking softly meant that much information was sadly lost. Finally, my partner was disappointed not to be offered water as we had been on the Island Experiences tour the day before. We did bring water ourselves but would have appreciated more. We did get to buy some later, but more of that in a moment. Let’s talk about the itinerary, which I actually thought was well planned. The first stop was at a large covered market. This was very interesting- seeing many foods I didn’t even know existed. The vendors were all so happy to explain what they were selling in a kind and proud way. Nobody tried to force you to buy anything. It was all relaxed. A good stop. The second stop was at the Hindu temple in the sea, and also a burial site for the different styles of burial between muslims, Hindus and others. Quite fascinating, as was the explanation of small but beautiful Temple Of The Sea. A good stop. The third stop was at an inland temple, so ornately decorated and towered over by a huge statue of the Hindu monkey god Hanuman. This is the second biggest in the world. We walked around the area and learned more about the history and customs. It was a good stop. The fourth stop was for a roadside sit down roti and drink. Bring cash for this stop as cards are not accepted. The fifth stop was at a shop near the pitch lake, where we were advised to buy flip-flop shoes and water. The largest flip flops were too small for me so I took the largest I could get. No worries at all. The sixth stop was at the pitch lake. It’s not a tar lake. Pitch is more solid. Our guide Vikki was one of a kind. Never a dull moment with Vikki. She explained all about the lake, surrounding nature, industry, everything. We walked right to the centre of the lake, which is mostly solid, leaving our flip flops to take their punishment. Vikki went out of her way to ensure we had the full experience and have some interesting demos. An interesting stop, and a very different experience. Tips - For the temples, ensure your shoulders and knees are covered. Island Experiences does explain this but one couple missed it. We had already departed their hotel and had to return shortly after to change. Perhaps the guide should have noticed earlier. - Take cash for the food stop - Take several bottles of water Tips for the pitch lake visit - Be prepared to paddle in water during parts of your visit. Don’t wear trousers or a dress too far below the knee. - If you have your own waterproof shoes, do wear them. Crocs would be ideal. One guest had his flip flops pull apart on several occasions and was understandably very frustrated by this. The pitch strangely does not stick to shoes, though some managed to stick to one of my heels and took a lot of scrubbing to remove. - Don’t follow too close to the person in front. One person, wearing very nice clothing, had pitch / sulphur water flicked over her very nice outfit. Alternatively, pack separate clothes for Hindu and lake visits. - The lake is said to offer a swimming possible. In practice, you would have to get changed before you enter the area as you would want to get changed while standing on the pitch. Clothes and towel would be ruined. Also, there are no showers in which to clean up afterwards. Finally, you’d be in a very small water channel, so swimming really isn’t an option.

This tour gave us an insight into Port Of Spain centre, a food and swim stop at Caracas Beach and a swamp boat tour to see colourful birds. The day before, we had taken the Island Experiences street food tour with guide Khaleel. How fortunate we were to spend more time with Khaleel on this eight hour tour. He continued to educate and entertain us in his highly professional guided manner. Lucky us. The first part of the tour took us to several places around Port Of Spain. We’d walked on our own in some areas the day before. Now it was time to revisit and develop a better understanding of the history of this city and its well preserved buildings. We toured by car and made plenty of stops to get out, walk and explore and take photographs. We were off to a good start. The second part of the tour took us up and over the nearby mountains, pausing at several lookouts to admire the spectacular views. All this time we were engaged in conversation with Khaleel. We then drove down to a popular sandy bay that was full of life and, equally importantly, full of buzzing street food restaurants. After trying shark and bake for the first time, it was time for a swim. Even in January the sea temperature was very pleasant, as was the sand beneath me. A word about the waves…every so often on this day, the waves would rise up to around twelve feet high before crashing down. I’m used to such conditions and enjoyed swimming out through the waves and ducking down when necessary. After meeting precisely on time to depart the beach, we headed for a famous swamp and nature reserve. Here we boarded open boats carrying around thirty people. We set off in our boat on a somewhat dull waterway. Where were all the birds? Not to worry, later we turned into the nature reserve and there were the most brightly coloured birds. A magnificent and very enjoyable sight. All-in-all this was a very varied day with much to see, do and enjoy. So much of that was due to our wonderful guide Khaleel. He’d been a star during our food tour and he was excellent yet again during our day tour. Thank you Khaleel for your professionalism. TIPS - Do take your swimming costume to enjoy a swim at the beach - Rain can appear quite suddenly so do take an umbrella. If there is a downpour during the boat trip to the bird reserve, the boat guys will open up a large plastic sheet for the passengers to hold above their heads. It works but having an umbrella for when there is light rain and no plastic sheet is worthwhile. The boat floor can get quite wet so waterproof shoes are a bonus. - Take binoculars for bird viewing.

I’ve taken a few food tours in my lifetime and always find them enjoyable. With this in mind, my partner chose this evening street food tour in Port Of Spain, Trinidad, and I tagged along. From the very first smiling welcome by our guide Khaleel, I knew we were on to something special. After arriving exactly on time, he took us to an area that was vibrant with street food stalls and expertly guided and advised us on what was going on around us. If we had passed this area without a guide, we would have walked by it all in five minutes. Instead, our minds and tastebuds were enlightened in the most wonderful way. I got to try many new foods and understood what was behind them. It was an adventure. I love learning new things and here I learned a lot. We later moved to another part of the town and enjoyed another type of cuisine. More was on offer but we had to decline, despite having shared a good amount of food to avoid feeling full too early. We were too full to continue, but very happy with what had gone before. We also spent some guided time with a man selling a variety of juices, juices like I’d never tasted before. The vendor was so very helpful in explaining the fruits in the drinks and showing us pictures of the fruits. It was hugely educational and we sampled many new tastes. A few words about our wonderful guide Khaleel. He is at the top of his game and carefully explains everything and makes it so interesting. He never blurts out a string of words, he engages with you. He also has a culinary background so when he describes foods, he does so with knowledge and passion. He also speaks very clearly so you will understand everything without straining to hear. This was a fabulous evening in the hands of a charming and expert guide. Do you need to eat beforehand, in case you sample just a few things? No. Do you need to avoid eating beforehand so you have capacity to enjoy the generous and varied food provided? Yes. Can I recommend this tour to anyone interested in food and who wants to get close to Trinidad and Tobago culture? Most definitely.

We had 2 tours with the island experiences: one in the city, then Maracas beach for lunch and then in the afternoon the Caroni lake (with Mike). The second one passing through a local market, hindu temples and the Pitch Lake (with Khaleel). Both very knowledgeable and friendly and great drivers too. We felt at ease and comfortable with both for 8 hours :-) Both the Caroni Lake trip and the Pitch Lake are unmissable because they are very unique. You will never see scarlet ibis birds in flocks in the trees and you will never see natural tar and walk over it. Its really strange. Dominique and team at head office also tried to arrange a last minute chocolate farms visits for us (which was not possible, but you can get the chocolates from all over the island at the shop in the Normandy hotel - highly recommended). Overall we are really thankful for two great and safe days full of delicious food. We are vegan and there were enough options as well. Would highly recommend and would do the hiking tours, but we ran out of time... see you next time.

My wife and I did the Highlights Tour of Trinidad on 7th January 2025. This was a homecoming visit for my wife, whose father was Trinidadian. Our guide, Khaleel was incredibly knowledgeable, personally and friendly. He packed a lot into this tour. For an additional fee, we were picked up and dropped off at the airport, as we were there on a day trip. We stopped at Independence Avenue, Brian Lara Promenade, Catholic Cathedral on the end of the promenade, Parliament building, National Library, Halls of Justice, National Academy of Arts, Queens Park to see the Magnificent Seven, Queens Park Cricket Ground, Fort George and Maracas Beach. A very rich, diverse and wonderful experience in the expert hands of Khaleel, who stopped at vantage points, to take photos of places of interest and made good recommendations of eating places. Khaleel was superb and the Highlights Tour was excellent and I do think that Island Experience should update their description of the tour, as it is undersold. Highly recommended if you intend to do a day trip to Trinidad from Tobago.

Kaleel is a knowledgeable and friendly guide, courteous and professional. The tour is well planned and covered the most interesting spots in the area.

We've spent excellent time with Mrs. Podasta as guide. She's a very good driver, as well. Great view from top of the mountain!

Tour guide was very knowledgeable and knew the trail very well. Heads up - it is about 13k/roughly 7+ miles but you can go at your own pace. Be sure to wear shoes that you can throw away.

Super fun tour with Enya, who brought a great energy throughout the day and was really kind. We had a lovely drive around Port of Spain and especially loved the beauty of the “seven” gorgeous historic buildings along the Savannah. Then we had a nice drive through the rainforest to Maracas Beach, which was so gorgeous. We loved the bake n shark with pineapple and tamarind. Great intro to a fab country. Thanks Enya!

Interesting tour of Trinidad. You can book this cheaper through Viator. Kevin, our Guide was very knowledgeable and took us to all the popular sites. I don’t think it is worth $137 for two people.

This is a hard review for me to write. Khalil, our tour guide was exceptional….knowledgeable, personable, and friendly. He is why I gave the review a 2. There were about 20 people on this tour. I was picked up promptly at my hotel at the designated time of 9:00 AM. Allegedly, the tour start time was delayed due to guests coming from Tobago on the ferry. If this was the case, then the tour should have been extended by the length of time we were delayed, instead of rushing through everything. They also need to change the wording in the posting to ensure accuracy. Independence Square - Stop: 20 minutes We drove through it / around it. There was no stopping. Khalil said something was happening in the Basilica so we could not go in. Queen's Park Savannah - Stop: 20 minutes We drove around it. We stopped on Maraval Road to see houses. They dropped us off and we walked past big houses and then they picked us up. Royal Botanical Gardens - Stop: 30 minutes We stopped here ONLY for a quick restroom break. National Museum and Art Gallery - Stop: 30 minutes We drove past it. There was no stopping. Fort King George - Stop: 20 minutes We did not go. Khalil said there was a landslide and we would not be able to go up there. We stopped at the Lady Young Road Viewpoint instead. Maracas Beach - Stop: 60 minutes This was the highlight. We did stop here. We had the opportunity to eat lunch, lay on the beach, and swim. The tour listing should not say “Includes food tastings……” when food tastings are not included. Lunch at Maracas Beach was at our own expense. Thank you Khalil for being a great guide! Island Experiences: Get better organized!

Guide Junior was excellent! Informative and personable. The only negative was the other guide provided for Pitch lake itself. He quizzed us about what he said and became mad when we gave a wrong answer. We also had a disagreement about the tip with the Pitch Lake Guide, perhaps a communication misunderstandimg, but he became very angry and aggressive. Despite this, Pitch lake is worth seeing and Guide Junior is top notch.

We did the tour of Port of Spain, Maracas Bay and Caroni swamp boat trip. Junior, our driver / guide, was excellent, very informative and accommodating to our requests. The tour was interesting and even though it rained very heavily at start of the swamp tour it didn't ruin the experience. Would highly recommend the sunset boat trip to see the Scarlet Ibis, Flamingos and other birds. There were lots of websites to choose from but Island Experiences provided the most information and best prices.

I recently booked day trip to Marcas and Las Cuevas with Island Experiences and absolutely loved it! My guide Prenka was amazing, extremely well travelled and knowledgeable about Trinidad and Tobago. He went above and beyond to make sure I had a great time and we even tried the famous bake and shark at Maracs Beach, it was delicious. Highly recommend this trip - Thank you.

Excellent choice for a sightseeing experience. Great music, bar on site, enjoy the coral reef and spend time in Nylon Pool!