Naturetrek Traveller Reviews

A nicely-paced 5 day break in the Netherlands looking at variety of wildfowl, wading birds and mammals.

Naturetrek staff put themselves out a long way in order to run the holiday. It was well led by the tour leader/field guide.

3 day birdwatching holiday. Originally it was to be 2 days on Somerset Levels, due to adverse weather conditions (Storm Dennis) there was a change of plan. Day One was spent at the wetlands in Slimbridge and Day Two was at Somerset Levels.

Excellent service from start to finish. The administration and support from the office staff was extremely efficient. Enquires were dealt with promptly,. The paperwork was comprehensive and arrived in plenty of time for the start of the holiday. The hotel accommodation provided was very comfortable with friendly staff. Matt and David, the two tour guides were superb, obviously well qualified, very experienced and enthusiastic. This holiday was the first I have taken with Naturetrek and I would definitely use them again.

Raja Ampat proved to be everything the holiday information promised. The area is one of the world's most pristine coral reefs & was home to an equally spectacular range of reef fish. The waters are mainly clear, so visibility whilst snorkelling was generally excellent, it was like swimming in the best coral aquarium you could ever imagine & then some. Between snorkelling there was the possibility of seeing Cetaceans, marine birds & some fabulous scenery. The trip to see the Birds of Paradise was well worth the early start & provided yet another highlight. The "Mermaid 1" provided great base for the trip, it was spotlessly clean, the cabins were very comfortable, communal areas large enough for all, food was plentiful, being a good mix of Indonesian & European dishes. Nothing seemed too much trouble for the crew, they accommodated the needs of the group, along with individual needs treating everyone with kindness & respect. Whilst snorkelling we felt extremely safe & the dive crew were attentive at all times & very helpful in helping us spot less obvious inhabitants of the reef we may have otherwise missed. They approached their work with enthusiasm, were friendly, very knowledgeable & were able to adapt their plans to suit conditions as we travelled. The whole trip was enjoyable & unique.

Nature Trek were very good at providing information about the tour as we progressed with the booking. Their information packs were useful & informative, allowing good pre trip preparation. Alison, from the company, joined us to act as one of the marine biologists on the tour. Her enthusiasm, knowledge & overall sense of wonder & fun certainly added value to our experience & she went out of her way to make herself available to the group.

Onboard "Mermaid 1" the crew were fantastic, food wonderful and plentiful, cabins comfortable with bedding and towels regularly changed every three days. We had two snorkel dives per day over different coral environments including one to a mangrove. There were three trips ashore, one to visit a hide overlooking a bird of paradise that was in full display trying to attract a female, the second to a pearl manufacturing facility and the third to the iconic bay of islands of Piaynemo. During the sailing time transferring between islands the marine biologist onboard led whale and dolphin watching, his expertise knowing where the cetaceans were likely to be and the skill of the captain in navigating the boat led to some wonderful and memorable sites. There were interesting presentations given each evening by the resident marine biologist and the Naturetrek guide. Also in the evenings if interested there were group sessions to review and identify the wildlife (birds, fish and cetaceans) that had been spotted during the day.

The holiday experience offered by Naturetrek was everything we expected. Travel arrangements worked perfectly, we were met by Natruetrek's guide at Heathrow, she navigated the party through to Sorong, where we spent a day and a night recovering, before being picked up by taxi and delivered to "Mermaid 1", our luggage was collected in advance and was waiting in our cabin on arrival onboard "Mermaid 1". The same meticulous arrangements worked equally well on our journey home.

Nine bird and wildlife enthusiasts travelled to Puerto Rico in March 2020 with Naturetrek to see as many of their endemic birds, animals, mammals, butterflies and insects as possible. Our leaders were keen and knowledgeable and showed us almost all of the endemic birds that were possible. We had good accommodation, food, transport, good weather - and we also had lot's of fun !

This was our thirtieth trip with Naturetrek. The company is efficient, enthusiastic and professional, and are always keen to answer any questions we may have about the country we will be visiting. Wherever we want to go - someone at Naturetrek has been there and is willing and able to help.

Lovely hotel and good food. Saw lots of wildlife, the highlights being a family of wild boar, a great grey shrike, and peregrines and little owls at Symonds Yat. Our leader, Tom, was knowledgeable and helpful, and took us to a number of different habitats around the Forest. An excellent holiday which we are hoping to repeat in the future.

Very efficient. Small group, which is good when trying to spot wildlife.

Lovely hotel and good food. Saw lots of wildlife, the highlights being a family of wild boar, a great grey shrike, and peregrines and little owls at Symonds Yat. Our leader, Tom, was knowledgeable and helpful, and took us to a number of different habitats around the Forest. An excellent holiday which we are hoping to repeat in the future.

Very efficient. Small group, which is good when trying to spot wildlife.

We covered a lot of ground in 9 days and got to places in Morocco that we would never attempted on our own. The organisation of the trip was excellent. The only reason I didn't score this trip as excellent is that, personally, I would have liked longer to cover the distances (usually we spent just one night in each hotel) and, as a birding walker rather than a walking birder, I did start to glaze over when the finer detail of lesser, shorter toes and tails was discussed.

Good organisation. Support form Naturetrek before and during the trip could not be faulted. Trip leaders were very knowledgable and the locally employed drivers were excellent.

We had the most amazing trip to Japan which more than met our expectation. The wildlife was amazing, the people in Japan were so friendly and polite. The highlight was the Hokkaido part of the trip with great views of Cranes and Steller's Sea Eagles.

We have been travelling with Naturetrek since 2009 and they have never let us down and all the trips we have been on have been excellent.

Excellent host with great knowledge. Great experience with Wild Dogs and a pride of 16 lions.

Arranged everything without a hitch and provided excellent host.