Lanta Old Town & Mangrove Forest Tour

Got off to a bad start when we struggled to get picked up, only because of miscommunication. The man picking us up asked if we were going kayaking, which we weren't, we were going on a long tailed boat. Eventually this was sorted and we were transported to the Mangrove forest meeting point. Here we were separated into groups with numbers, we were group 4. I asked one of the guides if he was group 4, holding up 4 fingers as well. He proceeded to say yes and watched us climb across 2 other boats into what was the wrong boat. Again, eventually, we were guided correctly back across all the boats and into the correct boat. Now, you're probably thinking this sounds bad, you have scored this trip 5 stars............. Well, what occurred next, cancelled all that out and some. The first 30 minutes were pretty uneventful, saw a couple of monkeys and a couple of eagles. Than we got a monkey on the boat. My daughter found this hilarious, the monkey was perched on my head. All the children on the boat proceeded to feed the monkey corn snacks. I understand this isn't exactly healthy, but the monkey eventually went back to it's natural habitat. Probably to throw up after all that food. We then saw another moneky swimming towards us, but it never climbed aboard. Next we went back and were fed lunch, which was some nice chicken fried rice, pineapple and water melon. We were also provided water throughout. Finally we were transported to Lanta old town for an hour at our leisure. We just walked up the row of shops, browsing. Myself and the wife enjoyed our first ever iced latte and our daughter enjoyed an ice cream. It was nice enough, but could not compare to the monkey experience. Fantastic trip, albeit with a couple of minor hiccups.

Got off to a bad start when we struggled to get picked up, only because of miscommunication. The man picking us up asked if we were going kayaking, which we weren't, we were going on a long tailed boat. Eventually this was sorted and we were transported to the Mangrove forest meeting point. Here we were separated into groups with numbers, we were group 4. I asked one of the guides if he was group 4, holding up 4 fingers as well. He proceeded to say yes and watched us climb across 2 other boats into what was the wrong boat. Again, eventually, we were guided correctly back across all the boats and into the correct boat. Now, you're probably thinking this sounds bad, you have scored this trip 5 stars............. Well, what occurred next, cancelled all that out and some. The first 30 minutes were pretty uneventful, saw a couple of monkeys and a couple of eagles. Than we got a monkey on the boat. My daughter found this hilarious, the monkey was perched on my head. All the children on the boat proceeded to feed the monkey corn snacks. I understand this isn't exactly healthy, but the monkey eventually went back to it's natural habitat. Probably to throw up after all that food. We then saw another moneky swimming towards us, but it never climbed aboard. Next we went back and were fed lunch, which was some nice chicken fried rice, pineapple and water melon. We were also provided water throughout. Finally we were transported to Lanta old town for an hour at our leisure. We just walked up the row of shops, browsing. Myself and the wife enjoyed our first ever iced latte and our daughter enjoyed an ice cream. It was nice enough, but could not compare to the monkey experience. Fantastic trip, albeit with a couple of minor hiccups.

Disorganised tour overall. Mangrove tour - For an English speaking tour, guides English was not legible. Guide was smoking next to the long-tail engine. Hygiene was a big issue with the cut fruits, a monkey pooped on the deck and when the guide cleaned it up they used the same rag to clean the rest of the deck. Old Town- Uderwhelming. We were given an hour and it was just a path to walk with tourist trap of souvenirs, that's it. Nothing else. Unfortunately I would not recommend.

Loved seeing the monkeys in the mangrove. Viewpoint restaurant was great. I could take or leave the old town experience

This was not a very satisfying experience. We were driven to and from our hotel in a dilapidated open truck and smelled gas fumes the whole way there and back. We were told there would be a guide who spoke English, but that was very misleading. Mostly we just walked around the mangrove forest and were taken by old boat into the waterways around the forest; there was almost no explanation of what we were seeing. Although the people we interacted with were nice, I would not recommend this tour.