I spend a nice relaxing day with the guide Beatrice! She gave me a lot of info, helped me get the medicines in the pharmacy, suggested what else should be seen in Salvador. Beatrice is very helpful, kind, wholehearted girl with great knowledge in history and customs or Salvador and Bahia. I definitely recommend the tour with her.

First of all, the tour guide was 45 minutes late. Pick up was at 6 am, had we known it was going to be late, we could've slept in an extra half hour instead of getting up at 5am. We requested an english speaking tour guide, only to be surprised by a non-speaking tour guide, with the excuse of his co-worker calling in sick. This was a terrible start. Our hotel breakfast wasn’t open that early so we didn’t have a proper breakfast from the get-go. I requested if there was atleast a coffee/water break—only to stop at a gas station where they served coffee only in clear plastic cups. Who would want to drink coffee in that in a bump tour bus? The tour bus didn’t even offer bottled water or anything. The booking site didn’t clearly state how long the travel time was from Salvador to Mangue seco. We only realized after picking up other tourists on the way there. It took 4.5 hours to get there in a cramped van with no leg room and a door that didn’t properly open from the inside. In addition, they played on CD on repeat. We finally get there, in the middle of high sun, which meant an uncomfortable blistering hot day ahead. There was NO canoe to take us to the beach, instead it was a ferry boat with stiff metal benches which made for an uncomfortable and impossible slow ride to this island which we were hoping would be a nice pay off from the torturous ride to get there. We were made to order food as soon as we arrived to the island, but only to be delivered at a later time at the beach. But first we had to take the buggy ride first. The buggy ride cost was an additional cash-only charge on top of the booking fee. This was not clearly stated. While the sand dunes was a decent backdrop for a photo-op, we didn’t really feel the need to make 5 different stops in the sweltering heat that basically ended up looking the same. We just wanted food, drinks and the ocean. Finally, after the fifth stop we were pretty much salivating to jump in the water, only to be teased and driven back into the village to stop at a local restaurant for a pointless 15 minute break, in what felt like half an hour — a ploy perhaps to get tourists to buy unwanted chachkis. At this point we just wanted the food we ordered, in what seemed like ages ago, and jump in the water. The buggy finally dropped us off in the line-up of huts where other tourists were. Besides being a “virgin” beach, nothing about seemed pristine or peaceful. The travel to this place was 8 hours in total. The actual time spent there was a quarter of that time. So do I think it’s worth it? After all that? Not in the least. We were better off staying in Salvador and explore nearby beaches.