We visited Split with my girlfriend in August, and we had an amazing time with the excellent bunch of people from Portal. We took part in the Blue Cave tour, and the Plitvice Lakes tour and we couldn't be happier about the trips. Both tours were definitely the highlights of our trip - and not only because of the stunning views.
Portal Travel Agency is filled with enthusiastic, hardworking, professional and nice young people who treat their customers with great care. From basic customer service to Hotel pickups, everything is dealt with pure class.
We booked the Blue Cave Tour prior to our trip to Croatia. The booking system was efficient and easy to use, and we got all the confirmations very quickly which is always a strong positive. The trip itself began with the pickup that is included to the price, and that was always exactly on time for us. Once we reached the pier, we met our skippers Marko and Ante. Since the weather was very unpredictable that day, they gathered everybody together and told us that it might be possible that we won't be able to reach the Blue Cave due to the bad weather conditions. They were very polite, apologetic and professional about it and they informed us about the refunds and compensations if the trip to the Blue Cave would be impossible. However, everyone in the group boarded the boat - which was, undoubtedly the best looking in the Pier - and I'm 100% sure no one regretted that decision.
The Skippers were great lads. They were very talkative, relaxed and caring. They always made sure that everybody were enjoying themselves to the fullest, and you could tell they were pulling all the strings trying to make the trip to the Blue Cave itself possible - which they in the end managed to do by cleverly altering our schedule. We actually swam in to the cave, since it was impossible to get in by boats due to the waves, and that's infinitely better than getting in by boat - the cave is just extra ordinary. A job well done by them indeed. Due to my background in boating, we actually had quite a few chats about boats. And I can tell you, these guys are so nice and always open for a conversation. The only negative we experienced was the lunch at a small fisherman's village, since the food was pretty average. However, it was included to the price, so it's basically a free extra lunch. All credit, and all the best to Marko and Ante!
After that we went to see The Krka national park by ourselves since we were on a budget, and we had planned to go to Plitvice by ourselves aswell. But the never-ending queues and unsure public transport made it clear for us that we'll go to Plitvice with Portal again. The trick is, that you don't actually save that much money(about 20-30€) to make it worth all the hassle to get to the parks by public transport, and that tells you Portal is a great value for money.
After Krka we tried to book the Plitvice tour from Portal's office at the city center, but unfortunately for us, it was fully booked. However, thanks to the amazing staff at the office, they managed to squeeze us in a group. We experienced great customer service at the office and during our email exchange, and the thanks for that go to Ana and Anita.
The trip to Plitvice was another success story. We were guided by a gentleman called Petar and our driver was a gentleman called Ivan. During the 4 hour bus ride, we had the pleasure of listening to Petars stories about Croatia, which ranged from football to Croatia's current economical status. He's very relaxed and clever with his jokes as well - a very pleasant character! He told us great bits from the nations history, and every time he reached for the microphone, you could tell that everybody was all ears and intrigued by his stories. You could tell that he's well educated and well dedicated to his job, and he handled group with excellence. He made sure that everybody was alright and enjoying themselves, and that help is there, should it be needed at any times. The lakes are just something else, and it's a must visit should you ever visit Croatia - and if you do visit, we recommend that you use Portal!
All the crew fore mentioned deserve a great credit for what they do, and we really hope all the best for all of you. Thank you for the amazing experiences you offered us during our trips! And to mention, we've never been fans of tours of any kind, but what these guys do, is just something else.
Pyry & Meri
