Marble Mountains Sunset Tour

Unfortunately, this was one of the most disappointing tours I did in Vietnam, and I really regretted booking it. From pickup to drop-off, the tour lasted just under five hours, yet I would estimate that only around 1.5 hours were actually spent sightseeing. The biggest problem was how inefficiently the tour was organised. I was the first person collected, and it took around 1 hour 15 minutes before the final passengers had been picked up from hotels across Hoi An and Da Nang. We then visited Lady Buddha/Monkey Mountain, where we had around 30 minutes. The guide gave us some useful context and I enjoyed the site, but it was a very short visit considering how much time had already been spent collecting guests. After that, we were taken to a marble showroom that was not listed on the itinerary. This was easily the most frustrating part of the tour. It felt like a classic commercial tourist stop rather than a cultural experience. The showroom was filled with enormous and extremely expensive marble sculptures, and an employee followed me around continuously trying to sell things. When I said the items were outside my budget, I was immediately directed towards cheaper products. Driving away afterwards, I could see numerous similar marble showrooms along the road, which made the stop feel even more obviously commercial. We then finally reached Marble Mountains. Parts of the visit itself were interesting and beautiful. I particularly enjoyed the upper cave and seeing the active temple area where monks live and worship. However, I also had an uncomfortable interaction with the guide. While he was speaking inside one of the caves, I was listening while walking around and started climbing a staircase that other visitors were using. He suddenly yelled at me to stop and told me we were not going up there, which felt unnecessarily embarrassing and patronising. Later, he explained that their company avoids that staircase because tourists have previously had accidents there. That is completely reasonable and I fully respect the safety decision — but this should have been explained to the group beforehand rather than only after someone attempted to go up. The advertised itinerary also made it sound as though we would be visiting several distinct places within Marble Mountains, but during the actual tour it never really felt like five separate stops or experiences. Aside from Lady Buddha and Marble Mountains itself, most of the afternoon felt like transport, waiting or the unadvertised showroom visit. The organisation at the end was equally frustrating. Guests returning to Da Nang were separated into another vehicle, while those of us returning to Hoi An remained together. If the company is able to separate guests by location for the return journey, I don’t understand why the same system could not be used for the initial pickups instead of making some guests spend more than an hour collecting everyone else. I had been the first guest picked up, so I asked whether I could be dropped off first on the return journey. I was told no because it did not suit their preferred route, meaning I potentially faced another long round of hotel drop-offs after already spending so much of the afternoon in the vehicle. Communication before the tour also felt excessive and unnecessarily abrupt. I was repeatedly told that pickup was at 1:30pm — by the operator, by the guide, by phone and by message. At 1:20pm I was then told the driver had arrived and asked to come downstairs, followed by a warning that they would leave at exactly 1:30 and I would have to take a taxi to catch them if I was late. I had already confirmed multiple times that I would be ready at the agreed time, so the tone felt unnecessarily threatening rather than helpful. There were enjoyable parts: Lady Buddha was interesting, Marble Mountains itself is beautiful, and some of the caves and temple areas were absolutely worth seeing. My disappointment is with the tour structure rather than the attractions. If you are staying in Hoi An, I would personally recommend arranging Marble Mountains independently or finding a much smaller tour. This group tour involved far too much hotel collection time, unnecessary waiting and an unadvertised commercial stop for the amount of actual sightseeing provided. I would not book this particular tour again.

The tour is a lie. It lasts only three hours, not five, and there is no sunset at all. My pickup was confirmed for 2:00 pm, but I was picked up at 2:27 because another tourist was late. Totally unprofessional. They also leave you for 25 minutes in a marble shop, where the saleswomen follow you around and pressure you to buy. It’s uncomfortable and completely unnecessary. Am Phu Cave (only 20,000 VND) and Lady Buddha, which is free, are worth seeing. You can easily visit them by Grab for less money and enjoy them at your own pace. This tour is not worth the money. Either deliver the itinerary you advertise or change the name and description.

Pick up was on time. Monkey Mountain has a great view and beautiful bonsais, temples and the buda lady statute is worth to see. In Marble mountain we visited the hell cave and heaven cave that are very interesting. The guide, Kevin, made the entire experience much more fun. He is very knowledgeable, told us about Vietnam culture and history on the top of explaining the attractions we visited. He is very kind and fun

The guide Kévin was really helpful and funny but I wish there was more time to see Lady Buddha although I understand the time constraint.

Monkey mountains we had a good experience over there