Totumo Mud Volcano Half-Day Tour

It was incredible, the guides were very attentive at all times, the local people look out for you at every moment, from the time you arrive until you leave. They are very kind. 10/10 experience

Ana was wonderful. Very flexible and knowledgeable. THANK YOU ANA

It was very unique and interesting. The snack was really good. If you like being touched a lot in a mud bath, this will be perfect for you.

The guide/driver showed up hours after our booking. We stood in the heat for HOURS. Constantly being lied to by the host. Getting told that the driver was 5/10 mins away every time up until the point the host started to ignore us. The experience was horrible. We only got 30 minutes at the site. We didn’t get treated respectfully. We were told that we would eat and have beverages and didn’t receive any of that.

In FULL disclosure, I want to say that I ended up not going on this trip due to some discomfort leading up to the scheduled day. I am writing this more as a caution as well as perhaps some advice to the company that may help them improve the experience for future travelers. I was in Colombia solo and over all felt very safe getting out and about on my own. I had hoped to go to the volcano and mud-bath since before I got to the country and was very excited when I found this reasonably priced tour on TA. I booked the half-day trip two days in advance. The night before pick-up, I was informed that they were not going to offer the half-day but would instead upgrade me to the full-day with lunch and a stop at a beach club. I wasn't super keen on this as now I was spending a full day with people I don't know but I agreed as this seemed my only option to go, and it was too late to cancel with a refund. Subsequently, I received three messages from different people organizing the pick-up time and location which were slightly different from the initial plan. All of this felt a little bit slippery. On further and more deeply reading the reviews, I realized this is something that this company seems to do with some frequency. Additionally, it sounds like the 'massage' at the mud bath and the women to help clean you off afterward are very difficult to refuse. As a solo female traveler, this sense of unwanted physical touch being expected and paid for was uncomfortable. I also read in a [single] review that some folks ended up leaving on their own from the beach club afterward as they were there for longer than felt enjoyable. Again, as a solo female traveler, feeling 'stuck' somewhere feels like a bit of a violation of my space and time. Lastly, on looking at the reviews further, many of the 5 star reviews are made by 'people' that have written only one or two reviews, with this tour being one of them. Make of that what you will - I wish I'd looked at that fact a little more closely as I was certainly swayed by the number of 5 stars. I've given three stars with my review today because I am cognizant that I may be more cautious than the average group or couple simply because I'm a frequent solo traveler. On the morning of the tour, I let the guide know that I would not be able to join them. I understand that there may be some cultural differences at play here in my sense of a personal bubble, but ultimately this felt like an experience I was willing to bypass to preserve my sense of autonomy. This company could do better with organization and tour offerings (half vs full day) and in my opinion, if the massages and after bathing scrub down is to be expected and paid for, perhaps that should be built into the cost and the tour guides can pay these people rather than their clients feeling they must pay for a service they did not realize would be 'included.' Of course use your own judgement. The folks in the photos over all look pleased and I wish I'd felt comfortable enough to go.