Highlights of Nassau Tour

We were surprised we had to pay bridge toll when tour guide took us to Atlantis. We did not wish to go to a couple of stops and asked to go to Atlantis last.. Tour guide accepted our request. However when we went to Atlantis he said we had 20 minutes instead of 30 minutes as tour allowed. Rolly Polly was very knowledgeable and gave us very good information on the tour. Inside the van we did not feel it was clean. May have been but we felt that way. Instructions to meeting place could have been much better. Had to wait for Tour Guide a long time in the hot sun with no place to sit. Tour guide was late in arriving.

he private city tour review: The lady who provided video instructions of meeting time and location was fantastic. We ended up by the fountain (almost to the meet up point) but our driver/tour guide (Rollie Pollie) was 15 minutes late. Rollie did a good job of pointing out attractions and taking us to the destinations as advertised by "BigMama's Tours and Taxi". This review is not against BigMama's but should be directed against their employee Rollie. Rollie sold us on a separately arranged 4 hour private tour starting at 8am that included "2 snorkeling locations (different islands), swimming with the turtles, lunch at rose island, then swimming with the pigs". He stated "you pay through me because of my company Rollie Pollie you got a discount and I will carry you directly to the boat". We were told to meet at Bay Shore Marina at 7:30am. He ensured Captain Williams on the boat "4 play" would be ready and sent us a picture of the boat. He asked for PayPal and that money was sent to confirm our reservation. Of those items on the itinerary, we were very far off from what was supposed to be included. What happened: we showed up at Bay Shore Marina at 7:30am. We waited with a 3 year old until 9:00am for no one to show up and got a hold of Rollie who directed us to meet him at Bruno's Fish Fry restaurant. He then took us to a different 'marina' which looked more like a junkyard and a new captain (Omar) and boat ("Snorkeling Tours"). We got on that "Snorkeling Tours" boat at 9:30am. We were taken to "Eddie Murphy" island where we were asked if we wanted to walk around. We said no. Then the boat broke down (lost steering). We walked around the island anyway because we had to wait for a jetski to come with power steering fluid. The broken down boat could now steer again. We were taken to swim with turtles (we didn't see any and there was no swimming). We were taken to see dolphins (ie: dolphins swimming in captivity as we peered through the Sandals enclosures). We were taken to go snorkeling; the big reef was too choppy so we were taken to a little reef, per our request as the little reef was also still very choppy, but less so. I was almost hit by the boat trying to get out of the choppy water and heard "LOOK OUT!" to get out of the way before the boat landed on me. Swimming with pigs was "phone a friend" that shows up on a random beach in New Providence (the same island we were staying on) who brings a mama pig and piglet and picks them up to put them in the water to swim). We were then taken to a local restaurant (Goldie's, where lunch was NOT included and we had to pay). We were then taken back to the "marina". With the issues in the morning with the boat, change of location, significant downgrade in boat, paying for our own lunch, and not getting the tour we signed up for ($1420), we were told we would get a $200 refund for the child (since most companies don't charge for children 3 and under). We've been in contact with Rollie for the past 15 days and each time, he assures the refund is coming. We've seen nothing after multiple requests. I'd ensure if you book a tour with BigMama's, that you request you DO NOT get Rollie as your guide. For a private tour, usually the guides are very accommodating and trustworthy. Needless to say, Rollie tried to be accommodating but fell through on execution and lack of follow through and after that, could not be trusted.

Not that great, our tour guide seemed tired, not enthusiastic and not interested, could barely get up from his seat. Made no effort to locate us at the end of each activities so we wasted a lot of time trying to find him to pick us up. Overall tour schedule is 2hrs so stop by at highlight points were quick. Tour guide skipped a few highlights pretending it's either not open or not worth it to see anyway. Provided basic historical information. At one point we thought the guide would not make it as he was heavily breathing and seemed to be suffocating. Glad we made it back to the hotel but don't know if he did. Bahamas is very beautiful and scenery were exceptional.

Our driver ( Rolly Polly) was friendly, however, he was 20 minutes late for pickup ( he said he was detained by a parade float) and his vehicle was dirty. We didn’t see all the places on the itinerary, like the Distillery and our time was cut short at other places like Atlantis. I’ve taken 2 other tours with Viator in Nassau, and they were much better tours.

Our guide was 15-20 min late for departure and initially sounded like we were meeting another group that was also lost.

Rollie Pollie is an awesome tour guide. Treated us like royalty. I highly recommend him and appreciate the hospitality. Perfect way to start your vacation in the Bahamas.

Just to be clear - I did not actually take the tour because I could not find the meeting spot!! I am an experienced traveller and think it speaks for itself. I am writing this review to help future bookers avoid this mistake! The indications for the meeting spot were extremely unclear: 1. When looking for a spot, I was assured by 3 locals that the Fountain at Senior Frogs MUST be the right meeting spot for the tour and is the only known Fountain 2. neither the "old ministry building" nor "Festival welcome center" are indicated on Google maps and noone you ask will know where they are! Aside from lost money, I was EXTREMELY upset by missing the tour and started calling the support which was compelety useless. Noone called me back and noone helped in any way to ask the lady to pick me up where I was. I called until I ran out of money and was told to wait and remained there waiting for 1.5 hours for Big Momma to pick me up, which never happened. I am sure the tour itself should be fine, but just please BEWARE that the meeting spot is hard to find and well .it is still a mystery to me where it was, even after I tried to find it later in the day.

Big mama is the best. She knows so much about the history of Nassau. The most important and historic places were touched. I would really recommend this tour to anybody they visit Bahamas.

We had a great time on the Nassau Highlights Tour. Big Mama's Tours was very informative and our guide, Big Mama herself, was very friendly and funny.

Big Mama is everything and a bag of plantain chips--humorous, warm, well-informed, she has a definite love of Nassau that she wants to share with all of her "darlin's" on board. She drives the van, commentates, is quick with answers and fun tidbits about the island, and makes you feel at ease right from the beginning. I cannot recommend this fun trip enough--DO IT!