Phil Lafayette Tours

We did a tour with Phil years ago and I still remember it and talk about how fun it was. I felt very safe. Phil picked us up in a timely manner and had us back to our cruise ship in time. Would definitely go again.

Phil is a fantastic guide, and I've had many great trips to Jamaica thanks to Phil. Highly recommended, and I've always sent my friends his way!

I did so much research in the lead up to this trip - we were visiting from Australia so this one day in Jamaica really was once in a lifetime! Phil seemed like a perfect option and we were excited for the tour we'd chosen - Blue Hole and some time at a beach. Unfortunately this day has stuck in my mind for the wrong reasons.

We got off the ship at Falmouth and met Phil where he showed us to the bus. He asked us to go and recruit more people for the trip because he wasn't allowed to go any closer. We didn't want to - which he was not happy about. We waited for over 45 minutes on the bus until he came back and decided we could leave. He was extremely angry that he couldn't get any more people on the tour - kept complaining about how he would be losing money that day. It made us feel guilty for being there.. how wrong!

He tried to perk up a little and started to tell us about the island on our drive to a shop where he stopped for breakfast. Rushed us back on to the bus the moment he decided it was time to go. At that point he told us he didn't feel like talking any more so put some Bob Marley on. It was so awkward for the 4 of us (+ our 2 year old) - we didn't feel comfortable talking ourselves or enjoying our time!

Phil then spent some time on his phone to his wife, who he organised to get her small car for the day. We stopped at a small strip of shops where he left us for about 20 minutes, to go swap the bus over for the car. We were seriously worried he wasn't going to come back (though maybe that would have been a good thing). He arrived back with the car - 2 grown men and 2 grown women as passengers, plus a 2 year old, squished into a little hatchback. He drilled into us that we had to keep the car immaculate - no sand, no food, no dirt.

We finally got to the Blue Hole which was great. The guides there were fantastic - it was the highlight of our day. Unfortunately a little tainted as Phil got angry with us while we tried to organise our bathers, shoes and cameras in the car park.

Following our amazing time at the Blue Hole, we got back in the small car and headed to a quiet beach resort which was beautiful. We ordered some lunch as soon as we got there and went for a swim. About 5 minutes into our swim - Phil called out to us to tell us that he had arranged for our food to be put in take away containers and that we had to leave straight away. He had organised a ride for us back to Falmouth with another bus tour. So we hardly got to enjoy our swim and our lunch was scoffed down in the back of the car (yes, he let us eat in the car!!) and on the bus. We were actually relieved to be free of Phil once we got on the bus.

I am still so upset about how Phil ruined our day in Jamaica. My parents who are in their 60s will likely never get to visit Jamaica again, and I'm kicking myself for booking this tour with this man and ruining everyone's day. Also, his alliteration is annoying and hard to understand - I personally would have preferred someone talk to us normally about the island.

Avoid at all costs!!!