Gecko Travel and Tours
Gecko Travel and Tours
5
Full view
About
Gecko Travel & Tours offers you luxury, custom made private tours in Cape Town and the Garden Route with our highly trained and passionate tour guides where you will make memories that will last a lifetime. Our airport transfers from George or Port Elizabeth airports to places in the Garden Route as well as the famous Otter trail to Tsitsikamma invites you to sit back and relax while we take the stress out of your travelling. As a Tour Operator we run a scheduled shuttle service between Cape Town, Plettenberg Bay and places in the Garden Route 3 days a week. As a family run business we will tailor make your tour or any other event you may have to your perfection We strive to create exceptional experience for you through serving you with service excellence and passion
Plettenberg Bay, South Africa
Meets animal welfare guidelines
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listingSimilar Experiences
Gecko Travel and Tours
Booking unavailable on Tripadvisor
Want other options you can book now?
Show optionsTravellers talk about
(24 reviews)
(29 reviews)
(63 reviews)
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
5.0
216 reviews
Excellent
205
Very good
7
Average
2
Poor
2
Terrible
0
KAB
Winnipeg, Canada7 contributions
Jan 2024 • Couples
We had the most amazing experience on the Garden Route. Eugene was our guide from start to finish. He picked us up in George and drove us to Plett. We visited the Elephant Sanctuary, Knysna Heads, the FeatherBed, saw beautiful views, Tsitsikama kayaking and lilo, Bramon winery, and Eugene drove us to Capetown stopping in Hermanus en route and driving the scenic route from there. Our experience was greatly enhanced by the the knowledge Eugene shared with us at every opportunity. We felt respected, cared for, and much more educated about South African life and customs. Thank you Eugene! Thank you Gecko tours!!
Written 7 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Kablab,
This is such a heart warming review,
We love it when we get this much loved and appreciative feedback from our clients.
Eugene is extremely well at what he does as well as all our other Guides, I will make sure that he gets this message.
We trust that you will carry the memorable time that you had in South Africa with us and we certainly hope to see you again in the near future.
Warm Regards,
Gecko Team
Written 12 March 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Annalize T
1 contribution
Dec 2023 • Solo
Traveled from Plett to Cape Town return during December 2023. This is peak season on South African roads. The driver was excellent and the trip was efficient and safe. Thank you for an awesome experience. I will definitely recommend Gecko for transfers.
Written 2 January 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi Annalize,
Thank you for the good review,
Our staff prides themselves in their daily duties by performing on their very best every day.
We thank you for your support and hope to see you again soon,
Regards,
Gecko Team
Written 12 March 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Adrian & Sara
South Yarmouth, MA3 contributions
Nov 2023 • Friends
Gecko were recommended to me by a friend, and so pleased they were.
From the outset, Sharon and the office team considered our requests and built us a tour which met every bit of our requirement. We played simply the best golf courses (inc Fancourt Lynks & Montagu, and Pinnacle Point plus Arabella); organisation was perfect.
4 of us had a personal minibus and driver/guide service for our entire stay, our guide Eugine was fantastic. Our hotels were pre-booked and always of great quality, Eugine was always on time and ensured we kept to our busy schedule - he even took care of arranging for us to go Shark Cage diving t very short notice.
Eugine became part of our trip, enjoying lunches with him and learning so much from his passion of his home country
.
Gecko showed flexibility throughout, nothing was too much trouble.
Only regret in recommending them so highly is the potential for them being too busy for me next time.
Thanks all at Gecko, a first class service, you should be very proud of what you do.
From the outset, Sharon and the office team considered our requests and built us a tour which met every bit of our requirement. We played simply the best golf courses (inc Fancourt Lynks & Montagu, and Pinnacle Point plus Arabella); organisation was perfect.
4 of us had a personal minibus and driver/guide service for our entire stay, our guide Eugine was fantastic. Our hotels were pre-booked and always of great quality, Eugine was always on time and ensured we kept to our busy schedule - he even took care of arranging for us to go Shark Cage diving t very short notice.
Eugine became part of our trip, enjoying lunches with him and learning so much from his passion of his home country
.
Gecko showed flexibility throughout, nothing was too much trouble.
Only regret in recommending them so highly is the potential for them being too busy for me next time.
Thanks all at Gecko, a first class service, you should be very proud of what you do.
Written 4 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
katrin02
Mareuil Les Meaux, France85 contributions
Sept 2023 • Couples
We really enjoyed our trip with Gecko Tours.
Everything was well planned and Sharon organised a personalised tour for us.
We loved everything but especially the Meerkats, Botlierskop Safari and Tsitsikamma National Park.
Eugène was the best guide and chauffeur we could imagine and amazing company.
Always on time and flexible if we wanted to change something on the programme.
He taught us a lot about South Africa's history and culture , nature and wildlife, took us to the best vineyards and wine tasting and got us the best tables in the best restaurants. Thank you again Eugene !
The hotels Gecko Tours booked for us were out of this world, some of the nicest we stayed in and we have been travelling a lot. We highly recommend Gecko Tours !
Everything was well planned and Sharon organised a personalised tour for us.
We loved everything but especially the Meerkats, Botlierskop Safari and Tsitsikamma National Park.
Eugène was the best guide and chauffeur we could imagine and amazing company.
Always on time and flexible if we wanted to change something on the programme.
He taught us a lot about South Africa's history and culture , nature and wildlife, took us to the best vineyards and wine tasting and got us the best tables in the best restaurants. Thank you again Eugene !
The hotels Gecko Tours booked for us were out of this world, some of the nicest we stayed in and we have been travelling a lot. We highly recommend Gecko Tours !
Written 15 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Katrin,
From the Gecko Team we would like to thank you for such a great review on our services,
We give our best when we do a personalized tour with hand pick accommodation activities etc. to make the tour memorable.
I will make sure to get the message to Eugene, he absolutely loves what he does and so do I.
We hope to see you again when you visit South Africa.
Regards,
Gecko Team
Written 12 March 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Rajmukh
Leeds, UK46 contributions
Oct 2023 • Family
It is not often one runs out of superlatives while visiting a place. But that is exactly what happened to us in our South Africa, garden route trip. We are a family of four who have never visited Africa, let alone the rainbow nation. We arrived with trepidation. I put all my trust in Gecko Tours to book the whole trip for us. All we did was to book the flights. Sharon, the owner of Gecko Tours planned the itinerary and Nelis, her husband executed it to perfection. We were picked up from Cape Town airport by Nelis in his luxury vehicle and we stayed in the Commodore hotel at the V&A waterfront. The hotel was great to live in, and the food served was fantastic. It was fresh with excellent choices and cooked to perfection. We had 2 dinners in the hotel and were very pleased. V&A waterfront was as expected with shops and entertainment. Although the food we had there was good, we felt it to be slightly overpriced. But you get to have the ambience and the excitement of being in the V&A waterfront. At Cape Town, we went up the Table Mountain in the cable car. The views were stunning, and the terrain, wildlife and flora were unique. Besides multiple experiences like the vineyards wine tasting or chocolate tasting, the Seal Island, penguin watching, Cape Point, Cape of Good Hope and whale watching in Hermanus which were brilliant experiences, our absolute highlight would be the visit to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Nelis, as ever, pointed us to the unmissable bits and the canopy walk is certainly not to be missed. Gecko tours organised the places to stay, the experiences and the travel. All the places we stayed were wonderful. We were pleased with the Commodore Hotel at Cape Town but our stay at Mooiplaas guest house or Amanzi Lodge at Knysna was out of this world. The Sky Villa hotel at Plettenberg Bay had views to die for while the final days of the tour were at Lalibela Safari Park which was once in a lifetime experience. The food we ate in South Africa was amazing. Nelis suggested places to eat which varied from great restaurants with stunning views to lunch in a vineyard. The ambience and the culinary experience will be in our memories forever. Where else can you see a humpback whale jumping while you are having your fish or a magnificent giraffe joining you for lunch from the other side of the lake? The travel was comfortable with stunning views. Finally, the animals. We were blessed with great weather and were lucky to see whales, ostriches, penguins, hundreds of birds, big cats, small cats, giraffes, rhinos, hippos, hundreds of antelopes, and lots and lots of other animals. It was a humbling experience seeing animals in their habitat at liberty to behave as they want. Gecko Tours organised everything for us except the flights and we did not feel we could have done better doing it ourselves. The whole trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience done in luxury. The places, the experiences, the travel, the food, and the animals were all perfect. We recommend Gecko Tours wholeheartedly. Nelis was extremely knowledgeable, gave us plenty of background information, and made the perfect recommendations for restaurants. Thanks to the Gecko Tours team, we had our best holiday so far.
Written 2 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kate Z
12 contributions
Sept 2023 • Couples
My husband and I hired Gecko Tours to be our private guide for our 9-day trip on the Garden Route from Cape Town. We were in communication with Sharon who initially gave us a great sample itinerary to work with and then we were able to customize it to our liking. The quote was affordable. Our driver, Nelis kept us safe and entertained with stories and titbits of the towns we drove through. He also gave great recommendations of where to eat. He got to each destination efficiently and gave us a good timeframe of how much time we had at each place. We were able to check off all the activities we wanted to do. The accommodations were amazing! The vehicle was comfortable. Although Cape Town and the Garden Route don’t seem to be unsafe, it gave us peace of mind to let a local drive us. Thank you Sharon and Nelis for such a memorable experience in South Africa!
Written 18 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
David O
3 contributions
Apr 2023 • Friends
Fantastic tour organised by Gecko Tours along the garden route including a stop at Botlierskop game reserve. Eugene our tour guide was an excellent guide and helped us fill do extra visits as requested and gave us the encouragement to do Bloukrans Bungee.
Written 29 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi David,
Thank you for taking the time to review your experience with us,
Eugene is very much good at what he does and he certainly does go beyond his call of duty to keep our clients happy and comfortable,
We hope to see you again soon.
Regards,
Gecko Team
Written 12 March 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Trace
7 contributions
Apr 2023 • Solo
Booked the return shuttle service to Cape Town for the Easter weekend. My trip down was amazing, on time all the way until we got past Somerset. An accident had occurred at midday and the driver had to find his way through the area to get us safely to our destination. Great trip going.
Unfortunately my experience going back was not. We got picked up late due to Easter traffic and then in Somerset we had to wait a long time, due to someone being at the pick up area. A long and dark journey home - pretty unpleasant. Arrived pretty late.
A suggestion for the future - if someone is late or cannot be contacted, they should be left behind as it clearly states on the ticket, what time you need to be there for.
Also my ticket which I booked in March stated I was to be dropped off at Greenpoint Stadium which didn't happen - possibly an sms/email could've been sent to the change.
Unfortunately my experience going back was not. We got picked up late due to Easter traffic and then in Somerset we had to wait a long time, due to someone being at the pick up area. A long and dark journey home - pretty unpleasant. Arrived pretty late.
A suggestion for the future - if someone is late or cannot be contacted, they should be left behind as it clearly states on the ticket, what time you need to be there for.
Also my ticket which I booked in March stated I was to be dropped off at Greenpoint Stadium which didn't happen - possibly an sms/email could've been sent to the change.
Written 11 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear traveller
Thank you for your review.
It’s hard to satisfy everyone especially with heavy traffic during holiday seasons and we really cannot do anything about that.
We did send a notice out per mail and sms of our change in pickup and drop off point in CT, maybe your mail is in our junk mail.
As to the waiting, yes we do not wait for late passengers but I do believe something we can assist passengers with a good reason as a once off.
Thanks
Sharon
Written 12 April 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
bgale1984
Seattle2 contributions
Jan 2023
Working with Gecko Tours was a fantastic experience! Knowing we had 3 days unplanned when we arrived in Cape Town South Africa before our official 21 day tour with another company we worked with Shannon to create a custom 3 day 2 night tour of the Garden Route. Our guide Eugene and all of the activities done were a wonderful way to start our month in Southern Africa. I would highly recommend Gecko Tours! Next time I will definitely spend more time in South Africa.
Written 13 February 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Bgale,
Thank you for taking the time to review your experience with the Gecko Team,
We are glad that we could've been part of your South African trip and that you had a wonderful stay in this Beautiful place of ours. We hope to see you again soon.
Regards,
Gecko Team
Written 12 March 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
M_Prabhakar1
Leeds, UK2 contributions
Nov 2022
We chose South Africa with Gecko tours for our honeymoon and it was the best trip of our lives! All the planning was taken care of and tailored to our needs, which made the trip straight forward. The Gecko team saved us countless of hours of planning our honeymoon, for which we are very grateful.
Our tour guide, Eugene, was really friendly, funny and knowledgeable - it was a real treat to learn the history of the local areas we travelled to from him.
Eugene also recommended adventure activities that we could do in different places (such as adventure caving and zip lining), and we liked that the tour was flexible to add in these options.
Overall, we would fully recommend Gecko tours to anyone, and we'd like to go with them again for future tours!
Thank you all for helping us have the best holiday ever!
Our tour guide, Eugene, was really friendly, funny and knowledgeable - it was a real treat to learn the history of the local areas we travelled to from him.
Eugene also recommended adventure activities that we could do in different places (such as adventure caving and zip lining), and we liked that the tour was flexible to add in these options.
Overall, we would fully recommend Gecko tours to anyone, and we'd like to go with them again for future tours!
Thank you all for helping us have the best holiday ever!
Written 28 January 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear M_Prab,
We would like to thank you for taking time and reviewing your tour with us,
We could not be more happy that you selected us to plan such a special vacation for you,
Needless to say that Eugene always ensures that his clients are comfortable and happy.
We would love to host you again when you visit the Beautiful Garden Route or Cape Town.
Regards,
Gecko Team
Written 12 March 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Hi, I'm planning a road trip from Cape Town to Plettenberg Bay with the shuttle.
The dates Wednesday 21 February 2024 and return back to Cape Town on 4 March 2024.
will the shuttle be travelling on those dates?
Please advise.
kind thanks and regards
Lorraine
Hi, I wanted to know if you did any kind of tour to the different vineyards of the garden route. Thank you
Sharon L
Plettenberg Bay, South Africa1 contribution
Good morning
Thank you for your enquiry!
Yes we do, what do you have in mind?
Thanks
Sharon