Blackwater Tours - Kayenta, Arizona

Brad G.

Hi, we took our tour today, thanks.

We enjoyed it, but our tour guide was hard to understand on the speaker. And mostly just stayed in the truck while we took pictures.

Other tour guides got out with their people and talked to them about Navajo history, culture, art...

That's what we were hoping for too.

G C.

Highly disappointed with this tour/tour company. I would not recommend. This was the culmination of our 5 day 50th birthday road trip and something we had been planning to end on a great tour in an unbelievable location. From the moment we "checked in" I knew something was off. As we were walking through the parking lot earlier I overheard some other people talking about their tour and how disappointed they were in that the tour guide was horrible and told them nothing as far as the history of the area. At this point my senses were up for something not great. We walked up to a booth in the parking lot and told one of the people there what tour we were there for but they never checked/verified my reservation and/or name to see if it was actually us and directed us to an open air tour 4x4 truck. At this point a light rain started to fall and i ran back to my car to grab my waterproof rain jacket. While the air was chilly we were both dressed appropriately for some 40 degree weather. 1 other couple was booked for our tour, which seemed strange since the truck could hold 12 people. As we descended down the very rough dirt/sand road into the monument area the rain picked up and I knew this wasn't going to go our way. We passed several other tour companies whose tour trucks were full and the tour guide was talking through a speaker to the tourists giving them insight, etc. Also some were singing and changing and appeared happy. The tour was a miserable experience, our tour guide was horrible - he offered no insight about the history and importance of this land to the Navajo people and constantly repeated himself with the few facts he told us (this area was used for Western movies - come on we couldn't get more backstory about the John Ford westerns filmed there. The weather grew worse with heavy rain at points and temperature dipped below 40 degrees. The truck got stuck several times in the mud and sand and at one point another tour guide had to help dig our truck out of the mud/sand. By the end of the tour we were thoroughly cold to the bone and wet and we exited the tour truck as quickly as we could to warm up and find a bathroom.
Cons:
1.) Tour guide: horrible, no personable interaction, no insight, no history offered up (side note we did a tour earlier that morning at Antelope Canyon and had a wonderful time). We overheard several other tour guides with other tour companies giving the detailed history and insight I so wanted to hear and yearned for.
2.) Open Aired Truck: if the weather is nice or warm I guess this would be a good tour but 'cause of the rain and cold it made it miserable. Other tour trucks from other companies had either a plexiglass shield on the front of the truck or rolled down plastic windows to help with the weather - this company didn't. Blankets offered to guests would be a nice option or at least some bigger notification on the tour website about changing weather conditions and the tour company offers nothing to guests to combat the weather.
3.) Check-In/Operations: seemed really odd that our reservation wasn't verified when we "checked-in". We saw more then one Blackwater Tour truck that wasn't full or only had 2 people on it. Seems like a horrible way to run a company and offer a memorable experience. The entire operation smacked of unprofessionalism.
4.) All the Navajo shops/stalls located throughout the tour were closed - another one of the reasons we wanted to do the tour was to buy some authentic Navajo jewelry from onsight dealers.
Pros:
1.) Even with the rain and heavy cloud cover the views were great.
Sorry that's the only pro for the entire tour.

I would not recommend this tour company to anyone.

Claire B.

Could not recommend this experience more. My husband and I booked a sunrise tour and learned so much about the history and importance of this land to the Diné/Navajo peoples. The tour was 3 hours and well worth the cost and the experience was unforgettable.

Rainie L.

We didn’t book the tour in advance, and the price at the booth was $35 higher than the price they have on their website, which was a bit disappointing but totally understandable.

We enjoyed seeing the backcountry of the monument valley and we were actually glad that we decided to go on a tour.

However, our tour guide seemed like she was already done for the day. We were hoping to learn more about the story and culture behind the monuments, but sadly she only talked about what each monument was called and that was it. There was no conversation involved whatsoever, we were bored not even half way through.

Instead of actively engaging with us, she stayed in the truck the entire time while we were out there taking pictures, except for one time that she walked us to a picture point of one the arches. Other than that, she would only tell us that we have 10 mins for pictures and just wait in the truck.

Other tour guides would walk with their people and talk about the history and culture of monument valley and made their tour so engaging.

Since we’re not from the US, we even thought if we were the reason why she was not very enthusiastic. My friend tried to ask questions such as if the hole in the arch will be bigger, she simply replied her with a one word answer - “no”. I can’t believe we are spending hundreds of dollars only to have an experience like this.

L A.

we stopped by a burger king(?) in Kayenta AZ on our Way to the Four Corner Monument for Lunch and saw that they have a display of the movie Code Talker

Herbert W.

Very much enjoyed the tour with our tour guide, Willie. We received a more personal touch because of his personal involvement and local knowledge. Took us to some spots that others might not see. The sleeping giant, totem pole and cowboy boot were our favorite's along with the iconic "mittens".
Would highly recommend Blackwater tours.

Brian R.

There's a lot of tour companies serving Monument Valley but only one Larry. He was one of the best tour guides I've had any place in the world. He was knowledge. He was friendly. He was personable. He was real... No fake, forced friendliness. He told personal stories and asked us what we wanted. I'm also not a big fan of over the top dramatic tour guides so he was perfect for me. The tour itself was a once in a lifetime (for me anyways... Larry sees it daily) filled with dramatic vistas and photo opps (which Larry provided lots of experienced tips). I honestly can't say how pleased my wife and I were with the experience.
It also helped that we picked an early time slot in off-season and had Larry all to ourselves. 4/29 at 9:30 am.

SG

Larry was our guide to the private tour. He took us through roads not open to public to which he had the permit. He explained every detail of the Monument Valley and made us understand the culture and history of the place and people.