Chimu Adventures Reviews 

Prompt and professional response to queries

We were extremely happy with Gavin. He was prompt returning emails and gathering info for us.

Craig is always very fast to reply to my queries. I really look forward to the trip in November

Very helpful, fast response

I was very pleased with the prompt service I received in response to my initial email. I was able to book and pay my deposit very promptly. I look forward to receiving more information regarding the tour.. than you for your excellent service.

Had lots of help with this trip with lots of things I wouldn’t have been able to do and know to make this trip of a Life Time happen 😊

Booking the holiday was easy.
A good guide on how to navigate the Chili visa forms, the use of English on the site and google translate.
Hoping the actual tour goes to plan and that the on-site Chimu specialist and tour guides are able to quickly deal with any arising problems.

Our trip covered Brazil, Argentina and Antarctica. We had a great range of hotel choices, tour companies and opportunities. The information sheet provided at our hotel in Brazil included helpful information on tipping and gratuities - which is always a confusing concept for Aussies and was greatly appreciated.

I will neve book with Chimu again. They are basically a go between and the actually company I ended up with was Intrepid Travel to go Antarctica. Fantastic trip and Intrepid was awesome.

The issue I have with Intrepid was their customer service. As stated by one person, Gavin Breeze always seemed to be a way and it would take him months to answer my emails.

After the trip, it even got worse. They owed me a refund of $790, but all I did is get the run around of how they couldn't refund my credit card for more than I paid in the past 2 years. I paid in full before the pandemic so they were using that as an excuse not to pay me.

If you book with them just understand that they have very poor communication. I would book directly with whatever cruise line or company they are going to take you to instead of through them.

I recently completed an Antarctica Air Cruise trip and was so disappointed with both my trip and my overall customer service experience I had with Chimu Adventures. It was falsely advertised as going to “Antarctica” but we didn’t go to the peninsula or see any of the amazing things listed in the description or photos. It was so misleading and most of the travelers who went felt deceived. If I knew at the time of booking this trip was just going to the Shetland Islands, which is like the Puerto Rico of Antarctica, I would have never booked this trip and spent thousands of dollars on something that is definitely not worth the time, money, or effort it took to get there, to only have one day to see grey rocky lands. The fact that we weren't even close to the peninsula is NOT made clear in the itinerary. Also the itinerary we received said we would be exploring well into the evening, making it seem like we would be on shore the entire day. This was definitely NOT the case and even the staff said on a good weather day, shore landings only last for a few hours, not well into the evening like Chimu indicates.

Despite this, my biggest issues were the poor customer service experience I had throughout the booking process. My original travel agent either quit or was let go from Chimu, however his emails weren't forwarded to another travel agent. I tried contacting him several times as I was getting "final monies due" emails during the middle of COVID, but it took several weeks before I got connected to a new travel agent, Gavin, and to even find out that my previous agent was no longer there. I had several communication issues with Gavin. He was always on vacation or it would take him at least a month to respond back to my emails and he never would have an alternative contact for me to reach via email. It was VERY difficult to get a hold of Chimu.

And finally my biggest issue I have is that Chimu openly lies about their refund policy. I originally made this request/booking through Chimu back in January 2020 then cancelled a few times due to the pandemic. Everywhere I've read though in the Terms and Conditions listed with Chimu states that as long as the request is provided within 125 day notice, which I had provided in July 2022, I would receive my entire refund. I even sent a screenshot of their policy that I was referencing. HOWEVER, Gavin said this was not the case and was up to Antarctica 21's policy, which they were only going to give me $500 back, in which I would lose $1,000. This is NOT clear in your refund policy that this is actually up to the cruise company's policy. When I originally booked, I thought you guys were the cruise company.

I feel extremely scammed by both Chimu Adventures and Antarctica 21. I even sent this feedback to Chimu Adventures a few weeks ago in which they never responded. No surprise as they've been so difficult to get ahold of. I will never book a trip with them again.

Fantastic expedition team, great ship, marvellous food, and the most spectacular destination imaginable!

Your guides who hosted us for Cuzco and Antarctica and Iguazu Falls were amazing, but your guides in Buenos Aires let you/us down a couple of times so that is why we deducted a star.
The tours timeselves were very good and suited what we were looking for.

The staff and crew were very friendly and extremely competent. Always felt safe and looked after. Guides had excellent knowledge of local floor and fauna. Good to see that local people were employed wherever possible.

We travelled with Chimu on the world's first commercial flight to the South Pole. It exceeded our expectations. We were almost 5 hours over Antarctica. The views were incredible and we saw all the key landmarks. Very well organised, great staff including the Qantas staff who were excellent. Highly recommended.

This was a bucket list trip which ran for a month with no hitches. Chimu worked with us (over several years due to Covid) to adjust the perfect itinerary for our independent cruise & tour. At every destination we were met by drivers who took us to fine hotels. All flights were on time. Highlights were our Ponant Emblematic Antarctica cruise, plus staying in Patagonia at the fabulous all-inclusive Hotel Las Torres where we did an unforgettable hike & horse trek. From Antarctica we went to the sub-tropics, stayed in a lovely jungle lodge and did guided tours of both sides of Iguazzu. Their suggested tours were easily modified to suit us, and we had representatives on the ground in each country - not needed but we were welcomed in English by mobile phone. If you're looking for Antarctic or South America travel specialists, choose Chimu.

Our trip was to Antarctica. We flew from Brisbane to Buenos Aires via Aukland and Santiago. The Santiago leg had a 2 hour delay, so by the time we landed in Buenos Aires we had been travelling for 30 hours, without sleep. Despite the late arrival, we were greeted at the airport by a friendly chimu representative. All the way to our hotel we were informed about Buenos Aires- history, sights, safety, next day's itinerary. This was the case at each stop in Argentina.
We did a mixture of chimu excursions and self excursions. We were always given the itinerary for that destination, and were always picked up punctually.
From Buenos Aires we flew to Ushuaia and then took a 10 day expedition cruise to Antarctica, which we can't speak highly enough about- knowledgeable expedition leaders, comfortable accommodation, great zodiac outings and wildlife encounters. They kept us all well informed of any necessary changes.
After the cruise we flew from Ushuaia to Bariloche via Buenos Aires, a round about route, but the only one available. From Bariloche we travelled by bus and boat across the Andes.
In Chilé the chimu team was not as good as the former. English was often limited. We were met outside our hotel from the bus, and escorted inside, which was completely unnecessary and not given the itinerary for the Puerto Varas stay. We had booked a day trip to Chiloé island, which was rather disappointing, but not helped by the weather. We had thought, as it was a private tour, we would have some say in what we saw and did, but this was not the case, including where we lunched.
We flew back to Santiago and from there, home.
Overall, we loved the trip, and the chimu reps were friendly, punctual and informative. Their support was exceptional. We were able to choose what we did where, which tours to take and where and when to do our own thing.

A thorough and professional approach to all aspects of ocean safety - which engenders trust for passengers well-being throughout the voyage. The guides are very knowledgeable about every aspect of marine life and glaciology and make every effort to inform and teach about every aspect of the Antarctic’s unique and fragile environment, and to protect its plants and animals; and heritage protection generally.

In the past I have typically managed my own bookings for international travel independently. The world of travel has changed dramatically and I felt it was appropriate to have the support of a reliable travel agent.

I am 100% satisfied with the service that Chimu has offered from providing advice and guidance in planning my travels, to coordinating local travel services for meet and greet, accommodation and transport, and local tour options.

Everything was well done:
-The pre-trip advice we received was helpful and reliable
- the information given during our trip was timely and accurate
-the people we interacted with were all pleasant, polite and well informed and had excellent English (including tour guides, hotel staff, meet and greet staff)
- the response when we asked for support around some flight changes fast, and helpful.

Travelling in some parts of South America can currently be quite intimidating, but Chimu provided the support to allow us to visit with a high level of confidence. I appreciated the Australian-based team, and most particularly the local Chimu agents and employees in both Argentina and Chile.

I have no hesitation in recommending Chimu without reservation.