Reputable, Professional Company with Basic, Luxury and Private Options So you've decided you want to visit Socotra, good for you! And now you've found you must use a registered tour company and are wondering how do I know if they are legit, and if they are, are they any good.
The quick answer is Traveling Socotra is 100% legitimate and excellent!
They also offer a "luxury" option which if you want a bit more comfort and privacy is wonderful (I chose this route).
The longer answer is, I was thrilled with Traveling Socotra. From my initial contact, through geopolitical events that moved the flight from Abu Dhabi to Jeddah, and further world events that made me contemplate changing my travel dates (I did not), they were there every step of the way.
From booking the flight to Socotra, to getting my visa they handled the up front logistics beautifully. When the flight, airline, and departure country changed they rebooked me and are working on my behalf to try and get a refund from the initial airline.
For the actual island visit they talked through options like staying at a hotel in the main city of Hadibu vs camping vs luxury camping. I opted for "Luxury" camping as they shared that camping is the best way to see and experience the Island and I am convinced they are right. Given I'm not much for camping I decided to go for Luxury and private to make it as comfortable as possible.
"Luxury" vs standard camping .. As shared I'm not much for camping, but if you are OK with the basic single person tent in a shared campground where the tents are fairly close together then standard camping is probably OK for you. Not so much for me however.
You can see on their website that the luxury tent is substantially larger and has a queen sized air mattress. This coupled with the private campground really made a big difference for me as being a bit more isolated really added to the overall experience. If you want to spend time with fellow travelers then you'd want a group tour with the shared campground. All depends what you like and what is great is they have options.
The entire support team on the Island was great. Nizar my guide, Salim my driver, Aboudi my cook and Ali all took wonderful care of me. They were fun, engaging and clearly loved their Island.
A very positive thing Traveling Socotra does is picking up plastic off of the beach as unfortunately there is a bit of a problem in some areas. It was nice to be able to help out and do a small part to cleanup a beach.
Was everything flawless? No of course not, you are visiting a remote Island that is part of developing nation that has some pretty big struggles to contend with.
There was a short delay meeting up with my guide at the airport, I asked another guide (from a different company) if he knew Traveling Socotra, he did (I think these guides all pretty much know each other) he was super friendly and took me to the traveling Socotra guide (who as there for a different guest) but he assured me my guide would be there shortly and he was.
The SUV (an older Toyota Land Cruiser) was comfortable and the AC worked great. It did breakdown one day at the camp (fuel pump), they had a second vehicle (the cook's) which we used for the day and by the time we got back the SUV was fixed.
The gyrocopter captain left the island so that is no longer offered and my camel ride didn't happen as the camel person wasn't there when we arrived.
Nothing insurmountable and in many ways it added to the overall experience and reminded you just how fortunate you are to be there experiencing a place so few do.
Highly recommend Traveling Socotra!