Wanda Mines
Wanda Mines
3.5
7:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Monday
7:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Tuesday
7:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Wednesday
7:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Thursday
7:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Friday
7:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Saturday
7:30 AM - 6:30 PM
Sunday
7:30 AM - 6:30 PM
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3.5
1,668 reviews
Excellent
383
Very good
638
Average
486
Poor
103
Terrible
58
Janice C
4 contributions
Mar 2020
Inspite of other poor reviews we did visit. It is not easy to get to unless you have your own car or a driver. Lonf way for the bus stop.
It was interesting but we did feel 'ripped' off. Paid to get in, paid for a guide and then pressure in the shop - but we could cope with that. It was interesting but a big build up with little delivered. The mine was not a working mine and we just saw in the entrance and it was very sanitised.
We freely purchased an expensive neckpiece with a guarantee. Had it valued on return to New Zealand and the 'gems' were man made!! Don't buy in the shop!
It was interesting but we did feel 'ripped' off. Paid to get in, paid for a guide and then pressure in the shop - but we could cope with that. It was interesting but a big build up with little delivered. The mine was not a working mine and we just saw in the entrance and it was very sanitised.
We freely purchased an expensive neckpiece with a guarantee. Had it valued on return to New Zealand and the 'gems' were man made!! Don't buy in the shop!
Written 20 May 2020
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.
CristianeD_11
Miami, FL70 contributions
Nov 2014 • Family
The mine tour is a trap. They just want to take people to their store to sell their super over inflated semi-precious stones. When I came back from my trip I took The stones to be appraised by three different jewelers, including a gemologist. The three stones were appraised at 1/3 of the price that they charged me at their factory. I paid Over a US$ 1,000.00 for stones that were worth less than $300. Please do not fall into their trap. Just don't go. You will be robbed for sure. And most of the time when you cross the Brazil border your entry does not allow you to go that far into Argentina. You can become illegal in the country and have further legal problems.
Esse turismo desta mina é uma roubalheira. Eles só querem levar os turistas em suas lojas para venderem suas pedras semi preciosas super inflacionadas. Paguei mais de US$ 1000.00 por pedras que foram avaliadas por menos de $300.00. Foram avaliadas por 3 joalheiros distintos. Eles são uns ladrões, vendendo gato por Lebre.
Esse turismo desta mina é uma roubalheira. Eles só querem levar os turistas em suas lojas para venderem suas pedras semi preciosas super inflacionadas. Paguei mais de US$ 1000.00 por pedras que foram avaliadas por menos de $300.00. Foram avaliadas por 3 joalheiros distintos. Eles são uns ladrões, vendendo gato por Lebre.
Written 6 January 2015
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.
H S
London, UK1 contribution
Jan 2014 • Friends
The tour itself was interesting. However, at the end of the tour, they bring you to the shop where they try to sell you jewelry. We declined, so they took us to an associated store to look at less commercial stones. We bought one aquamarine (they tried to sell us 3). We took it back to the UK where we got it valued and checked out, and the verdict is that they are fake. DO NOT buy from here.
Written 19 February 2014
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.
fs1
Montreal, Canada30 contributions
A very boring tourist trap of a stop on most tours to San Ignacio. For 4 pesos, you get a tour of the mines and a forced trip into their gift shop. I, for one, couldn't wait to get onto the bus and leave.
Written 10 January 2006
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.
Tony D
Antwerp Province, Belgium8 contributions
Nov 2014 • Couples
We picked up a flyer, took a taxi and ended up at Wanda mine. Don't think you're seeing a mine that takes you down to 30 or even 60 metres. We entered one of a few horizontal tunnels of approximately 100m in which a "miner" was hacking away. We had an average English speaking, well-meaning guide, explaining the origins of the mine and gently ushers you from "gemmological" to "commercial", ending up in a rather expensive gift store.
Written 21 February 2015
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.
OrnellaMU
Puerto Madryn, Argentina12 contributions
May 2021 • Couples
As a tourist and as A Geologist I would like to remark that the guide was not enough accurate. The lack of knowledge was high, he did not know anything about the formation not even about geodes and amatists.... was really poor. And most of all because he invented most of what he was telling to us. He also told us that one of the owners was a geologist.... I am ashamed about him... The mining company should teach their employees more about what they have there. Knowledge is the only tool that makes you freedom... and most of all because many tourist need to know the truth, not everyone is a geologist! Please, someone must to do something.... it is not good.
Written 27 May 2021
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.
ladytrave
Amsterdam, The Netherlands71 contributions
Mar 2019 • Solo
It's about 45 minutes from Iguazú by public bus. The bus drops you at a dirt road from where it is a 3 km walk (and 3 km back) to the mine. There are also taxi's waiting and I took one for AR$300 return. The driver gave his phone number and I could call whenever I wanted to return. Within 10 minutes he was there to take me back to the busstop, perfect! Arriving at the mine there was a guide who spoke good English who gave me a private tour. It's a short tour, about half an hour including his replies on the many questions I had. But it was very interesting and amazing to see how all these different kind of semi precious stones are found in one place. I payed AR$100 entrance but the guides are not employed by the mine and depend on tips so I gave him a good one which he deserved. Included in the entrance is the museum and a small park where they show different plants and trees and you can listen to some Guaraní stories in English, Spanish or Portugese. Very nice! There is also a good restaurant. The shop where the guide drops you at the end of the tour is loaded with all kind of stones, jewelery and objects made of the semi precious stones. But very expensive, prices are in US$ and the strange thing is that they mix painted stones with the natural ones and there might be plastic as well, I don't know. But I think in a shop like this they should only sell the real thing as now if you want to buy you don't know what you are buying. Then it is much cheaper to buy elsewhere, in jewelery shops you know it's real (I hope) and in tourist shops not, but it is cheap and you can take the risk. I definitely recommend the mine, the museum and the park and if you are hungry the restaurant. But I also recommend not to buy anything in this confusing shop.
Written 9 March 2019
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.
Charles L
Overland Park, KS55 contributions
Sept 2018 • Solo
Visited the Wanda Mines on my way to Puerto Iguazu, Argentina. My guide, Gabriel was a young man who spoke 4 different languages and he took me on a tour of the mines and showed me precious stones like Quartz, Topaz and Amethyst which were still in the ground in the caves waiting to be excavated, cut and polished and then put on the sales floor of the jewelry shop ready to be sold. The entire visit was very fascinating and after the tour, I was taken to the showroom of the jewelry shop where I could observe and even purchase the semi precious stones.
Written 27 October 2018
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.
Matthew Barnes Faulhaber
St. Petersburg, FL196 contributions
Oct 2014 • Couples
Before visiting Iguazu with family I researched all of the local things to do. As I love rocks and gemstones I was really excited about this gem mine. I had to go. Half of our group was tired from days of hiking the trails at Iguazu but I didn't come to Argentina to miss this opportunity.
We paid a very friendly driver a flat rate to take us to the mine. The driver was from a tour company that was set up at our hotel, the Sheraton in Iguazu park itself. They seemed trustworthy and were very professional so we set off.
An hour drive or so and we were at Mina de Wanda. They provided us an english speaking tour guide which was great because we learned a lot on our trip. The guide took us into the mines which were not deep, just horizontal shafts blasted into the solid rock. Once the amethyst is discovered they gently chip away at the geode attempting to keep it as intact as possible. It was neat being able to see geodes freshly uncovered after millions of years of being buried.
After the tour they took us into the gift shop. This is where most of the other reviewers seemed to have problems. We must just not be idiots and found some amazing deals. We bought a few hydroliths, geodes with water still trapped inside. We also spent a good hour in the cut gemstone room with a gem expert. We bought several different sizes and types of cut stones which would have been monstrously expensive here in the US. We have had some mounted into jewelry and others are just pretty in the jewelry box.
The gift shop was a gift shop. I would ignore the bad reviews, tourists are often cheapskates and want everything for free or at least dirt cheap. You will pay for a ride to the mine and pay for a tour guide but it was really all worth it to this gem loving guy.
Mina de wanda was a highlight of my LIFE!! :)
We paid a very friendly driver a flat rate to take us to the mine. The driver was from a tour company that was set up at our hotel, the Sheraton in Iguazu park itself. They seemed trustworthy and were very professional so we set off.
An hour drive or so and we were at Mina de Wanda. They provided us an english speaking tour guide which was great because we learned a lot on our trip. The guide took us into the mines which were not deep, just horizontal shafts blasted into the solid rock. Once the amethyst is discovered they gently chip away at the geode attempting to keep it as intact as possible. It was neat being able to see geodes freshly uncovered after millions of years of being buried.
After the tour they took us into the gift shop. This is where most of the other reviewers seemed to have problems. We must just not be idiots and found some amazing deals. We bought a few hydroliths, geodes with water still trapped inside. We also spent a good hour in the cut gemstone room with a gem expert. We bought several different sizes and types of cut stones which would have been monstrously expensive here in the US. We have had some mounted into jewelry and others are just pretty in the jewelry box.
The gift shop was a gift shop. I would ignore the bad reviews, tourists are often cheapskates and want everything for free or at least dirt cheap. You will pay for a ride to the mine and pay for a tour guide but it was really all worth it to this gem loving guy.
Mina de wanda was a highlight of my LIFE!! :)
Written 3 September 2015
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.
roach808
Juneau, AK842 contributions
Mar 2015 • Couples
First, we took a bus into Wanda. The bus stop wasn't really clear, so we ended up stopping past the entrance to the Wanda mine a bit and had to walk on the side of the highway for quite a bit.
Upon arriving, we were met by someone trying to get us to buy a taxi ride into the actual entrance to the mine as it was 4km in. We were told it would help us bypass the begging children, and tired of walking we took her up on it and she connected us with a taxi driver immediately. Of course he said she'd quoted us a one-way price so it was double and he wanted full payment up front, but did give us his phone number on a flyer. It ended up being $150ARS for two persons roundtrip. Cost us more than the bus ride ($70 one way for two persons via Rio Uraquay).
Once we got there we did get a very nice tour guide (Gabriel) who wanted to try out his English on us. He did a nice job and though there isn't really much to really tour/ see he answered all our questions. Coincidentally we didn't have to call our taxi driver, he just happened to be there when we were ready to return.
We did catch the Theme Park of legendary creatures and it was silly. Kids under about 10 would probably enjoy that and the Dinosaur Museum we did not visit.
To catch a bus back to Puerto Iguazu we did get information from a few people. We could go into town (for a few extra pesos with our taxi driver) to go to the bus terminal where they would leave every 20-30 minutes they said or just wait directly across the highway from the mine entrance sign (again, the actual entrance is 4km from that highway roadside sign) in the sun to try to get the right bus.
The taxi driver was sitting and hanging out with his crew on the side with the entrance and did make eye contact with us telling us when the busses we saw coming were NOT ours. The bus we took back was $25ARS per person, using a different company - Empreza Argentina.
All in all it took a day of our time (basically) which was fine as we realized we had a day to burn. Shouldn't have really stayed two full days and two partial days in Puerto Iguazu.
Upon arriving, we were met by someone trying to get us to buy a taxi ride into the actual entrance to the mine as it was 4km in. We were told it would help us bypass the begging children, and tired of walking we took her up on it and she connected us with a taxi driver immediately. Of course he said she'd quoted us a one-way price so it was double and he wanted full payment up front, but did give us his phone number on a flyer. It ended up being $150ARS for two persons roundtrip. Cost us more than the bus ride ($70 one way for two persons via Rio Uraquay).
Once we got there we did get a very nice tour guide (Gabriel) who wanted to try out his English on us. He did a nice job and though there isn't really much to really tour/ see he answered all our questions. Coincidentally we didn't have to call our taxi driver, he just happened to be there when we were ready to return.
We did catch the Theme Park of legendary creatures and it was silly. Kids under about 10 would probably enjoy that and the Dinosaur Museum we did not visit.
To catch a bus back to Puerto Iguazu we did get information from a few people. We could go into town (for a few extra pesos with our taxi driver) to go to the bus terminal where they would leave every 20-30 minutes they said or just wait directly across the highway from the mine entrance sign (again, the actual entrance is 4km from that highway roadside sign) in the sun to try to get the right bus.
The taxi driver was sitting and hanging out with his crew on the side with the entrance and did make eye contact with us telling us when the busses we saw coming were NOT ours. The bus we took back was $25ARS per person, using a different company - Empreza Argentina.
All in all it took a day of our time (basically) which was fine as we realized we had a day to burn. Shouldn't have really stayed two full days and two partial days in Puerto Iguazu.
Written 5 March 2015
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.
Hola, existe la posibilidad de tomar remises o buses desde wanda a Puerto Iguazú? queremos pasar desde Posadas
Written 11 January 2024
No lo sé.
Yo.no recomiendo ir.
Pero si lo haces que haya mucha luz natural y lejos de la hora de cierre
Written 29 December 2023
Alguém sabe o valor para a entrada nas Minas (valor em 2019 ou 2020)? Pode ser pago em reais?
Pretendo ir lá com carro alugado, sem vínculo com agência.
Written 23 January 2020
Não lembro exatamente dos valores, pois estavam variando. Mas as agências conseguem te informar mais ou menos por cima.
As entradas tem que ser pagas em moeda local.
Written 24 January 2020
Hola, buenas tardes!
Hay transporte público desde la estación de Pto Iguazú hasta Wanda? De haberlo, me deja en la entrada de la mina o cercano a ella? Y, por último: cuánto vale la entrada?
Muchas gracias!
Written 11 December 2019
Hola Lucia, Llama a Daniel, cel 3757 60 9368, un remis económico, confiable con un muy buen auto.
Written 12 December 2019
Quiero saber de Puerto iguazu x avion q hay hasta la terminal de Wanda y cusnto sale
Written 22 June 2019
Nuestra experiencia fue que, durante los días que estábamos, no teníamos transporte público a Wanda y armamos un itinerario en remis que incluía Wanda, un yerbatal y Ruinas de San Ignacio (que son unos 280 km de Pto. Iguazú y unas tres horas de viaje). Nos llevó todo el día. Éramos 4 pax y nos vino bien hacerlo en remis. Esto que te describo (todo), nos salió a razón de $1700 por persona, pero si vas solo, no te conviene. Por ponerte un ejemplo, un viaje por Crucero del Norte a Ruinas, cuenta alrededor de $500; pero ya te digo, no había directos o combinados a Wanda (que son unos 40 km de Pto. Iguazú). Además, tengo entendido que los micros de línea no entran a la Mina (y no está tan cerca del centro poblado).
Te agrego algo, por si te viene bien: Un remis de la zona de los complejos hoteleros a la ciudad, te costaba en marzo 2019 $120 y el boleto de colectivo, $30 (que el turista paga con cash). Por eso vas a ver, que si son varios, el remis es una buena alternativa y los hoteles cuentan con gente de confianza.
Buen viaje!
Written 23 June 2019
Buenas donde conviene comprar piedras o alguna joya con las piedras de la mina .gracias
Written 25 March 2019
En el local de ventas hay cosas de todos los precios y calidad estética. Podés elegir con comodidad dentro de una amplia gama de artesanías.
Written 25 March 2019
Hola! se puede acceder hasta la entrada de la mina en silla de ruedas? gracias !!!
Written 13 March 2019
Las condiciones físicas están dadas, el resto del tema es función del personal (ayuda, seguridad, disposiciones de las autoridades de la provincia, etc,) Yo no ví impedimento de tipo físico para acceder .
Written 14 March 2019
Hola! Alguien sabe el precio para visitar las minas de Wanda? En pesos uruguayos, iríamos por nuestra cuenta
Written 1 March 2019
Mirá no se en pesos uruguayos, pero en argentinos es muy económica
Written 30 March 2019
Hola!!! se que hay 2 minas en Wanda, parece que una es un desastre, me gusta la opcion que describis, con el lugar donde pulen las piedras. me podrias decir el nombre asi no me clavo con la otra. muchas gracias!!!! Ines
Written 22 August 2018
Nosotros fuimos a una que está muy cercana a la ruta que pasa al lado del pueblo, la otra creo que queda mas retirada por un camino de tierra. Mas no te puedo decir.
Written 30 March 2019
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