The trip is nice, it provides transportation and information as well as the entrance ticket to the caves. At first I thought I could do it in 1 day on my own but I don’t think so looking at public transport logistics & how you should arrive earlier to avoid the roads near the land border being closed in Gibraltar due to airplanes landing or taking off. My advice though is that once you have your free time after the rock tour, go to the cathedral, the national museum and most importantly the cable car! You will still have time to do them (if you skip sitting for lunch and grab something to eat at the bus later)

If you start from Malaga they pick up at 7:15 then there were 4 stops after (1 couple decided to go to a another pick up point to lessen the bus adding a bother pick up stop). The guide spoke in 2 language but she spoke for 2-3 min straight in 1 language and by the time whatever she was commenting at already passed by. The tour in Gibraltar was interesting. The bus driver who also tells you about the place is a retired serviceman so he knows the military info and history. Lasted for 1 hour and 30 min. Giving you at least 2 more hours or so to be on your own. I toke the cable all the way up , went to the skywalk and came back via cable. Had enough time to eat and look around. Then takes about 2 hours to arrive back in Malaga. Love the air condition on the bus. It was hot at that time , the air was just great. Going through the border is a breeze.

The bus arrived on time to pick up. However, it took 1 hour to pick up all the other guests on the way. It would be much more efficient to have guests meet at a central location instead of picking up so many guests who are staying within meters of each other. Upon arrival in Gibraltar, we were taken to a central location to divide into smaller buses for the tour. That process could have been organized on the long drive down by the guide. It was not and took a lot of time to divide guests by languages and then more back and forth about not having enough tickets nor seats on the smaller buses to accommodate everyone.