Saona Island Day Trip From Punta Cana with Lunch and Open Bar
Take a break from the beaches of Punta Cana and spend an unforgettable day exploring Saona Island, one of the Dominican Republic’s most beautiful natural treasures. Start your adventure with an early hotel pick-up in an air-conditioned bus and enjoy a scenic ride to the Bayahibe port, where you’ll board a comfortable catamaran. On the way to Saona, you’ll stop at the famous Natural Pool, a shallow sandbank in the middle of the Caribbean Sea — perfect for swimming, relaxing, and taking incredible photos surrounded by starfish.
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Traveler reviews
“It was an amazing excursion! My friends and I had the best time. Everyone working for the company was so friendly and helpful. The travel is kind of like (90 minutes) but it was so worth it! By the end you’re tired so you just sleep the whole ride back and it’s great!”
“The experience was mostly COMMUTE! I got picked up at 6:40, had a 3 hour bus ride to the port (could be shorter but there were a lot of pickups along the way), then a 1.5 hour boat ride (you take pics and dance which was fun) to the natural pool which was BEAUTIFUL but it was mostly for pics. You have 30m to swim around in while the photographer takes pics. Then 30m more min boat ride for the Saona Island for some lunch that was not actually good (I am Dominican, so I KNOW good Dominican food). We started having lunch at 1:35 and had to leave at 3:30… so eating and swimming for 2 hours. Then a 1.5 hour boat ride and then another 3 hour bus ride. We left the island at 3:40ish in a speed boat, got to the port at 5 and didn’t get to our resort until 7:40pm. All of the commute was not worth the 2.5 hours of enjoyment if you can even call that enjoyable for my husband and I. Our resort food at excellence was good and our beach here BEAUTIFUL, we should have picked a different excursion or stayed back. But at least now we have this knowledge. This experience may have been slightly funner with a bigger group perhaps. Also they take professional pictures of you and then you have to pay them to airdrop it. He started at 150, we brought it down to 115ish. To me it was worth the price bc my husband and I need more pictures together but just so you know. They will put a Dominican cap on you in the catamaran … let you wear it for 5 min then come back and ask for 5 each. We gave it back and said no. Also on the lunch if you want pina colada not soda it will be $10 extra. Lots of extra charges. ”
“We visited the Saona Island yesterday and overall it turned out to be a very good experience, even though it wasn’t exactly what we expected. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to swim with the sea stars as planned, but we still saw many of them clearly from the boat, which was beautiful in its own way. Saona Island itself is truly stunning, with tall palm trees, soft white sand and the incredible turquoise color of the Caribbean Sea 🌊 The scenery alone makes the trip completely worth it and despite a few small disappointments, I’m glad we went and enjoyed the day 🏝️😎”
“The Island and natural park are beautiful BUT, the tour companies are BAD. Terrible logistic, large amount of people, too may boats to enjoy the view, open bar is just rum with Coke or Sprite. You arrive at Bajahibe and you have to wait for a small boat to taxi you to a large boat. 40 Minutes wait to get off the boat at the end of the day. Photos are a rip off....$100 for a package of photos. Vendors at Saona beach botherring your to make a purchase. It was a waste of a day and cash. Everyone wants a tip...the boat captiain, the tour guide, and the bus driver. I understand that this is how they make a living but please stop asking for cash for a while and let the peopel enjoy the day. The food was not bad but, not aout of this world. Do your research before booking a tour for Saona island and ask alot of questions regarding the size of the group you will be with. I would like to give it a minus 1 star if I could.”
“The trip was very confusing. There was little English translation and confussion. People were sent to the wrong boat causing major confusion and the uneasy feeling of being left. Then at the end the tour guide wanted a tip!! Wouldn't recommend this trip with Indiana Jones!!”