Save time on vacation! Saona Island is certainly one of the best places to visit in the Dominican Republic and due to its popularity many people every day go to Saona to spend one day in paradise. This tour is very popular but, because of that, customers have to face many pick ups and drop offs from the different hotels, spending several hours on the bus. With this tour we offer you the chance to avoid this problem. In fact you're gonna reach Bayahibe (where the boats leave to Saona) in a private van, just for your group helping you saving at least 2-3 hours compared with the regular tour with the advantage of a late pick up (8:00am) and a early drop off (around 5:00pm).
Posted By : Jake_C
Having read how much of a must see attraction Saona island is, it was a no brainer to book this tour. Unfortunately the entire day and overall experience was extremely disappointing.
Firstly, I paid for private transportation to remove the usual hassle of driving to multiple hotels and to make the trip easier for my girlfriend and I. To begin with the transportation was apparently unable to gain access to our hotel which I find highly unusual considering we were staying in one of the most well known resorts in Punta Cana.
However I can let that slide as it was only a 10 min walk to the entrance of our resort from the main reception area. Upon getting into the transportation and making our way to the port, the driver proceeded to stop 3 or 4 times to pick up other members of staff and it felt that I’d instead just paid for the staff bus rather than ‘private transportation’.
Upon arriving to the port, very little instruction was given and we were just stood or sat around waiting for almost 2 hrs before finally the boat that was taking us to the island arrived.
The journey to the island itself was fun and we enjoyed the provided drinks and overall atmosphere so kudos to those involved on the boat aspect for making that happen.
Upon arriving to the island, considering the time is roughly 13:00, we are told to be back and meet at the beach for 15:00 to leave the island.
Food was provided but not particularly appetising and there was little to do on the island aside from sit on sun loungers. I was under the impression considering the trip mentions a tour guide that we would be taken around the island somewhat but that was not the case.
After spending some time relaxing in the sunshine, we made our way back to the main area for the return journey but watching all the other big groups leave, we were waiting for almost 2 hours again for the boat to come and collect us.
Once on the boat, we were taken back via the natural swimming pool which is just a shallow section of water off a beach - nothing interesting.
The drive back was quick and our driver was prompt - a relief after an extremely long day of disappointment after disappointment.
Overall I was extremely disappointed with the pretty much every aspect of this trip.
The page on viator mentions that the photographers are not associated with the tour but they hound you all day to take pictures and there was no ‘tour guide’ aspect of things at all.
The timings and sitting around waiting but not knowing what is happening was also not great.
The island itself is beautiful and so is the beach but the whole trip is extremely touristy - easily hundreds if not thousands of other people arrive to the island with other tour operators - hardly an enjoyable experience.
The beach where our resort is located in Punta Cana looks 99% the same as Saona island. With almost 12 hrs away for what was 2 hrs of time on the beach, I find it very hard to recommend this.
What should have been an enjoyable day out visiting a beautiful piece of the world was turned sour by poor management and planning.
Overall - don’t waste your money with this trip and save it for something else.
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Posted On : 2022-03-30 08:51:28 
Posted By : Y1761QHmarch
Do not pay the extra money for this trip. I was told the private trip was worth the extra money because the groups were smaller and the transportation was private. The other people on our trip paid $67 each, we paid $200 each. The only difference was we got picked up and were the only ones in the bus. Yes a bus, not even a car. We also picked up 2 employees on the way there. Once we got to the boat there were still 50 people on our trip. I was lead to believe there would only be 20-25. Lesson learned and now you know as well. I did not see any small group private tours the whole time we were at the island, it just sounds good when advertising. On the other hand, the island itself is beautiful, however had I researched more I would have also noticed it was a 1hr 45 minute drive to where the boats are. We were at breathless.
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Posted On : 2022-03-29 09:51:34 
Posted By : Lucas_R
Our horror story is as follows, yet per Viator our trip went as planned (when I emailed them about a refund) :
0815: picked up late at the hotel, driver spoke no English except for the word “toilet” and when we said yes he just kept driving. The drive proceeded to also show us his phone where a poorly translated story about needing $60 USD so we can get a picture of his family’s farm land because tomorrow was Agriculture day. He did this twice and twice I stated no thank you. The drive was one of the most nerve racking things of my life. The driver would slam on breaks because we was texting and driving and almost hitting other cars or motorbikes. There were times he was rubbing people off the road and he would drive on the shoulder to get around things.
9:56: arrived at the areas where we were to get on a boat, we were dropped off and left standing there with no information on what to do or where to go for over 15 mins.
11:15: we finally boarded a boat to take us to a natural swimming pool, then the island
11:50 we get to the natural swimming pool where he are told to stay next to the boat and not go ashore because of licensing (fine, no huge deal the water was still pretty). When I asked about snorkeling they just said no.
12:50: we get to the island where we are told it’s time to eat so we ate food right away and then I asked about snorkeling again and was told no. The beach experience was really just us sitting and looking at a bunch of boats. The tour guide was the nicest and did what he could to help.
2:50: we get told it’s time to leave (around 2hrs on the island)
4:50: we get back to the mainland. We purchase our photos for $300 usd. Rip off for price but our tour guide was so nice we wanted to pay him anyways.
5:20: Our tour guide was finally about to get ahold of our driver who was 3 cars down from us but not answering his phone so we could not actually find him. We get loaded into the car with the same driver and fall asleep.
6:45: I wake up to the sound of our driver scream at people. We are in the middle of a town crowed with people. It was not the same way we drove in the morning. Again the drive kept showing me the poorly constructed and translated story about needed $$ and he will send us a picture of his family’s farmland. 2 more times I told him no and in which he flung his hands up angrily.
7:50 we finally get back to our hotel. Almost gone for 12hrs.
Of those 12hrs that we were gone we only got to be on the Island for 2hrs but had to stand in line and eat because otherwise we would not get the chance again until we got back to our resort. So we really got about 1-1.5hrs of Island time. No snorkeling or activities. The trip was not as described and we actually feared that we were going to end up dead from our non-English speaking driver who would not stop for bathroom breaks and constantly asked us to give him money. This tour was not as described and was terrible! Our tour guide was the best part because we was nice and spoke English and helped us with what he could.
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Posted On : 2022-01-21 08:08:36
Posted By : Chris_B
The amazing personal service was above expectations . I paid for a private taxi and got so much more
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Posted On : 2021-12-09 14:29:00
Posted By : Manny_M
NOT WHAT WE PAID FOR! There was no small group.the speed boat was packed,not one seat available.Half the people were not wearing masks.The catermeran looked as you just pulled from a juckyard.Also the catermeran was full to probably more than capacity.
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Posted On : 2021-05-17 06:27:32
Posted By : 180r_zvani
Amazing water, amazing experience, amazing island, amazing staff.
An experience to have for all the life.
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Posted On : 2021-05-07 12:53:51
Posted By : Tee_D
Rico our pick up driver was excellent. Angelo our guide was fun and helpful We also enjoyed mama.and boat crew. Food was excellent.
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Posted On : 2021-05-05 13:50:05
Posted By : Playero5
We a great time during this excursion, everything went as described and on time. Claudio was great answering our emails promptly as well all of our questions, great experience overall...many thanks.
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Posted On : 2021-04-26 22:21:48
Posted By : Natalie V
Jose our driver was amazing and our photographer Patrick made sure we had the best experience possible.Very attentive to everyone in my group 10 people in total.Patrick took amazing pictures of this beautiful island and everyone at the Natural pool and the island. If your visiting Punta Cana this was a memorable trip and Patrick photos was the perfect touch.
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Posted On : 2019-08-05 21:27:13
Posted By : Anxious836
The trip ended well however it did not start well. We were picked up on time - taken to a meeting point as expected and then waited and then waited some more on the side of the highway for other passengers to catch up with us - so lets just say the early morning logistics were not great.
We did however finally reach the village and board our catamaran and headed out in rain to the island where fortunately the weather turned sunny and rest of the day was fine. Buffet lunch on the island was very tasty.
The stop on the way back at the swimming area was great - saw three starfish (do not touch them or bring them to surface as they will die). The 10 minute stop for snorkeling should be eliminated - it was a joke.
The trip back to the resort was great.
Our guides - Francisco was wonderful - the other Ramon appeared to be intoxicated even early in the morning and thus slept through the latter part of the trip.
Working with Claudio to arrange this trip was pleasant.
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Posted On : 2019-02-09 17:41:08
