Robert P.
Google
Saona Island Excursion - Caribbean Paradise
My wife and I took this excursion at on Jan 10th, 2026. Let me be upfront and let everyone know that this is a booze cruise that is going to blast Merengue music for the full catamaran experience. The majority of the passengers were into it, I just wasn't for it for 3 hours.
The logistics of getting to and from the excursion is not pleasant either. We left our hotel at 7 in the morning and sat at a gas station for over 3 hours. We think we got left behind because a man in a 90s pathfinder came through and drove us to another location where there was a bus full of passengers already. At that place, the family of a dozen or so people were still bartering what to pay the driver in order for us to go. This bus was tiny and cramped and I just wanted to get to the island.
After a decent two hour bus ride with a barefoot tio in front of me hanging he feet against the window, we arrived at the port and rounded up with our guide (who was awesome the whole time, appreciate his bi-lingual abilities). Fast forward to getting back to our hotel, it was already dark and our experience was more than the morning venture. We had to jump off and get on 4 different buses, vans, etc. in order to get back home. Ended up being a 13+ hour day.
Saona Island was beautiful, the food provided was excellent and our tour guides were on it, the reason for the 2 stars I just don't ever want to experience that boat ride back or the multiple transfers it took to get to and from the excursion. That was probably why I'm going to book exclusively for small private parties, the boats that would make me cry as I saw them glide past the Twilight Zone party cruise I was stuck on.