Great experience - must book if you're in Puerto Plata! - This excursion was amazing! The small island was pretty crowded but I couldn't fault people for wanting to visit, the water was so clear and there were so many fish to see underwater! The pick-up was on-time, the ride to the beach was smooth and the speedboat trip to the island was great! Our guide, Matias, was very knowledgeable about the island and made sure we had a great time. Snorkel gear was provided to us and we even received some bread to entice the fish! The island was about 1 KM by 2 KM - we were told that closer to summer, the island gets bigger. We passed the Mangroves and it was really cool to see oysters and crabs. I recommend this excursion to anyone staying in Puerto Plata! You won't regret it :)

Great experience - Great experience! The orga crew did an amazing job and the day was lots of fun. Paradise island is beautiful and the mangrove tour definitely worth it.

Wonderful time - Fun trip. Speed boat was a lot of fun and the snorkeling was amazing. Everyone should experience this excursion while in puerto plata

Great experience but I have some feedback - This is a 5-star review because the experience was wonderful and I would recommend it and do it again. I do have a few suggestions that I think would enhance the experience. The biggest thing was mentioning there could be jellyfish while snorkeling and that they are not the stinging type. We were horrified and got out of the water quickly because there were jellyfish all around. Then we saw someone holding one and they told us they were harmless. That would have saved a near heart attack on our part :) It wasn't very clear that we would be spending about 8 hours of the day on a bus. There were a few stops to get snacks and refreshments but it was quite a long day when we were expecting it to be shorter. There is an option to choose your language. We chose English and there was some super great information shared with us on the bus in English but that was it. In our detour to the mangroves, there was a whole monolog that we couldn't understand and I was bummed because I was interested in that portion of the tour. It was also kind of hectic feeling the whole time. When we got to the island there was no explanation of how things would go so there was a lot of standing around in confusion and I wished there had been some sort of time-line explained to us. Example: first we will unload and please take all your items with you. Then you can grab snorkel gear and swim around. After that we will have some fruit and drinks available and we will be leaving the island at this time. Overall, it was a great experience without all those things so take it or leave it. Thanks!

Amazing - Amazing place. Peter our tour guide was so great. The family had a bunch of fun. The hike was a bit tiring but so worth it to experience such a beautiful nature made sight. Peter was so great and patient.

Awesome teip - Was a Great Trip. Good busses, good people, was very informative! Water was great and clear with lots of fish and coral. I will do it again!

Too much driving - Negatives - much too much driving! We were picked up at Cabarete, the drive was FOUR HOURS to the speedboat via small van, then large bus because of so many pick ups en route. Misleading when we were told it would be two hours there and back. The sand bar is lovely but many boats and people, so not at all as pictured. This was a 13 hour excursion (p/u 7am, drop off at 7:30pm !!) because of all the driving, with just 2 hours in the water at the sandbar. Positives - our multilingual guide on the bus was excellent, so knowledgeable! The boat was fun (but bumpy), and the snorkeling is good, plenty of things to see! I’d only recommend if you are staying close to Cayo Arena - not from east of Puerto Plata because of the distance.

Eh - This was a 4 hour road trip, not 1.5. It’s on a speed boat the entire way and they don’t provide chairs on the island. I wouldn’t waste a whole day on this again.

Great Service. Terrible drinks and food! - We went to the beach club at El Dorado. Nice hotel . Very good service. Nice people. Awful food and terrible drinks. They have local alcohol and doesn't taste good at all.

Canceled tour - I got canceled due to weather forecast. I got my refund but I booked so long ago it was ashamed not to be able to do the tour.