Day in Saône Island - Unforgettable experience. Unmissable 💖 Very attentive people to the needs and care throughout the stay. We loved it.

Good option. - It was a good trip, great guide, but the photographres are very invasive and expensive. Photos are not a good option.

Not what I expected. - I'm glad some post sounded like fun. Not our experience. Right from the get go, shuttle picked up a handful from our resort and traveled down the road to pick up some more passengers from another resort, took about 45 mins to get things sorted out, very disorganized. Finally get to Marina late, now try to shuffle at least 100 people in 3 faster boats.bit of a 💩 show.After 45 min boat ride, we stopped vlise to shore wade in the water while the crew offered drinks ( free only rum ) with coke or sprite. Beer $5 US . Next stop to saona island. Had to navigate in between so many boats & people in the water. Once on shore group stay together while the buffet get ready. We were late of course, when line up begins, you better get there fast, if last there might not be enough, free drinks , same Rum. $5 beer, $10 piña colada. And unfortunately it was too windy to do any snorkeling, so all 3 boat joined and unloaded us in a big Catamaran.....Slow drive back to the marina. I was nice to at least leave the resort. But waste of money

If you’re looking for a quick and fun trip, book somewhere else. - My husband and I booked this excursion and we were fully aware that it was going to be a very long day, but the beach, crystal clear waters, open bar, and island were all that we needed to be sold on this trip. The overall pros of the trip were: - the crystal clear waters - the natural swimming pool and looking for starfish was amazing - the guide that we had was very knowledgeable - the catamaran ride going back to the busses was very fun and the staff was incredible. The cons were: - the first stop of the day was a tourist trap. They speak very highly of the Dominican coffee, the mamajuana, and the cigars that are there. However, it’s really nothing more than a cheap store, selling cheap items and people turning your attention different ways until you don’t know which way is up. - the photographer on the trip was very kind, but wanted to charge us $255 USD originally for taking our photos on the trip we already paid for. I eventually negotiated with him and only paid about $100 for them. We were on our honeymoon and we really wanted memories from this trip. - Traveling will take up most of your day. As I said in the title, we were very prepared for a long day ahead of us, but not 13 hours long. We were picked up at our hotel at 7:05am and didn’t return to the hotel until 8:15. The bus ride was about an hour, the speedboats take you to the natural swimming pool, then you get back on the speedboat to go to the island, then you take the speedboat to the middle of the water to board another boat, which in turn gets you close enough to board another boat, and then you board the bus back home. Like I said, just a VERY long day. - the lunch on the island could’ve been much better, you have to pay for any drinks other than rum and Coke, rum and 7up, or water. And the solicitors from the moment you step off the bus to get onto the speedboat, to the moment you get onto Saona island, is insane. My husband and I couldn’t finish a full conversation without being interrupted by someone selling something or someone offering a massage that they wouldn’t complete. Overall, it was an awesome experience, but in all fairness, if your hotel offers the excursion, just book it through them. You’ll have better luck.

A Decent Experience, but Overhyped - Overall, I’d give this trip a 6/10. I won’t mention every little detail, just the things that stood out and that you should know. First, you’ll stop at a local shop to use the bathrooms and buy souvenirs if you wish. The tour guide will tell you to put your swimsuit on there because there are supposedly no bathrooms on the catamaran, but that’s not true. There is a bathroom onboard, so it isn’t necessary. He’ll also advise you to buy mosquito spray for the beach. It’s best to bring your own, as the prices there are high and this should really be included in the list of items to bring. Once you leave, you head to your destination. For this part and for the entire trip, it’s best to wear sandals or flip-flops since no shoes are allowed on the boats. Once we reached the catamaran, the ladies on board made the ride enjoyable with all the dancing. The only downside was the beverage selection. While some may enjoy rum and Coke or rum with Sprite or fizzy drinks on their own, having more options would have been nice. The first stop is a small swimming pond, very shallow, with beautiful water. I enjoyed this part despite being a bit overcrowded. Once we finally made it to Saona, there were tons of other tour groups there, making it hard to find seating. The water at Saona is also very shallow and rocky vs. the first pond which is all sand, so be careful. Lastly, despite the many warnings about the massage ladies, it’s hard to enjoy your time in peace because there are so many of them and they approach you frequently, offering “free” massages. I wouldn’t recommend accepting, unless you’re prepared for potential skin irritation or rashes. Would I do this tour again? Probably not. But I’m glad I got to see what Saona is all about.

Lost phone!!! - My wife lost her phone on the bust and still waiting for someone to contact us, hopefully the company get back to us when they find it. This is my number +16179529452 Email: [email protected]

Not Worth It: Only 2.5 Hours on Saona - The trip to Saona Island turned out to be much worse than expected. We wasted a lot of time on unnecessary stops and delays. There was a catamaran, but because of the long stop at the shallow area and other time-consuming parts of the excursion, we lost several hours that we could have spent relaxing on the island itself. In the end, we got only about 2.5 hours on Saona, which is far from enough for such a destination. They easily could have given us 4–5 hours on the island, and the experience would have been much better. The beach is beautiful but somewhat neglected in places, very crowded, and the lunch was mediocre. Overall, the trip left a mostly negative impression, mainly because the time was allocated very poorly.

Beautiful location, but highly unsatisfactory timing and service. - ​I am giving this tour 2 points exclusively for the incredible location and the genuinely beautiful island of Saona itself. The nature and the setting absolutely deserve the highest rating. ​However, the organization of the tour was a significant letdown. ​Timing was a major issue: Most of the day was spent on travel and logistics. The actual time allocated to spend on the island was critically short—just over two hours. This is far too little time to relax and enjoy the destination, making the experience feel rushed and incomplete. ​The "Open Bar" was misleading: The advertised "open bar" was frankly disappointing. In reality, it amounted to what felt like just one small glass containing about 50 grams of whisky and coke. This was a significant gap between the advertised promise and the actual provision. ​Lunch: The food offered during the lunch service on the island was not tasty and was quite mediocre in quality. ​Conclusion: While the island itself is stunning, the poor time management, minimal time on the island, and misleading service (the "open bar") mean I cannot recommend this specific tour operator. Look elsewhere if you want a relaxing day with fair service.

Consider a half day trip of something else, this will take up your ENTIRE DAY! - For taking the HARD ROCK TIMESHARE TOUR - We did get a trip to Saona Island valued at $150/pp. We also got a couples massage at $25/each, for our time. BEWARE - the Saona Island tour is NOT 9 hours, it was almost 12 HOURS BY THE TIME WE RETURNED TO HR. Also, for someone that doesn't love boat rides, after driving 1.5 hours, we jumped on 1 of 3 different boats we would be taking for the day. THIS INFO WOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT TO HAVE when making our decision! Food on the tour sucked, and like always, there are people peddling jewelry, massages, braiding hair, etc. NOT EXACTLY a relaxing day. Also, despite requesting the tour guide, Orlando to speak English, he didn't. It was 85% Spanish and 15% TOPS English, and that's after you request the info he was dishing out. BEWARE THE PHOTOGRAPHERS - I GOT SCAMMED $89 FOR THE DIGITAL PICTURE PACKAGE I TOOK WHILE ON THE BOAT. I HAD TO DISPUTE IT WITH MY BANK YESTERDAY. SUCH A BUMMER. I TOLD MY FRIENDS I WOULD HANDLE THE PHOTOS... AND THEY NEVER CAME TO MY EMAIL. THEY DID TAKE MY MONEY WITHIN MINUTES THOUGH! GOEYPICTURES.COM

Overrated ! Tourist trap - Depending where you leave for this excursion but get ready its a 12 hour excursion! All the way we where stresse and rush was not relaxing at all the beach is defenetly overrated nothig like what you see ! Verry desapointing over 700 people at once and a big tourist trap ! I do not recomend ! Was porley organise not worth one penny