Cayo Arena Day Trip: A Mesmerizing Coral Island Off the Coast of Puerto Plata
4.4
11 Ratings
Punta Rucia
Embark on a mesmerizing day trip to Cayo Arena, a stunning coral island off the coast of Puerto Plata. Experience crystal-clear waters, white sands, and a dream-like landscape.
Duration:
10 hours
Cancellation:
1 day
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Highlights
- Paradise Island & The Mangroves (Cayo Arena) - This sandbar that is frequently visited by hundreds of tourists is a jewel of nature, a true paradise in the Caribbean. It is difficult to know the size because it contracts and expands depending on the seasons of ocean currents, which contradicts its location, which is one of the driest areas of the
Dominican Republic.
Your excursion to Cayo Arena offers a wonderful tour departing from Puerto Plata, in comfortable air-conditioned buses and experienced drivers, accompanied by professional guides. Head to the north of the Dominican Republic and get ready for a journey full of splendid landscapes and green mountains to Punta Rusia, a picturesque fishing village on the coast of Puerto Plata. Once you reach Punta Rusia, in La Isabela Bay, you will board a boat to take you to Cayo Arena.
Board a modern speed boat, and admire the flora and fauna of the waterway and visit the national park, navigating through the mangroves, with a variety of beautiful natural colors. If you are lucky, you’ll see the famous mammal, the manatee. This animal is popularly known as a sea cow!
After 45-minutes enjoying this unforgettable ride we arrived at Cayo Arena, here we have free time to snorkel and observe many species of fish of all colors, take pictures, take a refreshing swim in crystal clear water, chatting with fishermen who come to Island or relax in fine sand.
What's Included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Professional guide
- Bottled water
- Lunch
- In-vehicle air conditioning
- Beverages
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
Additional Information
Prepare for the thrill of a lifetime! Known as Cayo Arena, its genuine name being Cayo Paraiso, is a coral isle nestled in the northwest region of the Dominican Republic, just off of Puerto Plata in Punta Rusia. This petite paradise presents an enchanting vista so picturesque it’s like living in a dream. Imagine basking in the sun on a tiny sea island, surrounded by white sands and crystalline waters so clear that you can view the sea bottom with remarkable clarity. The hues of these waters extend from Green Turquoise Acqua, which perfectly describes the enchantment that is Cayo Arena.
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
Location
Paradise Island & The Mangroves (Cayo Arena)
Main Street Punta Rucia, Puerto Plata
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.4
(11 Ratings)
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1 star
Thats-me-at-3
Mar 11, 2022
Unforgettable! - We booked this trip on our Celebrity Cruise with a port stop in Puerto Plata. The bus ride to the boat was beautiful and Santarino shared a lot of informative tidbits of history and information about the Dominican Republic along the way. We arrived at the beach and boarded the catamaran to the island and enjoyed the trip along with fresh fruit, rum punch, and fun music. The island itself was stunning and we were given snorkeling masks to see some of the beautiful wildlife. We got several amazing pictures and were able to mingle with some incredibly friendly locals as well as others from our cruise. After the island, we had a delicious lunch made by incredibly welcoming locals back at the waterfront resort. The bus driver, Manny was efficient and friendly and Santorino was also very friendly, welcoming, and informative. If you’d like to experience a trip that takes you “off the beaten path” with a truly authentic, unforgettable trip, do this!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mbc122
Jun 26, 2021
Amazing tour guides and day trip - Julio was an amazing tour guide! Very friendly and personable. Originally we were worried about the two hour commute to and from the island but Julio made it enjoyable. He educated us about the island and gave history facts. Manuel was able to take us safely to and from the island. We all felt completely safe with the two of them.
On the boat it was a great time! We had great staff and great food. All the drinks were made from fresh fruit! We enjoyed snorkeling and taking pictures! Julio and Manuel made sure we are on schedule! I would highly recommend attending a trip with them two as your tour guides!
Thank you again!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Rachealo884
May 28, 2021
Paradise Island the best ever! - This was honestly one of the best trips ever! Julio y Roberto son magnificos (Julio and Roberto are Magnificent - I don’t speak Spanish lol). They made the trip so much fun! They made sure to make us feel comfortable and we learned so much history as well. The water was so clean and blue. And the food was so fresh and delicious. 100/10 experience, will do this again!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Barbara
Jan 13, 2020
Great Snorkelling - Yes, the bus ride is LONG from Puerto Plata, but its totally worth it. The snorkelling is fantastic. The reef is beautiful. The schools of fish that come to feed when you have bananas is just beautiful... there are sea urchins further out along the reef. We were on the island on a Tuesday, and apparently the day prior there were hundreds of people from cruise ships... so maybe ask your provider to ensure that you avoid the cruise ship crowds, because that number of people would detract from the experience. I brought my own snorkel gear, as did my family, so I don't know if any equipment is ever provided...
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Irminads
Sep 6, 2019
Great Trip! - Yes, bus commute is long but it's totally worth it! Beautiful island with crystal clear water.Good snorkeling.Glad we did Vip so we enjoyed food and drinks on our catamaran.Must see if you are in Puerto Plata area.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Allitlou
Aug 9, 2019
So beautiful - So beautiful. Some of the prettiest water I have ever seen. They fed a great lunch and had some fruit for snacks and had lots of drink. I would recommend this trip
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tara
Nov 5, 2015
HIGHLY recommend this trip for you... - <p>HIGHLY recommend this trip for you if you love the sun, the sand, and snorkeling. So much fun and so worth it.</p>
Review provided by Viator
Beachbum3136
Oct 15, 2018
Cayo Arena Snorkel - This trip was nice. We had a choice for the catamaran or speed boat. My GF and I chose the speed boat which I thought would be like a cigar boat, but it was fine. The boat went through the mangroves which was cool. The snorkeling made up for this. There was alot to see underwater. The only downside is that most of the trip was traveling to the island. The bus was a nice big one. I would do this again. I hope the island doesn't shrink anytime soon.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Andi_dh
Jul 20, 2019
Beautiful snorkeling, rough trip to get there - We did the VIP snorkeling adventure which included bus transport to the marina, yacht transport to the island, snacks, open bar on the boat, island time, a boat ride through the mangroves and lunch. We enjoyed our time, but the transport was rough. If you get motion sick, I would urge a different excursion. My son and I both ended up having to take dramamine for the ride home. It's about an hour and a half one way via bus, then you get about 90 minutes of island time, then lunch (which didn't happen until about 2pm). The island was beautiful, but I don't think we would do this excursion again.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Shane
Jun 15, 2016
our trip was a disaster our pick up... - <p>our trip was a disaster our pick up time was 745am waited till 830am no one showed up to pick us up so the front desk at our hotel blue bay villas dorados called the company so the company of the tour sent a taxi to pick us up we got picked up at 845am then the taxi drove like a maniac to catch up to the tour bus finally caught the tour bus witch was very embarrassing getting on the bus late making the bus wait for us then got the on tour bus and the guides spoke mostly only german and Spanish hardly spoke English hardly understood anything about the tour then we arrived at our destination and your add on viator says we would board a beautiful catamaran that's why we booked this one because it said catamaran but we boarded a speedboat instead witch was very disappointing then after we left the island we went through the mangroves and had no idea what was being said again about them because they spoke german and Spanish again and then the drive back same thing german and Spanish <br/>
This makes us think we don't want to book an excursion through viator in the future for other destinations we will be visiting in the future very disappointing trip especially when this happened on this trip to Dominican witch we got married at our resort and this was our wedding and honeymoon vacation</p>
Review provided by Viator
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