Casa de Campo, Altos de Chavón Cultural Tour from Punta Cana

We had a great day with Robinson. He made us feel like family and was our personal guide for the day as we did an extended excursion. We started near La Romana at the ampitheatre, art area and museum. Beautiful scenery along the way and a visual experience for the slower paced type of day. The views were spectacular and the stonework was amazing! Some beautiful shops and restaurants there, although we didn't eat there. Total time there was about an hour. We proceeded to a massive beautiful church in Higuey. We are not churchgoers but the experience was amazing visually. We entered the church and viewed amazing masterpiece artwork and ashtonishing stained glass. A wonderful experience for the eyes. We spent about 40 minutes in this area and got some amazing pictures. Afterwards Robinson took us through a large gift shop full of souvenirs. After a short stop there we proceeded to a nearby, genuine local food market where there were an array of fruits and vegetables, spices, meats, live animals for purchase such as chickens and turkeys. This was an enjoyable experience to witness and a highlight for us to see. The market was busy and tight for room with locals passing through. Very safe feeling. From there we proceeded to the mountains where the scenery on the drive was amazing. Through cocao and coffee plantations. We were provided lunch where other excursions grouped together to experience a true Dominican cuisine. The food was good. The restaurant was isolated on a beautiful river where you could walk down some steps to take great pictures of rock through the peaceful flowing water. Lunch lasted approximately 40 minutes, where live chickens were freely roaming around. Afterwards, we proceeded to a genuine home of a typical Dominican family from these types of areas where we walked through how they would live. At this location we experienced an excellent and informative presentation on how traditional coffee and chocolate is grown, harvested and prepared for consumption. They allowed tasting of chocolate that was mouth watering. Afterwards the products were available to purchase and was the best option for organic purchasing based on price of all the excursions we did. We purchased pure chocolate and raw sugar cane at this location. We were at this location for approximately an hour or a little more. From there Robinson took us to a genuine cigar making factory, where there were a number of cigar makers at work. They allowed us to roll a cigar of our own to keep. This factory was the best we saw in all of our other excursions involving cigars. As we did purchase and smoke cigars elsewhere, these were the best quality in our opinion. They allow you to walk into their large humidors where they house cigars for export. This was the most interesting cigar factory we witnessed in our entire trip. This was an enjoyable highlight for us. The last stop of the day was to beautiful Macao beach. The day we went was very very windy and no swimming was allowed. There were vendors on the beach that were a little aggressive for purchasing souvenirs but did accept no. There was beer/alcohol and snacks to purchase. Parrot and lizard handlers wandered the beach for picture opportunities. We didn't stay long there, mainly due to the fact we live in an area that has world class beaches. If you are not used to the beach or ocean, Macao beach is a must see, however we felt we would have done this part of the excursion separately if we chose to. By the time we got to the beach we had been on the excursion for about 6 hours and were ready to go to the pool at the resort to finish our day. Robinson spoke good english and was very informative with our questions. Was appreciated we had him all to ourselves. Recommend this excursion for the slower paced, educational minded, and those that want to see the beautiful countryside of the Dominican Republic. The entire excursion lasted about eight hours total, but went at our pace.

Robinson was spectacular! He made our tour very interesting and fun. Such an amazing tour guide. I had so much fun. Make sure you ask for Robinson when you book this tour!!

Beautiful sightseeing our guide Roman was awesome very kind spoke good English had a great day with my husband.

Had Wester as our guide and he was outstanding. Pickup was on time and it was just our group. We even got coconuts by the roadside!

Guide would.not tell us where to go, would not tell us how to get to exit. Driver also would not answer questions.

Enjoyed learning about the people,the culture and the history of Punta Cana in this relaxed tour. It was not a " Mickey Mouse" fake tour- you see the real deal. Bonus was hearing our guide trying to hit the high notes of a Whitney Houston song!

Our driver from the hotel was prompt and kind. Somehow we ended up on the wrong bus so the company chose to make it right by sending a driver (gusto) and a tour guide (Robinson) to pick us up and low and behold we ended up on the tour with just the four of us. Alto de Chavon was truly incredible and breathtaking. Between the river and amphitheater. Next we stopped at a gift shop then the public market. We were guided through the market and never left alone. We felt very safe going into a “local spot”. We had lunch, which was so good, then went to a small farmhouse to see how coffee and chocolate is made. Throughout the journey Robinson, gusto, my husband, and I were cracking jokes and having a fantastic time. On the way back to the resort we shared some of our favorite American music and they played some of theirs. This truly was the real deal culture tour! Ask for Robinson and gusto, it’s no problemo y no mickey mouse!!!

Overall good excursion. Tour guide was suppose to speak Spanish. Knew alittle so unable to understand full history. Overall good excursion. Saw alot. Dominican food was good.

Amazing excursions with an amazing local guide, Téo. He gave us some precious informations about the local life ! Unfortunately, due to weather, we were not able to go to the local beach as planned. During lunch, Téo informed us that the government closed the beach due to high waves. However it as still an amazing experience !

Lucas was great. We visited the market, did a bit of shopping and visited numerous places. The one that captured this whole experience for us was Alto de Chavrõn where architecture meets and marries with the nature. It was absolutely a little jem