Saona Island Full-Day Tour with Lunch from Punta Cana

Very scenic , I believe we saw a whale! Boat staff was very helpful in the island was amazing!!!!!!!!

It was the worst experience I ever had, they're scammers! Don't hire them, don't spoil their journey. We hired the VIP Service and they didn't give us what was offered, they took us the other way where the water wasn't even crystal clear as in the pictures, it wasn't unlimited drink, people's attention was terror, super spoiled

DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY. You start off in a boat that is not very clean, then you motor about 100 yards into the busy harbor where you jump off and snorkel while other boats are going close by. Then on your way they give you the “lunch” which consists of sandwich bread with a thin slice of “mystery meat” and cheese which is sitting in trays (UNREFRIGERATED) in the boat for who knows how long, with the ocean salt spray all over them. Next they hand you cubes of cheese and mystery meat that has also been in trays unrefrigerated in the 90+ degree heat. We flat refused to eat as it was disgusting. The boat ride to the island was miserable with ocean spray dousing everyone constantly. When you make it to the island the “bar” with unlimited drinks is extremely limited to mostly beer and rum & coke served in Dixie cups. To get one full beer you’d have to go back 3-4 times for constant refills. The food was subpar and this was supposed to be a “PREMIUM PACKAGE”. The catamaran ride back was painfully slow and not safe as you’re forced to sit along the slim rails and there are no life jackets. Again they tried serving the same sandwiches and cheese cubes. Take into account the catamaran had been sitting at the island for hours before we got on to head back… no doubt the unrefrigerated food had been basting in the heat for 6+ hours. On the return tour bus trip you’re hijacked to a nasty roadside souvenir place with horrible restroom facilities and cheap junky merchandise that is worthless. The island is beautiful but the trip to and from just isn’t worth it and… it takes up your entire day.

We had an awesome time on the island swimming and just enjoying the sun with our family. The kids had a blast on both boat rides.

Don't hire Destination Services Bad agency in Dominican republic I got ripped off with 220 us The tour to saona blue lagoon island summanta badly organized. Hector carpio is a blatantly negligent man, thief, kept the commission and was not ashamed to keep it without providing the service offered and contracted. I recorded with the manager of hotel riu palace Punta Cana and agreed that the service of this agency was poor. I asked to speak with Supervisor Maximo Linares and he told me he wouldn't give me my money back because everything that happened is normal. What happened from start to finish is that everything was pessimally organized, a delay for not having prepared the boat on our arrival, the guide had nothing reserved, 1 hour later we got on and everything was accelerated and hurried and of poor quality. The boat that took us to the catamaran almost sank because they overloaded it and the engine did not give enough, the smell of benzine was intoxicating and people had to go down in the water because it was a risk to the lives of all customers. By delaying all this further, we did not succeed in making the whole itinerary. The next day I ask for a refund and I am denied it by the agent of the agency with whom I made the deal in the hotel and the supervisor, they laughed at me and the discomforts that my mother of 70 years suffered. Do not contract with Destination Services in Dominican Republic. There are several better ones, hopefully this country and the hotels will filter the tourist agencies better Don't hire Destination Services

Very nice walk 😁 too bad to make us go through the back because the path is full of garbage with bad smells (very dirty) otherwise crew super excellent meal white sandy beach and 🌴 coconut trees 👍🏼

Time under was not long enough. I feel like it was to expensive for about 7 minutes under water and I didn’t even get to go all the way down and see the corals. Never again

We had an amazing time on our day long excursion. The weather was hot, the water was warm, and the staff on the boats were super fun. I'd highly recommend seeing this beautiful part of DR!

Lower your expectations when booking through Destination Services, things are not as advertised. We recently stayed at RIU Bambu in Punta Cana this past March. Overall, the stay was good. We had a large group, and everybody knows what it’s like to travel with a large group of people. I am not a wordly traveler and I am going to be as objective as I can in this review. I just want others that are like us to really understand what will happen when booking a day trip. We decided to book an excursion through Destination Services. They, along with other travel groups, are typically camped out during the day at the resort to get people booked on excursions. We decided to book a full day excursion to Saona Island. The gentlemen that helped us book it was very professional and did a good job accommodating our large group. He explained the trip and the general overview was accurate, however there are a lot of details that I feel anyone who wants to book this trip should be aware of. My expectations of the day was a quiet day on the island, but that just was not the case. Here is how the day actually went. We met in the lobby of the resort as planned at 7:45am and met our tour guide, Rueben. He was nice and made sure all of us were accounted for and we got on the bus. He made sure we were all safe. We had to take a one our ride to a town called Bayahibe, during the ride our tour guide was giving us an overview of the day. During that overview is when some of the details started to come out. We learned that we were only going to be on the island for 2 hours. We had 2-hour catamaran ride, and 40 minute speed boat ride back. Far from the full day on the island that we were expecting. When we arrived in the marina town of Bayahibe, we got off the bus and was immediately approached by vendors trying sell hats, cigars, and all the other stuff that they typically sell. I understand that this is how many of them make their money, but that was unexpected for us. We were also shown a bathroom to use that had no toilet paper, if you wanted toilet paper you had to pay a lady outside for a sheet of tissue. It was a really cheesy set up. We then walked to the Marina where they told us they needed to take our picture of the group you are with, they did not say for what, I assumed it was so there was a documented photo of you, but I will explain the actual reason at the end. We loaded up on transfer boat that took us to the catamaran, there is no docking to speak of so they have to move you around in transfer boats. We then transferred to the catamaran and set off for the island. It was at that point we were first introduced to two photographers that were going to spend the day with us on the trip, and they would have pictures for sale for us. We then started the boat ride to the island, the catamaran ride was fun, there was dancing and music, and drinks and my family had a good time. The photographers made it a point to take everyone aside and take photos. After about 2 hours our first stop was at a sand bar where we anchored and got to walk around in the ocean for about a hour. Again this was fun, it neat to see, we actually got to see sting ray swim by us while we were in the water and we saw a lot of star fish. It was cool, and my family had fun no doubt. After an hour they got us back on the catamaran and took us to a designated spot on the beach. This is where the advertising spots get a little sketchy, The guy we booked from the trip from showed us pictures of a very secluded area, no hustle and bustle, but hat was very far from the truth. When we arrived, there were boats all over the place, and we had to anchor again to get a transfer boat to the island. Once we got to our spot on the island, our tour guide gathered us up and gave us the time we had to meet and leave. We got there at 1:00pm and had to gather up at 3:15pm. We were also told that lunch would be ready soon. The line to the lunch was ridiculous, we actually had to spend 30 minutes of our time in line for lunch, the drink cups were very small, and only rum and coke and beer was available. They advertise open bar, but that is not the case actually. You have to buy a pina colada and they cost $10 each. I think the most frustrating part is the ladies that are offering massages. There are quite a few and they are quite aggressive. They will start rubbing your back without you asking and actually pull you to get you to one of their massage areas. A 15 to 20min massage costs $80. Overall, there was just a lot of hustle and bustle and not a lot of time to enjoy the island. The island was beautiful, the beach was beautiful. The area in general was clean and nice, and I wish we had quiet time to enjoy things, but as soon as you can settle in, the photographers that were on the boat, approach you and want you to buy photos, and the prices are high even for the states. They wanted to charge $20 a picture or something like that, and it was high pressure sales. We ended up not buying. But I could tell the photographers were very agitated with us. So, after two hours or so, we loaded up on a boat and drove back, to get on our bus. Where we were met with the same vendors pushing the same items for sale. Here is where it gets dirtballish in my mind. We got on the bus, and do you remember I told you they took photos of you before the boat rides. Well, they make a label of that photo and put it on a bottle of their local booze and try to sell it too you for $20. You don’t have to but it, but they hand it out to you first then tell you that it is for sale, reminds you of the time share sales tactics. So, after that we rode back and they take you to a shop to buy gifts. You do not have to get off the bus, but this is a standard stop to get you to buy more souvenirs and all that. My general impression of all it is that is orchestrated like a carnival. Everywhere you turn they want your money or there is some gimmick. I want to make sure I am fair. I understand that tourism is how they make money, and they count on our dollars. But there needs to be a balance on how much of that they push. To be honest there was way too much of that hustling for this trip in my opinion. That said don’t be discouraged to go on the trip.. the boat ride, the Caribbean sea, the island are all beautiful things and your family will enjoy seeing them, but prepare yourself for all the hustling that takes place because there is a lot of it, and it does take away family time which is what I wanted.

It was fun. Beautiful swimming stop was the best part. Food on island was great. Pretty crowded with other tours but nice to visit. Our crew was very scheduled and prompt with schedule.