Whale Watching in Samana

The hour spent Whale Watching was awesome. The other 17 hours not so much. Especially departing Puerto Plata at 5 am and returning to hotel at 8 pm. 5 hours each way in a basic tour bus. Breakfast and lunch of very low quality (bring snacks). Two hours at a beach with no shower so we did not go in the water.

I felt like a little kid in a candy shop! It was amazing experience. Our tour guide was funny and kind.

We have had a great seeing of the whales. Wish we had more time with them and less people on the boat. It was packed.

Our tour guide was fabulous and we did get to see the whales. So while I would recommend this type of excursion, I would also recommend choosing a different company to go with. The reason I wouldn't recommend this company is because they overbooked/over crowded the boat we were on. This made for an uncomfortable ride and also made it difficult to actually see the whales that were there. We had so many people on our boat, 4 adults to each bench and then there were maybe 10-15 people that had to stand for the trip. We saw many other boat tours that had room for their groups to move around during the trip to have the best viewing of the whales. I wish I would have chosen a company that allowed more room on the boat.

Over all it was a great day. They picked us up as scheduled. We saw several whales and were able to get quite close. The island was beautiful. Crystal clear water. Plenty of shade under the trees. Things we didn't know: the tour stopped to provide us breakfast. It was pretty good. There were many vendors on the island with reasonable prices if interested. The chairs on the island were $200 pesos each to use. You have to purchase drinks on the island. $100 pesos for a soda. $600 pesos for pina colada in a pineapple. The lunch was pretty horrible. Worst lunch I've ever had on an excursion. I wish I brought my snorkeling gear. Over all a wonderful day. Loved the boat ride, the whales, and relaxing on the island. I would recommend.

This was a great trip to explore the north coast of DR. The food was amazing and seeing a pod of whales was an unforgettable experience. Just be aware it is an all day event with lots of driving! And bring your swimsuit because they do offer swimming after lunch.

They sell it to you as a wonderful experience to see the whales that give birth to the famous Samaná bay. The only thing I saw were a bunch of boats, I counted twelve, chasing a mother with her calf. We barely saw two loins and after an hour two other poor people were harassed by the engines. The truth is that it is a regrettable experience that I would not repeat again and I think not anywhere in the world. It's a shame to pay money for this. I hope the whales leave the site because their children are going to be born very stressed by these exploiters of nature.

The whale watching experience was unbelievable. We were able to get several sightings of the humpback whales. In addition the excursion includes lunch on Bacardi Island and a some time to relax, soak up the scenery, swim at the beach on the Island. Since we were staying in the Bayahibe/Dominicus/La Romana area the trip to/from Samana can be exhausting and you must plan for a 12+ hour day.

Overall a great experience and even managed to see a family of humpback whales. Just one downside which was that because it was so busy it became a bit manic trying to find the guide for the return to the boat at Bacardi Island. He was waiting on the boat but we didn't know which boat was ours so couldn't see him. He needs to collect people together at a meeting point on the Island.

When whale watching the boats go in front of each other and don't allow the other boats to see, the first 3 boats that get there are the ones that have the priority to watch the whales. Would not recommend this tour. Try to find another tour that has less people and try to stay in Samana to be the first ones out. the guides were fine, they drove us and brought us back.