Tours/Punta Cana/Full Day Catalina Island Snorkeling Adventure & Altos de Chavon
Viator · group up to 50 pax

Full Day Catalina Island Snorkeling Adventure & Altos de Chavon

3.5(2)Punta Cana1 hour
VIATOR3.5(2)

Description

Catalina Island is recognized as one of the best snorkeling and scuba diving destinations in the Dominican Republic. This amazing day-trip excursion will give you the chance to visit this beautiful island and enjoy a great snorkeling experience in its crystalline waters. Also you will have the chance to explore the charming village of Altos de Chavon, a 16th century replica of a Mediterranean village perched high above the Chavón River.

Tour Options

Full Day Catalina Island Snorkeling Adventure & Altos de Chavon
  • Pickup included

Itinerary

180 min

After an early pick up directly from the lobby of your hotel (from 6:30 till 8:00 am depending on the hotel location) and a convenient stop in a meeting point to organize the transportation, we’ll move on a brand-new bus to start our journey towards the city of La Romana. The guide will welcome you with a smile and our adventure begins. The transfer time from Punta Cana to La Romana is around 1.5 hours and on the way to the Marina the guide will give us interesting information about Catalina Island and the culture and typical life in the Dominican Republic.

180 min

Once we arrive at the local Marina in La Romana, we will embark on a brand-new boat to start our adventure to the paradisiacal destination of Catalina Island. The staff on board will offer us something to drink and entertain us with music and dancing. Get ready to enjoy a 1 hour scenic ride across the Caribbean side of the Dominican Republic until your arrival at “The Wall”, a world-famous diving site. Here you’ll be offered the chance to enjoy an unforgettable snorkel experience. Get ready to discover the spectacular marine life of this popular reef point! You can expect clear waters with incredible visibility and an amazing underwater ecosystem. After the snorkeling activity, the ride will continue until we arrive at our main destination: Catalina Island.

Admission included120 min

Catalina is a beautiful uninhabited island which lies 1.5 miles from the southeastern shore of the Dominican Republic. It is classified as a national monument with a protected environment and little development and is also the Caribbean beach home port of Costa cruise line. We will stay here for about three hours and we will have time to enjoy the beautiful white sand beach and, of course, a delicious lunch buffet-style prepared by a renowned local chef including white rice, beans, pasta, chicken, pork, salads, vegetables, fruits and bread. After lunch, the rest of the afternoon is yours to relax; you can enjoy the open bar, or just listen to the waves and soak up the sea breeze, to make your free time an authentic vacation experience.

60 min

When our time on the island is over, around 3:00pm we will get aboard the boat again for the ride back to the Marina in La Romana, enjoying music and light refreshments at the bar. The cruise time will be around 50 minutes.

Admission included60 min

Once on the bus, we’ll reach the exclusive and world-famous resort of Casa de Campo, a holiday escape for many international stars such as Madonna or Shakira, to make our last stop: a guided tour of the architectural wonder of Altos de Chavon. The village was designed and created by Italian master designer and cinematographer Roberto Coppa. Dominican artisans handcrafted the stone pathways, decorative ironwork, furniture and enchanting buildings, reviving almost forgotten crafts of metal work and stone carving. Each stone was hand cut, each wooden door frame was handcrafted and each wrought-iron detail hand-forged. Construction of the village began in 1976 and the village was inaugurated in 1982 with the concert of Frank Sinatra at the Roman-style amphitheater. Today, this amazing village is the site of many fine restaurants, boutiques, museums and the Altos de Chavon School of Design affiliated with Parson´s School of Design in New York.

120 min

Once the tour is over, we will start our drive back to Punta Cana, where the driver will return you safely to your hotel.

Highlights

Dominican Lunch (buffet style)
Entry fee and admission to Altos de Chavon
Round Trip Transportation with a/c
Open bar with alcoholic and non-alcoholic refreshments
National Park admission to Catalina Island
Professional multilanguage guide
Snorkeling equipment

What's included

Included
Dominican Lunch (buffet style)
Entry fee and admission to Altos de Chavon
Round Trip Transportation with a/c
Open bar with alcoholic and non-alcoholic refreshments
National Park admission to Catalina Island
Professional multilanguage guide
Snorkeling equipment
Not included
Lobster at lunch time (available to purchase)
Gratuities (optional)

Pickup Locations & Times

Pick-up is included from most of the hotels in the Punta Cana area. For customers staying in private villas, apartments, condos, or any other type of accommodation, we will arrange a pickup point close to their place. Pick-up is different for each hotel, so details will be provided after receiving the reservation.

Traveller Ratings

3.5
2 reviews
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Important Information

  • Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
  • Not recommended for pregnant travelers
  • Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
  • Suitable for all physical fitness levels
  • Alcoholic drinks provided only after the snorkeling activity for safety purpose
  • This excursion depends on the weather conditions. In case of bad weather we will ask you to reschedule or, if unable, we will provide the refund
  • The boat/catamaran used for the cruise can change depending on the size of the group

Reviews(2)

A
Angela_B
February 6, 2026
Long day of travel for a little snorkeling and beach time.

Tour guide was great. Transportation was well organized and on time. It was a full 12 hour day for us but worth it. So much to look at during ride that time passed quickly. We were one of few English speaking people on this excursion but our guide spoke many languages and accommodated all languages. Snorkeling was fun, could have used a bit of guidance.. music on boat was loud with dancing. Families and baby were also on board. Area on Catalina island how ever is not well kept up. So many people, lots of garbage around. That being said all employees were great. Tour of Altos De Chavon was beautiful!

Operator response

Hi Angela, thank you for your feedback. We're glad that the tour guide and the other employees did a good job. I agree regarding the fact that Catalina Island should be better mantained and taken care, specially by local people. kind regards, Claudio

J
Jeffrey_C
August 4, 2025
Transportation nightmare

This is definitely not a half day excursion. Transportation was ridiculous. Waited 30 min for someone who never showed up leaving the excursion. No one communicated what was going on. Sweating in a small van. Poor communication arriving to the excursion. Once we were there, it was nice, picture guy took maybe 3 pictures and disappeared. Obviously we weren’t buying a picture package with 3 pictures. I expected to be back before 230 in the afternoon. For the money, the bus ride was ridiculous

Operator response

Hi Jeffrey, thank you for sharing your impressions. I'm sorry to hear you had problem with our transportation. I just wanna clarify that, as the title says, you booked a full day adventure to Catalina Island, with duration around 11 hours. All the info is clearly written on the tour page. Probably not the right choice if you were looking for a half day tour. take care!

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