Full Day Excursion to Saona Island with All Inclusive

Drive and commute to the island is too long for what it is worth. Bad cheap chairs and once you get there. Beach is fine. Been to better local places in mexico or other Caribbean islands

It took an hour to get to beach, but a total of 3.5 hours to get on a boat. This was the most disorganized excursion we've ever been on. We were supposed to be a group of up to 30 and be taken to island by speed boat, but we were a group of at least 60-70 on a very slow boat. Supposed to have an open bar, but they only had Sprite, Coke, Water, and Rum. We went to a beach that they call a natural pool and the went to Saona Island. Thought we would get drinks on the island, but they had the same options, other than a drink in a pineapple if you could track down the guy selling them. We didn't speak Spanish and our guide was aware, but nobody would speak to us in English. We weren't on the island but a couple of hours and were supposed to go back by catamaran, but we took a slow speed boat back. You will definitely need water shoes to get into the water on Saona, it is nothing but rock on the ocean floor. It was the worst excursion from start to finish.

SOFUN TOUR the best company to visit Saona Island

The tour had some great moments, but overall it felt very disorganized and stressful, especially traveling with three kids. We were picked up from our hotel on time at 7:45 a.m., but then drove to a gas station and waited about 40 minutes for the rest of the group. While we waited, several people approached the van trying to sell things, including knocking on the windows to get our attention. From there, we were dropped off on the side of the road and had to walk with our three kids through some rocky areas to wait near the marina. We waited again while our guide was trying to arrange a boat for the group. Since we had already booked a Saona Island excursion, it was surprising that the transportation still seemed to be getting worked out. We eventually rushed onto a catamaran around 10:25. The catamaran was definitely the highlight. There was dancing, music, and a fun party atmosphere. We stopped at a natural pool for pictures, although we didn't see any starfish, so I wouldn't go expecting that. Our guide took some really nice pictures of our family on the boat and at the pool. The island itself was very crowded, and there were a lot of people approaching tourists trying to sell things. Lunch was decent. Our family photos came out really well, but the photo sales process felt pretty aggressive, with the price changing and additional money being added. The return trip was probably the biggest issue. Our group was split up between boats, and my family ended up separated. I sat in the back with my youngest, where we got completely soaked for about 30 minutes and had a speaker blasting right next to us. It was a very rough ride, and all of us ended up seasick, which had never happened to us before. There was also some confusion with the final payment. We had agreed on a price with our guide, but an additional $20 was added when we went to pay. We questioned it because it wasn't the price we had agreed on. Overall, we had some really fun moments, especially on the catamaran, and the family pictures were great. However, the transportation, waiting, boat arrangements, and payment process made the day much more chaotic than we expected. With better organization, this could have been a much better experience.

Unfortunately our driver that picked us up did not speak any English which made the 2h journey to the harbour very difficult as he wasn’t able to communicate how far is it, how many people are we picking up etc. He seemed like a nice guy but the long drive to pick up all the other people was painful. Boat over to Saona was crammed and long enough. The all inclusive meant rum and coke were included. Soana island is beautiful but not worth the trip over this way. At the end we were pressured and almost forced to give tips, felt like we were hustled and almost threatened to do so. Would not recommend

We had a great experience. Transportation came on time. We were assigned a tour guide to help us along the way. The boat was really nice. Staff made sure we all had drinks. Beautiful views on the way to Saona. When we arrived there was a delicious lunch waiting and more drinks. I would definitely recommend this tour.

When going on a trip to paradise, bring patience, a solid sense of humor, and excellent swimming skills. Because in paradise, time works differently — and someone may forget to fill the gas tank of the boat that is supposed to bring you back to shore. You may also learn that rum and Coke can apparently serve as a crisis management tool, that Caribbean rain is at least fresh water, and that the only visible rescue device on board may be one sad-looking life vest. After we ran out of gas and the rain stopped, we floated in the beautiful blue waters of the Caribbean for a good hour — or maybe more; I lost track of time. At some point, the captain apparently needed a cooling swim. One gentleman decided to follow his lead, likely to calm his nerves while facing the unknown timeline of possible rescue. Except his swimming skills were not made for deep water, and he developed a leg cramp. Not one crew member seemed to know how to get him safely back to the boat. Having had some basic rescue swimming training, I jumped in and swam him back myself. In the end, all was well — except that after helping resolve what could have become a much more serious situation, we were later chased down all the way to our hotel to pay for photos that had initially been offered to us for free. I should also mention that it takes about three hours and multiple boat changes to get to this island in paradise. Be prepared to share it with hundreds of tourists, sub-par food, many broken beach chairs, and bathrooms with no running water. We only got to spend about 90 minutes there in total. The experience was crowded, poorly organized, and underwhelming. I would not do this again — unless you want to come home with plenty of stories.

It would have been good but it rained which is no one’s fault and the staff is very pushy. They wanted us to buy everything and would not leave us alone when we said no. One of the guides on this tour was rude to my friend and took her phone out of her hand without permission.

Extremely disappointing experience and very different from what was sold. The tour was completely disorganized, with more than 2 hours of delay to start. The ad said “all included”, but there was not even water available on the boat. The catamaran was overcrowded, with extremely loud music and alcoholic passengers, making the experience very uncomfortable. The lunch was terrible, with huge queues and insufficient food — we couldn’t get lunch. In addition, we only had about 1h30 on Isla Saona, far below what was expected for a “full day walk.” To avoid returning for more than 2 hours in a slow and uncomfortable catamaran, we still had to pay USD 150 extra for a fast boat. I do not recommend. Service completely incompatible with the amount paid and with what was advertised.

The gentlemen take people together groups to rent a new one-way boat, they made us Wait an hour in a park before boarding there was bewilderment as they argued among themselves in dialect so no one knew what they said. There is no previous organization, it is but I per tripadvisor pay $85 and check with other people who traveled with me and paid less, I do not know the difference, I recommend that they do not take the service, it is better to take it at the hotel, finally the return ride was fine by catamaran.