Saona Island Day Trip with Private Ground Transportation

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Having read how much of a must see attraction Saona island is, it was a no brainer to book this tour. Unfortunately the entire day and overall experience was extremely disappointing. Firstly, I paid for private transportation to remove the usual hassle of driving to multiple hotels and to make the trip easier for my girlfriend and I. To begin with the transportation was apparently unable to gain access to our hotel which I find highly unusual considering we were staying in one of the most well known resorts in Punta Cana. However I can let that slide as it was only a 10 min walk to the entrance of our resort from the main reception area. Upon getting into the transportation and making our way to the port, the driver proceeded to stop 3 or 4 times to pick up other members of staff and it felt that I’d instead just paid for the staff bus rather than ‘private transportation’. Upon arriving to the port, very little instruction was given and we were just stood or sat around waiting for almost 2 hrs before finally the boat that was taking us to the island arrived. The journey to the island itself was fun and we enjoyed the provided drinks and overall atmosphere so kudos to those involved on the boat aspect for making that happen. Upon arriving to the island, considering the time is roughly 13:00, we are told to be back and meet at the beach for 15:00 to leave the island. Food was provided but not particularly appetising and there was little to do on the island aside from sit on sun loungers. I was under the impression considering the trip mentions a tour guide that we would be taken around the island somewhat but that was not the case. After spending some time relaxing in the sunshine, we made our way back to the main area for the return journey but watching all the other big groups leave, we were waiting for almost 2 hours again for the boat to come and collect us. Once on the boat, we were taken back via the natural swimming pool which is just a shallow section of water off a beach - nothing interesting. The drive back was quick and our driver was prompt - a relief after an extremely long day of disappointment after disappointment. Overall I was extremely disappointed with the pretty much every aspect of this trip. The page on viator mentions that the photographers are not associated with the tour but they hound you all day to take pictures and there was no ‘tour guide’ aspect of things at all. The timings and sitting around waiting but not knowing what is happening was also not great. The island itself is beautiful and so is the beach but the whole trip is extremely touristy - easily hundreds if not thousands of other people arrive to the island with other tour operators - hardly an enjoyable experience. The beach where our resort is located in Punta Cana looks 99% the same as Saona island. With almost 12 hrs away for what was 2 hrs of time on the beach, I find it very hard to recommend this. What should have been an enjoyable day out visiting a beautiful piece of the world was turned sour by poor management and planning. Overall - don’t waste your money with this trip and save it for something else.

Do not pay the extra money for this trip. I was told the private trip was worth the extra money because the groups were smaller and the transportation was private. The other people on our trip paid $67 each, we paid $200 each. The only difference was we got picked up and were the only ones in the bus. Yes a bus, not even a car. We also picked up 2 employees on the way there. Once we got to the boat there were still 50 people on our trip. I was lead to believe there would only be 20-25. Lesson learned and now you know as well. I did not see any small group private tours the whole time we were at the island, it just sounds good when advertising. On the other hand, the island itself is beautiful, however had I researched more I would have also noticed it was a 1hr 45 minute drive to where the boats are. We were at breathless.