Saona Island Full Day

The trip to Saona island was so so The transport was great. The food at the island was terrible. Dry and tasteless . Free alcohol was true but they shouldn’t say alcohol. They should say rum and coke only. They have no service for people Like me who are diabetic. The boat we used to get back almost flipped, and that is not good when someone doesn’t know how to swim.

I searched and searched before committing to booking a tour to Saona island, I wanted a small group so when I read on this tour there was a maximum of 15 group I thought this would be a good option. Well how misleading was that! We were collected from our hotel no problem in a mini bus which seated about 12 so we thought this looks ok so far… then we continued to collect people for about 35 minutes, drove to a bus terminus which dropped off 8 of the original group, another group of 8 were picked up and we hit 5e road for the port, still feeling fairly optimistic at this stage! Had a toilet stop and obligatory gift shop - nice clean loo’s so no problem with that. A further 20 minutes to the port, on arrival we were instructed to follow this guide over the road to a meeting area, this is where I thought things are getting busy as there were lots of other groups congregating with us. After a while we were escorted down to the dock where yes, large catamarans were being loaded with 50/60 tourists…oh no! We were going on my worst nightmare “A PARTY BOAT”!!! Got on, crappy thecno music at blistering volume, crowded, only rum and coke on offer not that I wanted to drink. Absolutely hated it and it was over and hours journey which felt like purgatory! The island was nice, had a poor lunch of rice and weird mash potatoes as I’m vegetarian no choice… I sound like a real moaner but honestly this is not what I booked. 2 hours to eat and have a wander around or swim soon goes. Eventually found our group for the return on a faster boat, not bad less loud music, good. Back on the bus after a chaotic exchange in the car park, we were taken a few streets away to a very dodgy looking waste land with a few other vehicles around (jokingly said we’re all going to get abducted now) No idea what was going on until I asked the driver who spoke in Spanish “pool”… what? I said, he said we swim in pool! Oh my god, I wouldn’t want to swim in that thanks, plastics rubbish everywhere, we declined and stayed in the van… Got back to hotel at about 7.00 pm. The driver was friendly, very friendly with one of the American guests - saw them snogging on the beach, ah well perks of the job I guess!

Opting for a small group tour allowed us to enjoy a more personalized and peaceful experience. The catamaran was spacious and comfortable, and the crew took pains to provide exceptional service. The food on board was delicious, with a variety of options for all tastes. The stay on Saône Island was wonderful, with time to explore, swim and relax on the beach. An experience that exceeded our expectations and that we would definitely recommend.