Saona Island Tour with Lunch and Pickup

We did not realize that we'd get on one boat that would take us to another boat, which turned out to be a party boat. We sat on that boat, waiting for over an hour for more people to be dropped off. It was nauseating, just sitting there and bobbing in the water. It did not say this in the trip description. I thought we were getting on a boat that would take us directly to the destination. I had requested a gluten-free meal but did not expect it and of course, there was nothing. The food on the island can best be described as, no one got sick. Mass market food, you'll get your calories but please don't expect anything that's actually good. They make it to feed thousands a day. If you have dietary restrictions, bring your own, like we did. The swimming area and the island itself are nice but definitely not something we'd do again. The beach at our resort was just as nice.

Saona Island is magnificent but the experience with the company is not great. First, I understand we don't speak the language. It was just hard because the guide spoke in Spanish mostly. Second, The vendors especially the massage therapists in Saona Island were pushy. I came to relax but it was stressful to deal with them to the point that I just said yes so they will stop harrassing me. Last, the ride back to hotel. There was a drunk passenger in the bus who was talking loudly in Spanish then would speak in English as if he is mocking English speakers. Nobody stopped him even the staff. In fact, they enabled him by taking him to the store to buy another drink. When we got off the bus, he was forcing us to give a tip to the driver. We prepared the tip already but because we were frustrated, scared and annoyed at him, we just ran out off the bus immediately. It was a traumatic experience for me to even do another excursion in Punta Cana. We cancelled our 2nd excursion because of the incident. I know this is an isolated incident but your staff should know better. They should've stopped him for doing that. It was so disrespectful on our part. We don't deserve it. All we want was to enjoy our excursion, as what your staff always say," you're on vacation, enjoy!" but it ended so badly.

The island is absolutely beautiful and breathtaking. What I didn’t like is the numerous transportation transfer from shuttle to the bus and having to wait in the rain because the bus was not there to take us back on time. I also did not like transition from one catamaran to another boat as it was a safety hazard the way they transported us as the boaTwas wet and slippery. Overall, good party vibes on the larger boat and the island is stunning.