I had a great time and enjoyed Saona and the natural pool with starfish - The tour guy was amazing as well as all the others that I had the pleasure to interact with. Being an old lady myself they were helping me at all times. As always VIATOR only employs the best!

Overall this was a decent... - Overall this was a decent tour but there are a few things that would have made it better. Such as more clarity on what's going on. To start, I will say, please ignore the provided description and inclusions when booking. If you book please follow up on your pick-up time, we had to inquire about when we would be picked up the day of the trip because no information/reminder was sent at confirmation or 24hrs prior. Things to know that aren’t listed: - After being picked up from our resort there is a 90+min drive to Bayahibe Beach. - While waiting on the beach to enter the speedboat, we were told that everyone who takes a picture gets it as a free welcome photo printed at the end…this is not true. The photo is printed and pasted on a bottle which you have the option to purchase. - After the waiting time, we entered the speedboat which took us to Playa Palmilla…we stayed here for 30mins, not 2hrs. No drinks were offered until Playa Palmilla. - After we re-enter the speedboat to get to Saona Island which was gorgeous! This is where you can relax, get in the water, have the buffet lunch and unlimited drinks…we stayed here for maybe 2-3hrs - We re-enter the speedboat and somewhere along our ride, we’re literally told we are hopping from the speedboat to the catamaran to join another group. This part wasn’t my favourite part because of the jumping from one boat to another in the middle of the ocean but also because we were joining another group who clearly had been on the boat for hours already, drinking already, situated, etc. 95% of my tour group seemed to just find some room on the boat to sit & drink quietly. Seemed like we were imposing on someone else’s birthday party and we weren’t invited. Lol Also, there was no variety of music. This also seemed like the longest part of the day. - We did not take the catamaran back to shore, we again jumped from the catamaran back to the speedboat to finally head back to shore. - Finally, the 90min drive back to the resorts. Some tips: We spent a great deal of time just waiting around & driving. So get comfortable. Get ready to jump from the speedboat to the catamaran and back. On the drive to Bayahibe the guide does a little informational, bring your translator, it helped me follow along. Grab bug spray for your body. Take lots of photos because everything is beautiful.

Please be more environmentally conscious - use LESS plastic - I enjoyed the excursion with my my family. We enjoyed the natural swimming pool the most because of the facility it is to swim in the water in that area. The natural swimming pool was an amazing experience. The only downside was that the tour operator told us that they would pick us up from the resort lobby at 7:30am and they showed up at 8:30am outside. The communication was a bit off at the beginning and the driver was late. Also, as the climate crisis is a reality in which we currently live in, I did not appreciate that they used tons of plastic to feed us and for the unlimited drinks on the boats. As the day ended, while walking back to the boat, you can see all the plastic cups, plates, straws, and plastic forks washing up on the shore. As we arrived back on the Bayahibe puerto, I saw countless plastic cups rolling around the Catamaran. All of these plastics end up in the ocean; which made my family and I very sad. We would love to see tour agencies implement the use of compostable or re-usable cups, plates and forks (as seen in other countries such as Mexico). I cleaned up some of the plastics left behind on the Saona shore, but we did not have enough time. I hope that this review makes companies who make a living out of the ocean, become aware of the damage that they can cause to the ocean and animals living in these places by leaving behind tons of plastic on shore and in ocean waters.