Fun and Thrilling Excursion with Older Teens - Amazing time! All the beautiful fish and then seeing the sharks and giant rays was so thrilling. I thought I would be nervous but I wasn’t. The staff was super friendly and helpful. Made the whole trip relaxing and very fun. Enjoyed the sand bar and dance party. Teen kids with us who also loved it as well. Just the right amount of time for us in water, on boat and at party. Never felt rushed or annoyed it was taking too long. The sandwiches and fruit were nothing special but we weren’t in this trip for a meal. A little snack to sustain us was good enough. Would definitely do again.

Fun morning in the water - My family of 3, including my 14 year old daughter, did this trip. The boat is nice and clean, all staff members were amazing. You take the boat over to the enclosures, you get a snorkel and belly band, you can get flippers if you want them. You swim over top of a reef to enter the enclosure. You will see fish, manta rays and nurse sharks. We got to hold a baby manta ray, and you can get photos with a big manta ray. My husband dove down with the help of a staff member and touched a shark. After snorkeling you take a boat ride to a section of the ocean to hang out, have some drinks, listen to music. They serve sandwiches, soda, water, and alcohol. I recommend bringing a waterproof case for your phone!

Amazing trip!! So much fun!! - Very friendly and helpful crew! They made sure everyone was taken care of and had a great time! The snorkeling was awesome, the party on the boat/dancing was a BLAST!! I was very impressed!

Great experience BUT no sharks and 2-3 rays only - I'll start with the negative - there was definitely no sharks to be seen (we heard at least 20 others on the boat say the same) and there wasn't that many rays to see either. Clearly this isn't ideal for a snorkelling cruise that hinges mostly on seeing those 2 animals. HOWEVER, the rest of the experience was very good so it didn't mar our enjoyment completely. The team on the boat made it great fun, the drinks were flowing, music playing and the team were great with our kids too. This would undoubtedly have been a 5 star experience had we seen more of the animals we set out to see.

I would do it again - - [ ] Mariniuam excursion the boat was older it could’ve been nicer. Lunch was cheese sandwiches or cheese and ham. The snorkeling equipment needed to be replaced the water would seep in through the mask because they were just old. way too many on the boat the water where you snorkel for the sharks and stingrays was very murky so underwater shots weren’t the greatest. The second stop was very nice we got off and swam in shallow clear, waters with music playing and drinks. It was very nice. Crew was very nice. Give this three out of five.

Disregard for welfare of animals in captivity - Once we arrived by shuttle, we were herded through a dismal display of captive animals that were kept in small enclosures with very little access to shade, or enrichment of any type. : ( After picking up our tickets for the boat, very little direction was given. No staff seemed to be around to answer questions or to help us understand how long we might have to wait. I was thankful for the shelter and the picnic tables, but it felt a bit frustrating to not know how long our wait would be. On the boat, we were taken out where they dropped anchor, and we all lined up to climb down the ladder one by one into the water. We were to snorkel along the buoy line to the 'cages' in the water a little ways away. The snorkeling itself was sort of cool, seeing the fish just beyond my fingers. At the cage, you had to scramble over a gate in order to enter the cage where the rays and sharks were. Many people were having difficulty with this. Inside this bereft area the rays and nurse sharks were visible, but I was distressed by the fact that they were in such small space with very little around except the sandy bottom. There was some coral reef in one corner and we were told that is where we could locate the sharks. I imagine they were all trying to hide from the large groups of people that come visit them each day. Very little opportunity for them to swim any distance, or escape the stress of having humans invade their space en masse every day. We were then herded to the next 'cage' (via another gate) and there was someone holding a large ray that we all got to touch and get pics with. I couldn't help but notice the tail of the ray was half missing and there was an injury on its back. Back on the boat we were offered a drink and a small sandwich. The open bar time began and guests began to loosen up. We reached a small bay where there were no less than 30 boats all blaring their music as loudly as possible. The promised 'swim up bar' was a plastic container with drinks that was taken out into the water by the boat crew. (lol) The boat crew were great - friendly and helpful and trying to help us all have a great experience. I just find it hard to get over that there doesn't seem to be any regard for the health and welfare of animals in captivity in DR.

Did not meet expectations - Unfortunately, I was very disappointed with this tour. I had high expectations of excellent snorkeling along with seeing some nurse sharks and sting rays. I understand they need to keep the wildlife in a fenced area. However, there were so many people on this excursion that you were constantly kicked. Additionally, they had children on this excursion who were poor swimmers and could not navigate the waves. This was frustrating. I don't now if I have a higher expectation from other countries or if this is the standard for the DR. The staff was very kind and customer service oriented.

Save your money unless you want a hip hop excursion! - Lied to by Amstar the company we booked through( we stayed at Dreams Onyx). Was told this was family friendly. Our entire boat ride was filled with rap music filled with cussing not appropriate for my 2 kids. My wife and daughter didn’t even get off the boat at all. The music was so loud caused both to get migraines. When we confronted Amstar we were told we shouldn’t have gotten on because we should have known The other people on our bus were going to act like this. All in all we were offered a $36 refund on almost $400 purchase. When we left a review on the boat with their own paper we left a bad review but they said they only received positive reviews. They pandered to a large group and didn’t care about my family at all. If I could leave a ZERO star review I would.

Insensitive and depressing tour. - Insensitive and depressing tour. We were extremely mislead with this tour, and would have never supported this business knowing it was the way it was. If you enjoy watching animals being abused and confined against their will, this is the perfect tour. It started by entering an area with two alligators trapped in a small pit with barely enough room to move with a small puddle of dirty water. Then another tiny enclosure with iguanas then another with turtles in murky gross water. All in terrible conditions, miserable in their forced homes. We then had to wait an hour until the boat came with no direction on where to go. The snorkelling made us depressed. We got off the boat to see a small enclosure with trapped stingrays and sharks. The stingrays had their tails cut off to not sting us, terrible. We snorkelled through the enclosure to see the sharks and stingrays trapped in a small space which looked like a living hell. Trapped in a cage while us humans admired their beauty, absolutely disgusting. During the snorkelling the employees captured one of the stingrays holding the animal above the water unable to breath. Heartbreaking and so disturbing. While people gathered around to take photos, myself and my partner were mortified by the insensitivity around us. In tears we left the enclosure, embarrassed and ashamed we supported such a business. We were told we were going to see coral reefs, and there was nothing but sand underneath us. Complete waste of money, just to understand that this company does not care whatsoever about the environment and animals. Please do not support this company.

Do not go scam and unsafe too - What a bad experience they did not have life jackets for my wife whom cannot swim well. They never cancel when the waves are rough they want your money. I was told other excursions were canceled due to the rough seas but not this scam. The poor shark and stingray should be let free.. my son could not even see much coral here and saw more stuff snorkeling from the hotels beach for free.. don’t let them sell you this over priced un safe rushed trip. The royalton bravado sold us this and we complained to them too. It’s all about taking your money and not about your safety or fun