Samana Bay
Samana Bay
4
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Monday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Tuesday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Wednesday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Thursday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Friday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Saturday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Sunday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
About
This bay is best known for the frequency with which humpback whales and dolphins are seen here.
Duration: More than 3 hours
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.0
538 reviews
Excellent
306
Very good
124
Average
61
Poor
22
Terrible
25
Glyndwr_10
Gresford, UK151 contributions
Jan 2023 • Couples
Visited here from Cruise ship Azamara recently, although nearly everywhere was closed the only good thing about the place was the little church.
We landed by tender to be greeted by a swarm of noisy taxi drivers, we managed a short walk near the landing area of around 30 minutes.
The streets were covered in litter, glass and plastic bottles which spilled into the sea.
I appreciate the area and people are deprived but there was no excuse for the amount of litter around.
It is a shame as this has clouded our judgement about visiting the country again.
We landed by tender to be greeted by a swarm of noisy taxi drivers, we managed a short walk near the landing area of around 30 minutes.
The streets were covered in litter, glass and plastic bottles which spilled into the sea.
I appreciate the area and people are deprived but there was no excuse for the amount of litter around.
It is a shame as this has clouded our judgement about visiting the country again.
Written January 9, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
mortgage-lady
Franklin, Tn30 contributions
Stayed @ Rui Bambu in Punta Cana, 2/16 thru 2/25/07. Were excited about the possibility of being up close & personal with hump-back whales (Mommas & babies!). They are only there about 2 months of the year. The cost was very reasonable, $279 US for two people, including transportation on a "coach" with a bathroom (for light use!), an English speaking guide from the Dept of Touristry, the boat, soft drinks/water on the boat, lunch on an island in the bay. The guide was a local & very informative and proud of his island.
The time stated by the tour representative wasn't accurate...plan on 15 hour day from Punta Cana. Remember they take their time less seriously than US citizens! Take food & beverage from your resort. We had no breakfast (6am departure) and were given lunch @ 2:00pm. I was glad to have snacks & water in my tote! However, it was indeed the highlight of our trip!
The time stated by the tour representative wasn't accurate...plan on 15 hour day from Punta Cana. Remember they take their time less seriously than US citizens! Take food & beverage from your resort. We had no breakfast (6am departure) and were given lunch @ 2:00pm. I was glad to have snacks & water in my tote! However, it was indeed the highlight of our trip!
Written February 7, 2007
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Voyage25687
Boston, Massachussetts USA1 contribution
When I arrived in Samana round mid-March, my intention was to sit by the pool all day and get served cocktails (I did, and they're good). But just as I was getting bored of that, my friends came back from town one day and told me about the whale tours that were leaving from Samana town dock. We ended up going on the Transporto Maritime Tom Phipps boats and had a great time. The staff was really knowledgeable about the whales and showed us a good time. AND they spoke English! I'd do it again in a heartbeat - the only problem is how to synchronize my vacations with whale season. TO SUMMARIZE: HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.
Written December 30, 2002
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
KPR777
Raleigh, NC633 contributions
Jan 2016 • Friends
We came from Punta Cana on local transport to Sabana de la Mar and stayed in Los Haitises National Park, before taking the ferry across the Bay of Samana to Samana town. There are 4 ferries daily (9am,11am,3pm,5pm)--weather permitting, and it's best to take an earlier ferry. The views of both sides of the bay when crossing are lovely as is Cayo Levantado and the harbor of Samana when approaching the town. Wish we could've seen the whales, but we were about 3 weeks too early.
Written January 21, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
OlgaKNj
New York City, NY92 contributions
Mar 2013 • Family
We took the 9-day Carribean cruise with NCL overt the Spring break. I will review the cruise separately but wanted to write a couple of words about our last stop – Samana, DR. Honestly, it is beyond me why such cruise company as NCL would every pick that place as a stop. Yes, there’s a beach you can tender to which we did not even attempt to go to due to bad weather, but the tender is not free (as it would be to a private NCL island) and the people that did go there were underwhelmed. We opted to tender to the village. What can I say… the “port” was dirty, water was full of garbage floating by, poverty – worse than some 3rd world countries I traveled to. We found a nice guy and his “auto rickshaw” to take us around. We saw a waterfall that was pretty decent but that was IT. He attempted to take us to another beach but it was just simply terrible: I was amazed there were tourists staying in the nearby hotel.
My advice, if you do take this cruise (other stops were Puerto Rico, St. Maarten and St. Thomas) stay on the ship when docked in Samana or pay the money to tender to the Cayo Levantade if it’s a beautiful day.
My advice, if you do take this cruise (other stops were Puerto Rico, St. Maarten and St. Thomas) stay on the ship when docked in Samana or pay the money to tender to the Cayo Levantade if it’s a beautiful day.
Written April 3, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Gina W
Wilkes-Barre, PA2 contributions
Nov 2012 • Family
We spent the day in Samana on a cruise and booked a private tour with "Tours with Terry". This was the best thing we did for the entire 9 day cruise. There were 7 of us in our group ranging in age from 3 years old to over 50. I started emailing Terry and I knew this tour agency was for us as Terry was very helpful and very responsive to my questions. My entire group agrees with the information that I am sharing and actually asked that I send out as many reviews to help others like us to find a great tour company. Tours with Terry exceeded our expectation in every way and then some. For a very reasonable charge we were able to book a private tour for the 7 in our group and we basically were able to plan our day on what we wanted to see and do. Mario our guide was super. He was very flexible and so accomodating. He was very personable and interacted with everyone in our group including our little guy who is 3.5 years old. He showed the Samana area that is real and made quite an impression on everyone in our group. We wanted to see the real area and he showed it us. He brought us to a beautiful waterfall and handpicked a guide to take us thru the path and showed us the various plants, fruits, animals and anything that we on our own would never even thought to observe. He even took group pictures of us. Then the truly amazing part of our tour, he took us to a local school as we had brought some presents with us that we wanted to share with the local children. I think Mario was just as excited as we were that school was in session that day and we were able to spend time with the beautiful children and there lovely teacher. Best of all Mario was able to translate for us so we were actually able to communicate with everyone and we even got to tour the inside of the school. The children were so proud to show us where they spent their day learning. My 14 year old daughter and my 3 year old great nephew handed out dolls and matchbox cars to the kids. We also gave them tablets, pencils and then we gave out dollar bills. The children were so excited and I think we as a family truly appreciated these very sweet children and how happy we were with the little gifts we brought them. Mario told us all about the local area always pointing special things out to along the drive. We even stopped in the middle of an area and small children playing in the area came over to our van and we were able to hand out dollar bills to them of course only after Mario assured them by translating that we just wanted to say hello. We would never had been able to meet these children if it were not for Mario translating and letting the people know we just wanted to see their area and say hello. Then we spent part of our day at a very beautiful beach and Mario spent the entire time with us chatting about the area, he even bought us a round of fresh pineapple and coconut drinks along with a coller full of water, soda and beer. We had lunch which was also included with our tour freshly made chicken, fish of the day, rice, fried bananas, salad. Again, Mario sat with us and chatted the entire time. You can tell he really enjoys what he does which made our day even better because we were able to ask him questions and chat with him like we knew him forever. Even Terry came around to check in on us during the day which I thought was very nice on his part because he also had people he was taking around. This is a very well organized tour agency and very personable. They make you so comfortable and you feel very safe. We asked Mario to take us to a good place shopping and asked if he could help us find something special for my daughter, so he even went shopping with us and brought us to people he knew and made sure we got the best deal on the stuff we bought. He even helped my daughter find a beautiful photo album that was made by hand, it was perfect and exactly what she was looking for. Mario even surprised with a special treat to end our day, he stopped off at a freind's house and gave us this amazing homemade bread (2 kinds) but, it more like dessert and it was tasty. We all are still talking about that bread, it was filled with jelly and was awesome. We are so grateful to Terry for having Mario as our guide, I truly beleive he made the day special just because of how knowledgable he is and how much he himself loves Samana. You could hear the excitement in his voice when he would tell us little bits of information about this and that. I wanted something special for my 14 year old to remember and also to make it interesting for the rest of group and this company delivered in all areas. I highly recommend Tours with Terry and I woudl highly suggest you asking if Mario is available for your group. Well worth the money we spent and I would go with this tour company in a minute. From start to finish A+ all the way around.
Written December 5, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
queencrab3
Chesterfield, VA38 contributions
Apr 2013 • Family
We went on a 9 day cruise with Norweigian Gem for spring break 2013 in March-April. We had 4 shore excursions, Puerto Rico first, St.Maarten, St.Thomas and best of all Samana. All the beaches were beautiful and clean, but when I first saw Samana, I was speechless, toatally taken away with the intimacy of the part of the island we occupied. I read somewhere that Samana is 80% privately resort owned and 20% for the public and cruise ship passengers . No matter, it is a heaven right here on earth. I felt like it was our own private beach, even with the other guest there. The people that work there were nice and not over powering like the people on St.Maartens, always pushing clothes and hats and jewelry on you. We relaxed and the children had a ball on the beach building sand castles with their new friends they met on the beach. I am making plans to go back next year with my husband, but instead of a crruise taking me everywhere I already been a hundred times, we will take a flight and go straight to a resort on Samana and revisit Our little piece of heaven on Samana.
Written April 26, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
david b
Pwllheli, UK4 contributions
Feb 2014 • Couples
Between January and March is the best time. After only a short boat ride you get to see lots of hump back whales including mothers and babies. It is amazing how close you are to them. Worthwhile trip.
Written March 7, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
sandramacNovaScotia
nova scotia36 contributions
Apr 2013 • Couples
This is the most scenic beautiful place. A must see!! We had this view all week from our room. Go to Bahia Principe Cayacoa where there isn't a bad view
Written April 23, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Alynne N
Vancouver17 contributions
Mar 2013 • Friends
We chose the Whale Samana tour because it is run by Kim Beddall who guarantees a 'whale sensitive' tour. The crew are marine biologists studying these amazing creatures, so you get a legitimate experience knowing that you're not contributing to an exploitative experience. The tour was less expensive than the resort tours and also on a boat that wasn't over crowded and looked a lot more stable! It was an amazing experience but I wish I had been there a month sooner because most of the whales had already left.
Written March 10, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I arrive on April 17th. Is it still possible to see whales?
Written March 3, 2021
Добрый день. Скажите, как вы попали на Саману из Хуан Долио? Тур агентство? Частные перевозчики? Ответьте, пожалуйста!
Written January 20, 2020
здравствуйте. брал у "местного" нашего приезжего экскурсии от Миши. он и в контакте и в инстаграме есть. ссылки тут нельзя оставлять
все кто брал не пожалел.
Written February 3, 2020
brianjessie
Olney, Montana
We are planning a trip from Punta Cana to Altos De Cano Hundo in the national park, then across the Ferry to Las Galeras. I'm wondering what transportation did you use to get to the national park hotel and then to Sabana De La Mar Ferry? And is there transportation available on the other side when you arrive at the Samana Dock?
Would you recommend renting a vehicle for a first timer? I hear the 104 on the coast isn't bad. The other option would be one of the private shuttle services like cocotours, ibkservicios, Dominican shuttles, or conexion?
Written March 26, 2018
How's the bote ride? Is the water rough or more like a lagoon? I'm going with my daughter who suffers from sea sickness. Thank you
Written January 7, 2018
Sorry ...we didn’t enter the water
Written January 21, 2018
We are going in April, what trips are offered from the Hotel, Bahai Principe Cayacoca
Written February 17, 2016
ciao sono interessata all'avvistamento delle balene per il prossimo febbraio, volevo sapere con chi avete prenotato e qualche consiglio in merito
grazie
Written March 20, 2015
Ciao, non ti verrà difficile una volta giunta a Samana, li troverai ovunque annunci o piccole agenzie che si occupano di escursioni, è l'attività principale in quel periodo. Non perderla per nessuna ragione, è un'esperienza straordinaria.
Written March 26, 2015
How much does it cost to take a trip to the bay? Does it have a cost?
Written February 11, 2015
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