Samana Recently?

Has anyone been to Samana recently? It is our first stop on an 11 night cruise after a sea day so we probably will want to get off the ship.

NCL has the Cayo Levitano Beach Break, but it seems crazy to spend $100 to just get a tender ride to the island with everything else there more $$$....especially since we have some gorgeous beach trips following in the days afterward.

See a few other suggestions in the Samana port forum, but mostly alot of hiking through the rain forest to waterfalls and the spots really don't look too exciting.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Barbara

A couple of years ago we went on a fantastic tour with Terry Lee Bandini (I think you'll find him on the Samana forum)--we rode horseback (easy walking) to El Limon, a beautiful waterfall, where we swam under the falls. We then rode back and feasted on an authentic Dominican lunch. There's a slippery walk down to the falls which was the hardest part, but I would do the trip again in a heart beat. Samana is beautiful!

We are also sailing on the Dawn 11 day trip that stops in Samana. we have done the ship excursion to Cayo Levatado which was beautiful, but expensive especially, when you consider that's it's a short tender ride from the boat to the island.

We found a website, gosamana.com that has a private tour to Cayena Del Mar, a beach resort for $30 per person including transportation, lunch and 2 drinks per person.

The problem is, I have only found 3 reviews on trip advisor. 2 were not in English. :( and the forum on cc for Samana seems to have very dated info.

If anyone has personal experience, please share your experience.

Thank you

I went to Semana in 2009 and did the ship beach excursion. I don't remember it being that expensive. Does it include lunch? Ours did not. It was me and two teenage girls. The beach was beautiful and we had a good time. The one thing I didn't like about it was the very very long lines to get on the ferry back to the ship.

I went to Semana again in 2010. This time it was me and a male friend, both of us about 50. We did a Terry tour and did not enjoy it at all. There was a lot of poverty - particularly children begging. It was an awful situation because if you gave money to the kids, more and more kids showed up with their hands out. If you give nothing, you feel like a rat. I also didn't like the tour because Terry did not participate - he had other tours that day. The bus we were on pretty much stopped in the middle of no where while the driver and/or tour guide reminded us to tip. We came very close to missing the ship. This was the first trip my friend had taken to the Caribbean and Semana was the first stop. This tour really affected the whole cruise because at each port he was nervous thinking we were about to face the same thing again.

If I were to go again, I would most likely stay on the ship. If I was with beach people, which I really am not, I would do the ship's beach excursion.

Obviously this was only my experience and others have had much different experiences and enjoy Semana.

One other thing - the Terry tour included beer. Those drinking definitely had a better time. We are not beer drinkers at all.

I did the beach excursion in "2008", the beach was beautiful, but if you are going on an 11~day cruise, I would wait to do other beaches, think about something else to do in Samana or just stay on the ship and enjoy! I want to do an 11~day someday. I am going on a 7~day in November for the "Big Birthday":)

Stopped at Samana last May on an RCI cruise and tendered to the Island just to say I had set foot there.

Unless a private or "official" tour was booked, I would likely remain on the ship next time because of the aggressive vendors including young children.

Samana IS a beautiful place though and there is a small but interesting shipwreck/maritime museum across the street from the tender dock.

My DH and I are also booked for the 11 day cruise in November. Since I have been reading the reviews of Samana I decided that we would be best served by taking the ships shore excursion. We are doing the mangrove and cave exploration that leaves directly from the ship. It is more expensive, but I want to be able to see something and I just feel better knowing that NCL approves this vendor and the reviews were good. My mother in law said she did a private tour there a few years ago and while it was pretty, the poverty was intense. She said that she wouldn't leave the ship if she were to do it again. Good luck deciding and happy sailing.

last December Samana was an unexpected stop for us, we took a city type tour thru NCL and ended up at this Beautiful little secluded beach (less than an hr stay) but the water was so warm.

dont remember the name of it, was about an hr or so at least from the dock.

Samana is a very poverished place, but it did have this BEAUTY:)

this is one place that i think if i didnt have a ship's tour i wouldnt venture out very far from where the tenders dock at.

I think after reading the Ports of Call board and this thread - I may want to stay close to the ship, but I would also like to buy a few pieces of larimar jewelry. I asked on the ports board, but no one has answered. Are there shops close to the ship that sell this jewelry or is it safe to walk into town? I believe this is the only island who mines this stone. I don't think we are necessarily interested in a tour of this port.

We'll be stopping there in Feb.

We went to Samana a year ago and did the hike to the waterfall. It was very long and very, very muddy. The waterfall was okay but there was nowhere to put your things except in a tree and you have to take turns watching it. the horses took the same path which added to the mud situation. A crazy tour that I would probably not do again. Great local beer though and they gave us a free bottle as soon as we arrived.

We did the Sea Lion encounter in January and enjoyed it. Interacting in the open ocean with them was an amazing experience.

We were in Samana this past March. It's all of what others have posted and more. I found the culture interesting, the scenery amazing and we were so happy we experienced it. We took a taxi for a tour of the town and he hooked us up with a tour guide that took us to the falls. We were back to the ship after about 3 hours, long enough for us to appreciate our cushy lives. They are trying to do a good job in the town, you can see that. I think the cruisers coming in bring much needed revenues to the town. I attached a few pics.

I think after reading the Ports of Call board and this thread - I may want to stay close to the ship, but I would also like to buy a few pieces of larimar jewelry. I asked on the ports board, but no one has answered. Are there shops close to the ship that sell this jewelry or is it safe to walk into town? I believe this is the only island who mines this stone. I don't think we are necessarily interested in a tour of this port.

 

We'll be stopping there in Feb.

there was a place right as you get off the tender and then just down from there that carried some larimar--wish we would have had time to check them out--the one near the dock didnt have what i wanted, i got mine in Santo Tomas.

We've been to Samana two different times with NCL.

We liked the beach excursion so much the first time that we did it again on our following trip. It was beautiful! The snorkeling was only so-so, but nice, beautiful scenery and warm water. The vendors are plentiful near the tender drop off, but other than that, we did not experience any problems with them.

I think NCL was charging something like $49 per person... I suppose the $100 mentioned above would be for two.

Go enjoy the beach... other options just don't seem all that worthwhile.

Happy fun!

We've been to Samana twice.

First time we did the Caves and Mangroves tour. They pick you up from the ship and drop you off at the ship. They take you to the other side of the bay area and through some beautiful rocky island formations. We made two stops to walk through shallow caves and the boat ride through the mangroves. It was a nice tour and we really enjoyed it.

Second time we took a bus trip to the falls. It involved some pretty rugged hiking along a very muddy trail. It had rained the night before. The falls are in a very natural setting so no bathrooms or other structures. Water was a bit muddy but we had fun swimming under the falls. There were kids who helped as tou guides to earn tips. They were wonderful in showing you some of the local plants and helping navigate the trail. We did enjoy having the kids with us.

We never felt unsafe while we were in port, but some of the vendors try very hard to get you to buy from them. The port has kids who try to sell shells and such. We had already been told if you buy from one they all come running. Hopefully they will start to prosper a bit more from the cruise industry bringing passengers in.

there was a place right as you get off the tender and then just down from there that carried some larimar--wish we would have had time to check them out--the one near the dock didnt have what i wanted, i got mine in Santo Tomas.

Thank you. I wonder if there are some jewelry stores in town that sell this jewelry. My mom brought me home a lovely bracelet from one trip that stopped in DR. I would like a nice pendant necklace or ring to match. Anyone know?

We've been to Cayo Levantando twice in the last few years. You can find a ton of Larimar jewelry there. There is a straw market and numerous vendors selling jewelry and raw stones, which are beautiful.

The Cayo Levantando beach is beautiful, but the last time we went, NCL brought the pool deck's band over and it was loud and obnoxious. The first time we went there was no band, just the sound of the waves, which was lovely.

My opinion is either do the Cayo beach excursion through the ship or stay on board. We love the Cayo Lav. beach and thought it was worth it.

Good info on some possilbe things to do in Samana. Another question for anyone who has stopped in Samana. We will be there in Jan 2012 and was wondering if anyone has went on one of the whale watching excursions, would apprecite any information?

In February 2006, our sailing was one of the first to stop at Samana. Back then there were very few excursion options because the stop was so new. My BIL and SIL took the Whale Watching Excursion and said it was absolutely fabulous. There is a tremendous amount of whale traffic in that area in the winter months, and they saw whales almost the entire time they were out. We also had whales visible from the ship as we were departing Samana. Hope that helps.

We were in Samana this past March (on the Pearl) and we took the whale watching tour. We saw LOTS of whales and had an excellent time. There were quite a few boats out taking tourists on whale watching tours - there is a limit of three boats around a whale area at a time - so sometimes there is a little bit of a wait to get closer. It really was no problem since the guide worked hard to have the driver move the boat around to different areas. We had a beautiful day and would do it again. Well worth the $ (we booked directly through NCL).

In November, we are going to Samana again on the 11 day on the Dawn. I think we are going to take the Rustic Samana & Las Terrenas tour - has anyone done that through NCL?

Thanks for the responses to the whale watching tours. We will be on the Dawn also, so let me know how your excursion turns out, no harm in having multiple options.

We went to Caya Laventado two years ago and LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it! Would welcome the chance to go back again -- $49 a person. Beautiful beach, great beer, the water and weather were perfect.

We also did the tour with Terry and it was GREAT! He was our tour guide for the day and it included lunch at his restaurant along with beer/soda/water for the entire day. We were a group formed on CC ... who all joined the tour together ... and had an awesome time. We highly recommend him. We also agree with OP about not doing the port on your own ... not because we didn't feel safe ... but there just wasn't much in the port area also.

Thanks for the responses to the whale watching tours. We will be on the Dawn also, so let me know how your excursion turns out, no harm in having multiple options.

The wife and I will be on your sailing. I was thinking about the whale watching tours. Not something we have done before.