Are there any beaches in Samana that aren't tied to an excursion?

[ntengwall]

I am trying to plan our day for Samana, Dominican Rep. and am having a hard time deciding what to do. I don't really want to do any kind of excursion since my money is tight but it seems as though most of the beaches people go to are tied to an excursion (like The Beach Escape to Cayo Levantado...which is $39/adult and $19/child).

 

Are there any decent beaches that you can just grab a taxi to once you disembark off the ship??

[cb at sea]

Yes---look it up on Google...you don't have to pay to use a beach!

[philnpen]

Better and safer-------just stay on the ship.

[TJM965]

We were there 2 years ago. 4 of us. Taxi driver said $100 U.S. to go to the beach. By the time we walked out of shouting distance, he was down to $30. I didn't appreciate their tactics. My dw and I went back to the ship. No money spent there.:(

[dixieva]

I would book something through the ship while in Samana. The taxi drivers are very pushy and I was not comfortable dealing with them. We did end up with a private tour of Samana but I would not do anything like that again. And I always do my own thing in ports but not here, not again.

 

JMHO

[mj cruiser]

We did enjoy the ships excursion to the beach although it cost I felt safe and the beach was nice...not my favorite port but the ocean was a blast for my boy and they brought around seals, parrots monkeys and they would take your picture then you could buy them on the way out : ) so cute

 

It has some surf to the ocean when we went and the food was not great but that was a couple years ago so maybe it has improved since then.

 

Some people mentioned the snorkeling was good around the back side

[NittanyLioness]

Just our humble opinion, but we absolutely loved this beach...

 

Once off the tender, turn left and keep on walking down the path (past the "performers" and past the "peddlers"!)

 

You will arrive at a beautiful convex beach: Chaise loungers spaced far apart (with food and drink service), lots of shade from the palms (if you want it), calm surf, pristine sand with minimal rocks/coral, the view of the "mainland" off to your right, your ship quietly anchored in the distance, no music, just the sounds of the breeze through the palms and the gentle waves on the beach...

 

All in all, we found it very beautiful and quite relaxing...that is, until our DD decided she wanted to buy some locally made jewelry..then it was the typical haggling!!! (Between her and my DH of course!!! :rolleyes:)

 

We've been to many beaches, and all factors considered, agreed this is one of our Top 5. We will definitely do this Excursion again!

 

Hope this helps...Again, just our opinion, for what it's worth! Have a great cruise whatever you decide!

[IWORK2CRUISE]

I am trying to plan our day for Samana, Dominican Rep. and am having a hard time deciding what to do. I don't really want to do any kind of excursion since my money is tight but it seems as though most of the beaches people go to are tied to an excursion (like The Beach Escape to Cayo Levantado...which is $39/adult and $19/child).

 

Are there any decent beaches that you can just grab a taxi to once you disembark off the ship??

We visited Samana last year on RCCl and went ashore looking for a tour. Their were MANY nicely dressed people looking to work and very few passengers looking to take a tour. We waited around for a while along with the 1st guide that we had made contact with. We finally got 4 more people and took off.

Our guide really tried to make it nice for us. We stopped at a fruit stand and enjoyed fresh picked bananas. A fresh mango came along for the ride and we stopped at a nice beach with a restaurant & bar. The mango was sliced up and served for us, there.

We had been given a beer in the car and because my husband & I had waited with the guide he bought us each another at the beach bar.

I do not recall the cost but know that it was not high. I would tend to think that if several of you wanted to visit a beach without taking a tour you could find that, too.

 

This is a very poor area and some complained about the road conditions. Well, the roads were torn up because some of these people were going to finally have running water. How could we really complain?

 

We returned so Samana last month and since we had already taken a tour we did decide to do a "ship excursion" and visit Cayo Levantado. We do not usually splurge on tours but I do have to say that this was a lovely location. Very nice beach and walking trail. The bar was nice but we only purchased beer. Others ordered lunch (a la carte) and I didn't hear a complaint.