cayo levantado???

[msaprib]

We are booked on the Sun April 1st out of Miami now (used to be April 2nd out of New Orleans). From the info I have gathered, we will be on the Eastern itinerary. Does anyone know anything about Cayo Levantado? I have read on other boards that it is a private beach. If this is the case, we may change our cruise to the Jewel. The Sun's Eastern itinerary already goes to Great Stirrup Cay and we really don't want two private beach days.

 

Any information on Cayo Levantado would be appreciated.:)

[snorkelhead]

Really looking forward to this stop. I'll be interested to see what is offered by NCL for excursions. As opposed to a previous posting, this is far more than a private island. Here are some pictures on the web to give you a flavour....

 

http://www.worldisround.com/articles/38574/index.html

 

There is a Occidental Cayo Levantado that would also be very likely to have excursions for its guests.

 

Jan, Feb and March see the humpbacks in the sheltered bay off of Samana, with Cayo perched at the mouth of the bay. There are companies that offer whalewatching in cigarette-type speedboats. I'm sure that once they hear that there will be a cruise stopping there, there will be sightseeing available.Tinkerbell gave me the heads up that the whale were going to be around. Thaks, T!

The caving shown in the photos is pretty spectacular. The size of some of the rock pillars is quite large. The waterfalls are breathtaking. It looks like you can swim in the pool at the base of the falls. I'm going to look for a better map to see how easy they are to reach.:cool:

MSC Cruises has used this as a port of call but I couldn't find much info on it via their website.

 

Please post more as you find it here, so that we can start to get a better idea of what is available.

[snorkelhead]

http://www.colonialtourtravel.com/Englishcayolevantado.htm

 

A local tour company

 

http://www.samana.net/ms-tours.html

 

Another

 

http://www.hotelmoorea.com/en/whales-samana.html

 

Whale watching! ( I didn't know the whales were Canadian vacationers, too!)

 

http://www.elcaballotours.com/excursion_tours_samana_samana.html

 

Samana tours

[snorkelhead]

Best spot I've found so far, I think Los Haitises is where all of the spectacular spots shown in the photos are from...

 

http://www.samana.net/M/D/att1.html

[Tinkerbell]

So from one link you had it seemed like whale watching was only available by going by plane.......... Please tell me this isn't true.

 

Kris

(Tink)

[cmdchiefthom]

I'm onboard the Sun on the first of April as well and snorklehead's research has me very intrigued. Now the question is what kind of excursions will NCL offer? I'm a diver, and would love to dive what appears to be semi-virgin territory (as compared to places like St. Thomas and Tortola). The beaches also look absolutely pristine.

 

I was really bummed about :D not leaving from New Orleans (my son is stationed there in Port Security in the Coast Guard :eek: ) but Cayo Levantado and Samana look fantastic.

[snorkelhead]

Google Bahia Cruise Service. It looks like these people have negotiated exclusive rights for Cayo Levantado. However, Samana may offer wide open competition for tour operators.

 

I think the whale watching s offered by Jet Boats by at least one of the tour operators off of the mainland. The Bahia website shows about 30 ?? people in the boat. I didn't think this was offered by plane only.

[cruizinrican]

Wow, pictures are beautiful! I have never been there but would love to go one day!

 

 

 

Cruizinrican:)

[Samana]

We are booked on the Sun April 1st out of Miami now (used to be April 2nd out of New Orleans). From the info I have gathered, we will be on the Eastern itinerary. Does anyone know anything about Cayo Levantado? I have read on other boards that it is a private beach. If this is the case, we may change our cruise to the Jewel. The Sun's Eastern itinerary already goes to Great Stirrup Cay and we really don't want two private beach days.

 

Any information on Cayo Levantado would be appreciated.:)

 

Hola !

 

I live in the Dominican Republic and just read you want to change your ship because of the itinerary? Please don't do it as Samana - Cayo Levantado is one of the most impressive places I've ever seen!!

 

Samana is the name of the Peninsula located north-east of the Dominican Republic as well as the name of the main town there. Cayo Levantado is a awesome small island just 15 minutes boat ride from Samana which truly is a must for all Caribbean ambients lovers: white sandy beach, long palm trees just lying on shore...

 

But Samana has also a lot of wonderfull places to go:

- Los Haitises National Park: Caves with old indian paintings, mangrove areas and many more attractives.

- Salto del Limon: An awesome waterfall accesible just by horse !

- Las Galeras: Breathtaking beach!

 

And lots & lots more things.

 

If you want to know any other detail please do not hesitate in contact me, ok?

[Samana]

What about http://www.bahiacruise.com ??

[Samana]

Be sure you all will love it !!

[Samana]

Bahia Cruise Services has rights in Cayo Levantado as they have invested in improving all services to cruise quality standards; however, there'e a wide tours offer in Samana area.

[Samana]

Right, it isn't true. I'd even say that it's not possible to go on whale watching by plane as this is a National Park protected by law. Samana receives more than a thousand whales every year and eny boat on this tour cannot be more than 20 minutes around a whale (or whales group) not to annoy and/stress them.

[Samana]

Los Haitises is one of the most spectacular places I've been in. There are lots of small keys, mangrove areas and some caves with indian paintings. The tour guides explains everything about it.

[Charisse4]

Sorry gang, I'm a little confused. Is this thread about the Dominican Republic or Dominica? I thought and I still think they are two different places.......not that it matters what we write about but I think Cayo Levantado (sp?) is in the Dominican Republic. Correct????:confused:

[snoozycruisee]

Yep, The Dominican Republic and Dominica are two completely different Islands. The Dominican Republic is actually connected to Haiti. The DR is the east part of the island and Haiti is the west part of the island.Dominica is much further southeast. I'm not a geography expert by any stretch of the imagination, but had been looking into this since booking the 01-21-06 (Eastern) Sun cruise. I was on Dominica a few years back, but have never been to the DR.

 

Hopefully, once there are more postings on the DR, it may get it's own link like Dominica has now and help avoid any further confusion. CC - anything possibly in the works ?

[msaprib]

Actually, I posted my original post to the NCL board, but it got transferred to the Dominica board. I had a heck of a time finding the thread because I never expected a Dominican Republic port to be on the Dominica message board.

 

Thank you, Samana, for your encouraging words. I know that the Dominican Republic is a beautiful country. In the late 70s and early 80s I was fortunate to go on several cruises that stopped in Puerta Plata and Santo Domingo.

[yoyis47]

Please provide information for tours in dr for the waterfalls will be there on april 13 and would love to see the waterrfalls.

[hriechel]

Sorry gang, I'm a little confused. Is this thread about the Dominican Republic or Dominica? I thought and I still think they are two different places.......not that it matters what we write about but I think Cayo Levantado (sp?) is in the Dominican Republic. Correct????:confused:

 

They are two separate countries/nations. . . you are correct.

[espmass]

We spent a day at Cayo Levantado a few weeks ago on our RCI cruise. We took the ship excursion to the beach. It was absolutely one of the nicest days I have ever spent. The beach is beautiful and there are stands where they sell food (burgers to lobster) and quite a few vendors stands selling crafts, cigars, jewelery etc. When you get off at the dock there is a short walk down a path through the vendors' stands out to the beautiful beach. Lounge chairs are all set up for you and are included as a part of the excursion fee.

[Nickymjw1]

I'm onboard the Sun on the first of April as well and snorklehead's research has me very intrigued. Now the question is what kind of excursions will NCL offer? I'm a diver, and would love to dive what appears to be semi-virgin territory (as compared to places like St. Thomas and Tortola). The beaches also look absolutely pristine.

 

I was really bummed about :D not leaving from New Orleans (my son is stationed there in Port Security in the Coast Guard :eek: ) but Cayo Levantado and Samana look fantastic.

 

Do a google search for H2O Watersports in Samana. I had found them when looking for a beach before and they offer different type of dives.

 

For those wanting to do Whale Watching, that is only through March 15th, so if you go after that date the whales are gone. Cruise ships won't offer whale watching tours passed that date. Casa Dorada is another company that does private excursions to Playa Rincon, beautiful beach. YOU have to get a group together though. Have you checked your roll call?

[Nickymjw1]

I guess someone tried to revive it and get in touch with Samana. A lot has changed since this original post...

[arlee]

We are booked for cayo levantado through NCL next week. The weather forcast is showing rain! Wouldn't this ruin a beach day? We were wondering if there are any tours (other than the ship) that take to cayo levantado for a more reasonable price. (Maybe checking the weather isn't such a good idea)!!

[billyelliot]

Can you get by taxi to this beach? if so how much is it? :)

[Nickymjw1]

So you would have to use your ship's excursion or tender because they don't allow private boats/tenders.