What to do in La Romana

[deriam2000]

This will be our first time in La Romana, DR

 

What is the best excursion to do here?

 

We love being on/in/near the water and are also very active.

[blue_water]

Just search this forum for threads on Seavis Saona Island Special - amazing day in and on the water. They coordinate the taxi for you and you don't pay until you get to their office in Bayahibe. Excellent outfit and staff!

[LPut714]

Loved the Seavis Saona island tour-recommend it highly

[sayaguru]

You have to pay a deposit now due to too many no shows.

Can't believe people are so rude. I organised a tour myself elsewhere and 2 couples didn't show.

Blooming rude.

[Doggielover68]

We took a Carnival Excursion to Catalina Island. The beach was nice, had chairs and umbrellas included, clear water, and clean sand. We chose this excursion over Seavis since we were a little hesitant to do things on our own in a place that isn't very cruise passenger oriented. Just wanted to get to a beach quickly and hang out :)

 

 

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[marci4tony]

Seavis also does an amazing jungle tour. Easy going, slow paced - very very beautiful. They serve lunch, and let you kayak and play in the river on their tree rope. One of our very favorite stops! Seavis is very very good at what they do - so if you are looking for something a little different....

[OceansOfTravels]

Catalina Island easily one of my personal Top 5 places on the planet. When I went, I booked through a resort (I was in La Romana on a land vacation), but I know we weighed many options, including this one:

 

https://www.getyourguide.com/la-romana-l1198/paradise-snorkeling-day-trip-in-dominican-republic-t34675/

 

It includes transfers to/from the starting location, a snorkeling trip, a beachside lunch, drinks, and beach chairs. It's all-inclusive and a very European-styled island. I really enjoyed getting away from the primarily American crowd and meeting some people from other countries, while exploring the protected reserve. It is also my favorite reef in the Caribbean that I've snorkeled to date.

 

Enjoy your trip, this is a gorgeous area of a gorgeous country! :D

[blue_water]

We took a Carnival Excursion to Catalina Island. The beach was nice, had chairs and umbrellas included, clear water, and clean sand. We chose this excursion over Seavis since we were a little hesitant to do things on our own in a place that isn't very cruise passenger oriented. Just wanted to get to a beach quickly and hang out :)

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For a quick beach that was fine. We've taken excursions through the ship too, but for others looking for water or land-based excursions do some research and look at Seavis and Pro Excursions. So much natural beauty to see, and the staff at both of these outfits are great.

 

On our first cruise to La Romana I researched the area and we took the Seavis Saona Island excursion and that is still one of our favorite excursions. They coordinate the taxi and you don't pay for anything until you get there. Just a great day on the water and a beautiful beach.

We returned a year later and stayed at a resort in Bayahibe which is the town where all of these excursions depart from. We booked th Catalina Island, River Chavon, Casa De Campo excursion with Pro E rather than through the dive company affiliated with the resort.

 

But there are some excellent options when on a cruise!

[luv2trvlnow]

For a quick beach that was fine. We've taken excursions through the ship too, but for others looking for water or land-based excursions do some research and look at Seavis and Pro Excursions. So much natural beauty to see, and the staff at both of these outfits are great.

 

On our first cruise to La Romana I researched the area and we took the Seavis Saona Island excursion and that is still one of our favorite excursions. They coordinate the taxi and you don't pay for anything until you get there. Just a great day on the water and a beautiful beach.

We returned a year later and stayed at a resort in Bayahibe which is the town where all of these excursions depart from. We booked th Catalina Island, River Chavon, Casa De Campo excursion with Pro E rather than through the dive company affiliated with the resort.

 

But there are some excellent options when on a cruise!

 

This part highlighted in red above has changed since you went. They now require a 20% deposit due to a high number of no shows.

[blue_water]

This part highlighted in red above has changed since you went. They now require a 20% deposit due to a high number of no shows.[/quote

 

That's a shame, some people ruin something for everyone else. But still a great option for this port.

Edited November 21, 2016 by blue_water

[blue_water]

This part highlighted in red above has changed since you went. They now require a 20% deposit due to a high number of no shows.

 

So did you find this out when you booked with them?

[blue_water]

This part highlighted in red above has changed since you went. They now require a 20% deposit due to a high number of no shows.

 

So did you find this out when you booked with them?

[rthling]

Catalina Island easily one of my personal Top 5 places on the planet. When I went, I booked through a resort (I was in La Romana on a land vacation), but I know we weighed many options, including this one:

 

https://www.getyourguide.com/la-romana-l1198/paradise-snorkeling-day-trip-in-dominican-republic-t34675/

 

It includes transfers to/from the starting location, a snorkeling trip, a beachside lunch, drinks, and beach chairs. It's all-inclusive and a very European-styled island. I really enjoyed getting away from the primarily American crowd and meeting some people from other countries, while exploring the protected reserve. It is also my favorite reef in the Caribbean that I've snorkeled to date.

 

Enjoy your trip, this is a gorgeous area of a gorgeous country! :D

It doesn't look like this would work for a cruise port day. Has anyone done this during a cruise?

[blue_water]

It doesn't look like this would work for a cruise port day. Has anyone done this during a cruise?

 

Yes that is for land visitors.

 

Catalina Island is not offered to cruise visitors by Pro Excursions and Seavis Tours because you need more time. There may be another outfit closer to Casa De Campo offering this, not sure.

 

These are excellent excursions they both offer to Saona Island, we would recommend the powerboat option with Seavis. Both outfits are excellent though.

 

http://www.seavisbayahibe.com/saona_special_e.htm

 

http://www.proexcursionsbayahibe.com/snorkling-tours/tours/la-romana-sea-excursions-for-cruise-ships.aspx

 

We've been to both islands and the beaches are gorgeous on both, but on Catuano Beach on Saona you are usually the only group there, while on the nicer beach on Catalina you'll find a lot of lounges and other amenities for the folks staying in Casa De Campo and visiting that beach for the day.

 

So having said that there may be a transfer option to Catalina from Casa De Campo if you want to look into that.

[blue_water]

As a follow-up, on Saona the snorkeling around the rocks and pier can be good depending on the weather conditions of course, all off the beach snorkeling is weather-dependent.

On Catalina, we anchored at the Aquarium off a beach on the east side of the island, then moored off the nicer beach on the west coast (where all the tourists from Casa De Campo go). Snorkeling on that side is by the Wall and wasn't that great that day. But the beach there is quite nice, and we were very lucky to be there with only a few other people as it can be very busy.

 

Can't recommend the Seavis Saona Island Tours enough - great day and a wonderful staff! If you return for a land vacation look at the Pro E Catalina Island option on their gorgeous 65' luxury cat the"Quetzal". You hit both snorkel/beaches spots on Catalina (after a nice sail)< then motor up the River Chavon for a bit, and then full sail along the coast of Casa De Campo and the beautiful homes.