Amber Cove beaches?

[kona_wahine]

Are there any pretty beaches at Amber Cove? We went to DR once, Isla Catalina, and the beach there was gorgeous. I love white sand, blue water, swimmable. (Or wadeable) any chance of this at AC? Or will be be stuck at the expensive pool? TIA

[strathcona]

this is carnival made port. completely commercial, including all the Diamond International stores and every alcohol store. there is a pool and bar and man made sand. you can get a all day pass or pay as you go. never like the port but Puerto Plata is worth exploring. google amber cove and you will see the maps available. it is a bit out of the way from the real beach which some will take a taxi to.  many other thread on the cost of taxi and shuttle but wait and see after covid. There are no sailing so no new reviews. 

[kona_wahine]

Thank you! We don’t go until 3/2022, so just planning ahead, and not sure whether to book an excursion. I think there is a catamaran cruise we might look at. 

[strathcona]

nothing like planning ahead two years. wishful thinking. you are going to a cruise port that is not finished yet, there are no tours from that cruise port but there are tours for hotels being advertised. with the pandemic, who know what is going to happen to that port that is being privately funded. i am booked with RCL into that port next year but will wait to see if it is actually confirm once sailing starts again. Last time i check with someone who winter there, it is still a cargo terminal, really rough, but small amount of work is being done now. 

[let's go cruising]

On 12/5/2020 at 6:09 PM, kona_wahine said:

Thank you! We don’t go until 3/2022, so just planning ahead, and not sure whether to book an excursion. I think there is a catamaran cruise we might look at. 

 

I want to plan too.

[CaliforniaAC]

On 12/5/2020 at 3:09 PM, kona_wahine said:

Thank you! We don’t go until 3/2022, so just planning ahead, and not sure whether to book an excursion. I think there is a catamaran cruise we might look at. 

WARNING! LONG POST!

We were on the HAL Koeningsdam in November 2017, this was our first trip to Amber Cove. Previously, the ship anchored in Samana.We had decided to take a ships tour, so we chose the catamaran two stop snorkel trip with lunch. This was a few years ago now, But I can remember it like it was yesterday... and it was horrible. If that's the tour you are thinking about, it has possibly improved, I don't know, or Carnival Corp may contract with someone else. The bus trip was long, the Federalies were armed, the roads were being repaired, so it took longer than HAL said it would... and this was the best part of the trip! So we get to the beach where the boat is supposed to be. Lots of vendors, but not a catamaran in sight. So the vendors had plenty of time to sell their wares, then the tour guide made a call, and the boat came in. I'm still okay, I know schedules are relaxed there. So the boat stops, and we have to wade out into the water and get on a dingy which took us to the boat. We climbed up the ladder to get on, and there is no shade, no water, and all the seats were taken. So we sat by the side on our towels and slathered on sunscreen. We sat for sometime, then the dingy returned with water, soda, beer, and rum. And we finally left. No safety talk followed. They handed out gear (we brought our own), and got to the first snorkel site. Got in the water, and there is nothing but dead coral below us. No fish. At the next stop the sea floor was empty, no fish, and one sickly sea turtle. Then we headed back to the bay we started from to sit and wait. The girl took the dingy back to the beach, ordered food which was in greasy bags and cold by the time she got back, except the potato salad which had warmed up in the sun. So there was lunch. After that we got off the catamaran and returned to the beach to wait for the bus. The food made us sick, then the hour back to the port. I've had the joy of taking many excursions on many islands. This trip compared to none of those. I was just happy to sail away from that place! With that said it would be worthwhile to research the excursions as much as possible.

 

We will be be back there (hopefully) in November, then our March 2022 Caribbean will be on Celebrity. We are considering our options closely for November, and are glad to not have to go to Amber Cove at all. I will update if I can.

[CaliforniaAC]

On 11/1/2020 at 6:33 PM, kona_wahine said:

Are there any pretty beaches at Amber Cove? We went to DR once, Isla Catalina, and the beach there was gorgeous. I love white sand, blue water, swimmable. (Or wadeable) any chance of this at AC? Or will be be stuck at the expensive pool? TIA

We got off the ship and walked around the next time. The next time we went we didn't get off the ship. There are some beaches that look nice from photos I've seen doing research for the November trip. The Volendam tours we have looked at, the bus times were long for tours that were short. 45 minutes each way doesn't include waiting for or walking to the bus. Add at least 20 minutes for that. Getting off the bus, then back on would be foreseeable. You will get back to the port on time. They subtract any extra travel time from the time you're at the beach/activity.

 

I will update this after we get back.

 

Take care!

[kona_wahine]

On 3/3/2021 at 7:47 AM, CaliforniaAC said:

We got off the ship and walked around the next time. The next time we went we didn't get off the ship. There are some beaches that look nice from photos I've seen doing research for the November trip. The Volendam tours we have looked at, the bus times were long for tours that were short. 45 minutes each way doesn't include waiting for or walking to the bus. Add at least 20 minutes for that. Getting off the bus, then back on would be foreseeable. You will get back to the port on time. They subtract any extra travel time from the time you're at the beach/activity.

 

I will update this after we get back.

 

Take care!

Thank you! Best option might be just to lounge by the port pool. We did the Catalina Island when we stopped at DR before, and it was gorgeous. Your catamaran story is scary!

[Love2CruiseTampa]

We were at Amber Cove just over a year ago, February 2019. While we did not go to the beach, we LOVED this port. We did a full day private tour with Rene Robles (www.rvtours.info) roblesrene@hotmail.com who picked us up at the port and dropped us off as well. 

 

I can't say enough good things about the tour. There were five of us, my wife and I plus our three kids (11, 8, 6). We visited the cable car to the mountain, a rum factory, chocolate factory and jewelry shop. We had asked to go to these places because we wanted larimar jewelry for the girls and also to see how to make chocolate. There was no sales pressure anywhere. We also walked around the town of Puerto Plata to see the sights. 

 

If you are set on just enjoying the day in water and in the sun, then the port looked nice and I certainly easy since the ships dock right there. 

[blue_water]

Isla Catalina is off the southern coast (La Romana), we too enjoyed that beach as well as Isla Saona and the starfish sandbar…
Great story/report CaliforniaAC! A terrible experience but fun read!

[CaliforniaAC]

On 6/12/2021 at 7:28 AM, blue_water said:

Isla Catalina is off the southern coast (La Romana), we too enjoyed that beach as well as Isla Saona and the starfish sandbar…
Great story/report CaliforniaAC! A terrible experience but fun read!

We are booked on the Volendam in November, and that is one of our stops. With a bit of research and discussion with my husband, we found that the beach we were going to go to is the same beach as on the HAL excursion. We're going to take the excursion. Happy travels!

[blue_water]

4 hours ago, CaliforniaAC said:

 Good luck! 😀

Edited June 14, 2021 by blue_water

[Momma Rene]

On 2/26/2021 at 12:31 AM, CaliforniaAC said:

WARNING! LONG POST!

We were on the HAL Koeningsdam in November 2017, this was our first trip to Amber Cove. Previously, the ship anchored in Samana.We had decided to take a ships tour, so we chose the catamaran two stop snorkel trip with lunch. This was a few years ago now, But I can remember it like it was yesterday... and it was horrible. If that's the tour you are thinking about, it has possibly improved, I don't know, or Carnival Corp may contract with someone else. The bus trip was long, the Federalies were armed, the roads were being repaired, so it took longer than HAL said it would... and this was the best part of the trip! So we get to the beach where the boat is supposed to be. Lots of vendors, but not a catamaran in sight. So the vendors had plenty of time to sell their wares, then the tour guide made a call, and the boat came in. I'm still okay, I know schedules are relaxed there. So the boat stops, and we have to wade out into the water and get on a dingy which took us to the boat. We climbed up the ladder to get on, and there is no shade, no water, and all the seats were taken. So we sat by the side on our towels and slathered on sunscreen. We sat for sometime, then the dingy returned with water, soda, beer, and rum. And we finally left. No safety talk followed. They handed out gear (we brought our own), and got to the first snorkel site. Got in the water, and there is nothing but dead coral below us. No fish. At the next stop the sea floor was empty, no fish, and one sickly sea turtle. Then we headed back to the bay we started from to sit and wait. The girl took the dingy back to the beach, ordered food which was in greasy bags and cold by the time she got back, except the potato salad which had warmed up in the sun. So there was lunch. After that we got off the catamaran and returned to the beach to wait for the bus. The food made us sick, then the hour back to the port. I've had the joy of taking many excursions on many islands. This trip compared to none of those. I was just happy to sail away from that place! With that said it would be worthwhile to research the excursions as much as possible.

 

We will be be back there (hopefully) in November, then our March 2022 Caribbean will be on Celebrity. We are considering our options closely for November, and are glad to not have to go to Amber Cove at all. I will update if I can.

Thanks for the update!  We learned never to go on a catamaran.  They pack people in like sardines.  You are lucky if you get a seat.