Anybody been to Cayo Levantado?

[LA_FadeAway]

Hey Jellyfish, thanks for the review! What types of food were offered on they $15 buffet? I don't eat red meat or pork, so I always have to ask before I buy in.

[Bahia Cruiser]

Dear Taxial, there are no public phones on Cayo Levantado but they do sell calling cards. On the mainland, Samana town, they have both.

[cruisingbooboo]

Do you know if you can do this as an independent tour? Aside from the ferry and the "dirty" chair I don't see what you got for your $33.00. It sounds like a great place but I'd rather spend my $66.00 (2 X 33.00) on the natives by shopping eating and drinking . Thanks for your input.

[Runitsajellyfish]

Hey Jellyfish, thanks for the review! What types of food were offered on they $15 buffet? I don't eat red meat or pork, so I always have to ask before I buy in.

 

You're welcome! They had chicken, so you're safe. The had a lot of different rice dishes and casserole style items. Nothing looked "American", but they did have what looked like their version of lasagna. I believe I recall different types of cold salads as well. They also had cut-up tropical fruit and fresh coconut, and my favorite, cold rice pudding topped with a trace of nutmeg. Also under the large thatch-roofed ramada, they had a separate area where you could buy grilled hamburgers and hotdogs ala carte. It's all open-air dining, so you can walk through and inspect the food options before you pay. I honestly don't know any of the names of the dishes I ate, but everything was delicious, very unique and well seasoned. After a few days of eating bland buffet food on the ship, it was worth the $15 to have food with some taste. I couldn't bear to drop an extra $15/pp for the lobster though, especially Caribbean lobster:p .

[Runitsajellyfish]

Do you know if you can do this as an independent tour? Aside from the ferry and the "dirty" chair I don't see what you got for your $33.00. It sounds like a great place but I'd rather spend my $66.00 (2 X 33.00) on the natives by shopping eating and drinking . Thanks for your input.

 

You can't get directly from the ship to Cayo Levantado without paying the $33, but I would bet you could take the complimentary tender from the ship to Samana, then pay for a ferry from Samana to Cayo Levantado. I'm sure the locals in Samana would greatly appreciate your money as all of our friends that went there said it was pitifully poor. I'm sure they would appreciate your business.:)

[bcs819]

looking at this beach for our Feb cruise on the Jewel. We were in the DR last year, and the beaches were all topless (optional, that is). Since this is part of the DR, I'm assuming it is? If not, can anyone tell us where the closest topless beach is in relation to where the cruise ships dock?

[slotaddict]

:(

 

Got back from our Oceania cruise today so I'll post a quick note about our experience on Cayo L.

 

At Samana we were tendered to either Samana or to Cay L. Since we went to Cayo L. we weren't able to find out about transportation to the Cayo from town.

 

Our ship offered tender transportation only for $30 pp or transportation plus buffet lunch for $50 pp. We chose just the transportation and were glad we had as we didn't hear any good comments abou the food. We did purchase a burger. Burger (very small and very dry) or hot dog plus fries was $5. Being a bit concerned about the water (ice in the drinks) we opted for the local beer (Presidente) which at $4 seemed a bit high but it was very cold and very good.

 

Our ship's tender went over about 10:30 am and we had two pick-ups -- 3 pm or 4:15 pm.

 

The island does have a beautiful setting, wonderful white sand, lounge chairs. Local venders were not pesky, etc. Snorkeling, however, we thought was very, very disappointing. Too sandy -- great for swimming, lousy for snorkeling.

 

If you just want to lay on a beautiful white sandy beach then this is the place for us. Personally we were disappointed and wished we had stayed aboard the ship. This was our only disapointment on the entire cruise.

 

Hope this is a help for someone.

 

Molly

 

Molly, I heard that one of the beaches had armed guards on them. Was that your trip???

[beach freak]

Hello,

We will be sailing on NCL's Norwegian Pearl on February 22, and our first port is Samana. Being a beach person, I think that spending the day on Cayo Levantado will be great based on the great reviews I read so far. However, the Cayo Levantado beach escape excurcsion will cost us $116 (2 adults at $33 each and 2 kids at $25 each). Can someone tell me if there is a less expensive but safe way to get to Cayo Levantado? I read that you can get ferries from the Malecon in Samana, but I'm not sure that the free tender from the Pearl drops off at the Malecon. Also, I'm not sure how much the ferry would cost roundtrip from the Malecon to Cayo Levantado, what is the schedule and most importantly how safe. Can some one respond to my questions - I looked and looked but was not able to find complete information. I am willing to spend the $116 if it means safer, faster and less aggrevation.

Thanks for your help.

Monarch of the Seas 1/1996

Enchantment of the Seas 1/1998

Carnival Liberty 1/2007

[squirrellee01]

beach freak, if you want safer and less aggrevation then you might have to pay. When we went I heard they were turning other tenders away so who knows if you can get into the island any other way. This was the only cruise booked excursion we took and it was "alright", We also had kids we had to pay for and then it ended up raining and we were miserable by the time we got back to the ship. I think if it didn't rain we would have had better time. So hope for good weather and have a good time. :)

[wanderlust88]

We just returned from a wonderful day in Cayo Levantado, and thoroughly enjoyed the West Indian type island buffet, and had no gastro-intestinal issues afterwards. The entire buffet is $15USD/pp, and if you want a 1lb. Caribbean lobster, add another $15USD/pp. Bottled drinks are extra, limited in variety, and several dollars each ($3-4?). You can get ala carte hamburgers and hotdogs at the buffet for $4-6USD respectively.

 

Feel free to ask any specific questions, and I'll try to answer.

Ok, i am one that can never get enough lobster...

LOL

Please give me detail on the lobster lunch? can you order only lobster or do you have to first pay for the buffet?

thanks

[Runitsajellyfish]

Ok, i am one that can never get enough lobster...

LOL

Please give me detail on the lobster lunch? can you order only lobster or do you have to first pay for the buffet?

thanks

 

It appeared that you could buy just the lobster by itself, no side items, for $15. They were sitting whole, on the buffet, looked like unrefrigerated, but I could be wrong. I guess if you order one, they grill it for you as you wait. They had a chef cooking (steaks?) as we were going through the buffet line. It looked like a very professional set-up, the lobster just didn't seem very appealling considering the cost and other food options available.

-Jellyfish

[victoriapaige25]

Vendors on Cayo Levantado island have to stay on their assigned areas (market area) but whicle you are there they will try to sell you their products. Once you are outside the shopping area they are not allowed to follow you or sell elsewhere so if you are not interested just walk away.

 

Snorkling in Cayo Levantado is very nice and you will be able to rent equipment on the island.

 

This season the island will add a canopy tour and a sea lion encounter so it should be a very fun place to go to.

 

 

Best,

Bahia Cruiser

 

Do you know when they will start offering the canopy tours??

[Birdnutty]

Hi Molly and Chris,

 

I'll wait to hear from both of you after you've been on your cruise since we won't be there until December 23. It does sound as this is definitely the place to go. Like you, we'd rather go on our own and avoid the ship's crowds and cost. Thanks for letting us know after you've been. :)

 

Connie

 

Been watching this thread and waiting for your return. There have been conflicting reports. What was your take on it?

[luv2bcruzng]

Just on Cayo Levantado last week and there is no longer a buffet available. According to the Shore Excursion Dept. the conditions were not sanitary enough for NCL's standards. They would rather have you eat the food prepared under the ramadas by the local people. Order your food and sit there and wait an hour for it to be prepared. Try to ignore the 1000's of hovering flies while you wait.

Shop at Tatiana's craft booth - the most original crafts we found on the entire cruise and at the best prices also.

[shops54]

Bumping up this post. Does anyone have current info on both going to the town of Samana or shopping where the boat tenders let you off? Or is my best bet to tender to Cayo Levantado and enjoy that island?