Samana: Whale Watch or Kayak in Los Haitises Nat'l Park?

[Freezing in Maine]

We'll be in Samana a couple of weeks from now on the NCL Dawn and we still haven't decided what to do for an excursion. We've narrowed it down to going on a whale watch, or going to Los Haitises National Park on their kayak/mangrove excursion. Anyone have an opinion as to which one we should do? And if you have done one of these, did you book it through the ship or on your own? Thanks!

[kruzingtogether]

Do the kayaking in Los Haitises! We did it a couple weeks ago, and it was amazing. The ecosystem there was really unique, and the guides were great. They also take you into a cave to see cave drawings. For $10 extra you can be dropped off at Cayo Levantado after the trip too -- we enjoyed our time there as well.

 

By contrast, lots of people on our cruise reported very negative experiences with the whale watching.

[Freezing in Maine]

Thanks for responding. How much time did you actually spend kayaking? Did you use one-person or two-person kayaks? And did you book through the cruise line or independent?

 

I saw some negative responses about the whale watch too - seems like they were all from the same day, with rough seas. Has anyone had a better experience on the whale watch?

 

By the way, it's snowing here today - can't wait 'til we set sail on our cruise!

[Freezing in Maine]

Thanks for responding. How much time did you actually spend kayaking? Did you use one-person or two-person kayaks? And did you book through the cruise line or independent?

 

I saw some negative responses about the whale watch too - seems like they were all from the same day, with rough seas. Has anyone had a better experience on the whale watch?

 

By the way, it's snowing here today - can't wait 'til we set sail on our cruise!

 

P.S. Sorry if this is a duplicate post - I keep getting "busy server" messages and I can't tell if the first one went through or not, so I'm posting it again...

[kruzingtogether]

We booked through the cruise... It was $99 p/p if you want to be dropped off at Cayo Levantado after the excursion (or $89 p/p otherwise). The kayaks were two person kayaks, and we spent almost an hour actually kayaking.