samana -playa rincon or laventendo???

[faith1]

O.k. Anyone who has been there, which beach is better?? We also have a 7 year old child with us. Can't seem to decide, and some of these posts are scaring me!!!!!!!!!!!! Help....................

[flashdog_1]

If you want more of an adventure, and to see the interior of the Samana' peninsula, then take the Casa Dorado excursion by van and then boat to Playa Rincon. The 7 year old should be fine. But I would not take an infant or a whiney, fearful child who would burst into tears! It's not scary, just different than your regular tour that picks you up right at the ship, which is the case in going to Cayo Levantado. For Levantado you do not have to go to the town of Samana at all. As I understand it, there's a regular restaurant and bathrooms there. But at Playa Rincon everything is rustic. No electricity, so everything is cooked on a big grill, and drinks are cold because ice has been brought in to cool them. Bathroom has a regular toilet and sink, but you have to dip water from a big barrel/trash can, in order to flush. Not for the faint hearted, but an eye opener for people who want to learn how 2nd world countries work.

 

Price wise, if you can get a group of 10 from your roll call, Playa Rincon is only $26 per person, no special children's fees as I understand it.

[ictcruiser]

We are just off the Dawn last week and did the Kayak Mangrove and Beach Escape tour which took us to Cayo Laventado at the end of the excursion (on this excursion you totally avoid going into the town of Samana--we didn't know this when we booked it; just an FYI). We thought this beach was great! We were there after the first wave of people since it was at the end of our excusion. The water was nice, and the beach is in a slight cove so the waves wouldn't be too rough for your 7 year old.

 

I haven't been to the other beach, but my husband and I really enjoyed Laventado.

[Ms belp]

After reading the first responder to your question, I would definitely do Cayo Laventado with a 7 year old. I have been there and it is okay for families. They did have an armed guard/policeman on the beach.

 

The only thing I would warn you about is the ladies bathroom floor. It seemed like they had waxed it; but there were attendants who were willing and able to help you keep your footing. You tip them, of course.

 

They can also get a bit aggressive when you stop to browse at the various "shops" when you are browsing.

[Ms belp]

One other thing. When I was there I plopped myself down in a lounge chair, pulled out my book, and relaxed. A very kind man came along and informed me that the chair I was in was a "charge" chair. I moved where he indicated. Sure enough, guys later started walking the beach area and trying to charge people for their chairs, my free one included.:rolleyes: Luckily, I was "in the know".

[terrymtex01]

We loved C.L. in 2006 when we went to Samana and cannot wait to go this Nov on the Dawn.

[afsbes]

We used Casa Dorado in December went to Playa Rincon. It was a great day and the highlight of our trip. We went with 2 kids under 9 and they had a great time. The fresh fish was wonderful but remember it is rustic. However, t was a great surprise.

[AdoptAtty]

I did the Casa Dorato tour and LOVED it. When my children were 7 they would have been fine and really liked the beach. We were in a nice van with a nice driver, pot holes in the roads... but he was a good driver and just went at an appropriate speed, and went around the pot holes when he could. I could see a child finding that ride dull... I enjoyed watching the countryside, seeing what people were doing, etc. The boat ride to Play Rincon my children would have loved. Once there, there are bathrooms, sinks with soap and water, good food, beautiful beach. We had our own Casa Dorato tour so we left when we wanted. If I recall, on the tour the tenders don't start back until later in the afternoon... but maybe I'm mistaken about that.

 

 

 

From my review:

Dawn Review Jan. 31st, the Suite Life - Cruise Critic Message Boards

 

We had made private tour arrangements with Catherine, who owns Casa Dorato a bed and breakfast in Los Galerias (not sure of that spelling). As promised, our taxi driver was waiting with a sign. He loaded us up for the interesting ride, on some pretty horrible roads. Our driver spoke limited English, but we were able to communicate with him without issue. We passed towns that were obviously impoverished. We arrived at the beach in Los Galerias and were met by Catherine’s husband, Roberto. After a few minutes he loaded us up into a boat and sent us on our way to Playa Rincon. As promised, he came a little while later with another boat load of people. Our CC Roll Call had 3 different groups that had arranged this trip, so it was nice to see "friends" at the beach. The beach was beautiful and I was so glad we decided to do this trip, as opposed to my idea of staying on the ship that day. Roberto had suggested we eat at a particular restaurant. We had fresh pina coladas made in a scooped out pineapple... yummy! We also had lunch of wonderful large prawns (shrimp) and lobster tail cooked over a wood fire grill. The fish also looked great, we just didn’t select that! Our boat trip back to Las Galerias was fairly rough but we were like a boat full of little kids, laughing all the way. Roberto instructed our cab driver to take us by Casa Dorato so we could see the B&B and meet Catherine. As we were leaving the B&B Catherine instructed our driver to take us to the local grocery (Super Marcado, I believe) to pick up local products including rum, coffee, vanilla and cigars. I’m already wishing I had purchased more coffee! We ended up with 3 pounds of coffee, 2 small bottles of rum, 2 - 8 oz bottles of vanilla and 4 boxes of 10 little cigars. Our total was about $43 US. Catherine and Roberto do a wonderful job of arranging these tours. I feel confident you would not be disappointed if you worked with them and the beach at Playa Rincon is beautiful.