Punta Cana: Ultimate Catalina Island Snorkel & Beach Escape

Was not very impressed. And I wouldn’t go again. Got a call this morning before my alarm went off saying I was being picked up earlier than the planned time. So I had to skip breakfast and coffee. Then rode around in a non air conditioned vehicle for several hrs. Not enough snorkel equipment so I didn’t get to do that at all unless I wanted to use one from a strangers mouth. Waited over an hr for that. Got to the island which was jam packed. No bottled water for purchase. And all that was left in the buffet was spaghetti, some pasta salad, raw chicken. At least the pork was cooked. The staff were all very kind, and did proved various sodas on the boat.

This excursion was crazy. Really long day. They were late picking us up. We only had 30 minutes snorkeling even though its advertised as an hour. The rest was the beach. We changed buses and boats multiple times. The crew doesn't say much or explain much especially the bartender on the island. He was exceptionally unfriendly. It ended up a 12 hour day. At the end they make you stop at a gift shop not in the description at all. We had to cancel our late dinner reservations it was such a long day. I would definitely not go again.

First of all, poor communication with tour operator. They took us and made us change bus to another bus, waisting a lot of time, we finally arrive at port of boarding but the guide never said his name, they were arguing with other tourists. At the island Nobody was guiding or telling where to go, where to eat, where the restrooms were, nothing at all. The restrooms were disgusting, no Toilet paper, no water to flush, the people in charge of the food, were serving and grabing the food withe their bare hands, they were washing the dishes also with their bare hands after who knows they had done what. The life jackets in the catamaran were not enugh.

There are parts that were alright but this was by far the worst excursion we have booked. I don’t normally do reviews but this had me reconsidering my choices and that I should start doing the whether they are good or bad. I was really excited for this but so disappointed. It was unorganized for pickup. To many people for one boat and for the beach to lounge. We didn’t even have seats at the beach. Getting in the water was a bit difficult because it’s so rocky but the water was nice and great to swim in . Super clear. The food was alright but they said we could upgrade to the lobster for my husband when we got there but could not. They would only upgrade us to shrimp which was $25 for 1 skewer. The guy said they were misleading people with the lobster. There seemed to be a disagreement between the workers from the different areas as they were arguing in Spanish. The workers didn’t speak much English for us to completely understand what was going on at all times. The snorkeling was good but have had a better experience especially when we were given goggles that were so worn they were blurry and were not given the actual snorkel to go with it. The drinks were small at the beach and you had to make multiple trips so it got to be pointless. Overall it was not a good experience and I would not book it again.

The experience was mix of good and bad. Good: nice views, probably second best coral reef in Dominican republic area (if you are lucky to get clear water), 3h for snorkeling and swimming. Bad: overloaded boat (80-100 people, many without shade in full sun for whole day), slow transfers with multiple changes (From our hotel it took 2.5h to get to the boat, faster return), transfer from boat to Catalaina took 5 rounds of smaller boat runs, total disregard of health and safety on smaller boat transfer. How no one was badly harmed was an act of God. Catalina is worth visiting, but i would not recommend this specific tour to friends.

Enjoyed the snorkeling off of Catalina Island We were very disappointed in the communication experience, driver did not speak any english and boat crew had very limited english making communication vey difficult, from other reviews was under the impression that they would speak good english Facilities at La Romana dock-discusting!

I personally would not book through here again due to the transportation and unorganized nature of our day. We started our day being picked up by a small van and proceeded to pick up a few others at other hotel. After our driver who could not speak a word of English ( i dont expect a conversation but some basic understanding should be necessary) took us to a local gas station where we were instructed to get out of the van to wait for other vans to show up and then reorganize everyone into all the vans to drive to LA Romana. The speed he drove was very unsafe. We were then dropped off in a alley way to walk to the water to meet to boat crew. Which again were very unorganized. Once we finally arrived at Catalina Island it was beautiful and you could snorkel on the beach if you had your own mask. Lunch was good. Drinks were not so good. On the boat ride back it says drinks are included but only hard liquor. They had no beer. I would recommend booking through your hotel or airline for much safer transportation options.

The snorkeling and island were great but the transport to the excursion was not. We were all crammed in a tiny van with no air.

The excursion was good but I may want to look at other tour operators for the excursion to Catalina Island. There were a few delays while we were on the boat and the crew was average in their care and attention to the people on the excursion. It was ok.

Was very excited for this excursion, but unfortunately the transportation was horrible. Our bus was late, AC was broken. We were picked up at 7, dropped off at a random location and sat there until 9, then didn’t arrive to the “catamaran” until 11.. and we were also told it was only going to be 30 people.. our boat had about 70. We were all jammed in together.. We were gone for 12 hours, only 3 hours spent on the beach. We also were told it would be an enjoyable relaxing boat ride, not a party boat.. turns out the music was blasting and it was a party the whole time. I would not recommend this to anyone.