Breathtaking Saona & Altos: VIP Island & Culture Escape

The Altos de Chavon was Awesome! The trip to Saona Island NOT! To be fair we have previously been on the Saona Island trip. That trip was amazing but showed us how this trip was NOT. The process of loading onto the boat was disorganized. In retrospect, I assume they had so many people get on the catamaran but then the rest on the speed boat to then have speed boat meet catamaran to get rest of group together. I assume this is due to weight-really don't know. The catamaran did not have near enough shade or seating. The crew actually said these words to my husband, "We know there is no lock on the door, that we can see the pussy" This is in regards to the bathroom. When the captain spoke to give instructions over half the boat could not hear her. The drinks on the boat were like (2) liters of coke and 2 bottles of rum. They were out in no time. The crew was NOT friendly on the boat at all. Once we got to Saona Island it was crazy busy. The photographers were telling us to move since people were taking pictures. Well, I'm sorry, so are we. Not trying to be a jerk but we went all the way down the beach for private photos as well. You land and get 1:45 minutes. People stood in line for 30 minutes to get food. We went straight to enjoying our time to avoid the food line. Got back and all food was gone. So no food for us. BTW they picked us up at 6:30 am. We returned by 7:00. Long day with no food. (Yes I was smart and packed a breakfast bar). The difference in other trip through Amstar is they controlled the number of people on island, they gave food on the way there, had no lines, crew was awesome. The only reason we did this one is Altos de Chavon which is beautiful but it needs more than 40 minutes there.

It was nice but didn't go to be in Alto de Chavon more time due that the driver had to pick up others travelers from different hotel to taken to their pick up point and we were in a hurry. So it was very fast. Saona was nice but we didn't get beers as it was offer and lunch wasn't the best.

The beginning of the excursion in altos de Chavon had no guide. The driver took us and didn’t even knew much about the place since it was the second time he was there. It’s sad because it’s such a nice and historic place but we only were able to take pictures nothing much. Saona Island was amazing. The drinks on the bout were limited ( only rum and coke) but the buffet lunch was ok, nothing special. The natural pool and fast boat were the highlight of this tour! I will recommend just booking the Saona Island tour alone and maybe visit altos de Chavon with another company with experienced guides!

Chavon is very picturesque place. Julio took us around and pointed to the best picture spot Saona island is beautiful and the natural pool was amazing

Wonderful experience! Guides were friendly and knowledgeable. Sanoa island is definitely a must visit!

The day started out with "challenges" which ruined the first part of our day. 1) The driver was extremely late!!! We were told 6;30AM, he didn't arrive until 7:45. Our driver had to drive very fast and carelessly to try to make up time, which did not happen. 2) our driver stopped once to use a bathroom, then again for "buckets of gas" which put us behind again! 3)Our tour guide, who was an alcoholic, was drinking a bottle of liquor in the van with us. He was good, but had to keep apologizing that our tour was less than 20 minutes. 4) We were rushed through a place we would have loved to actually "spend time," and PAID to spend time., But could not! 5) Our alcoholic tour guide got us to the dock for our catamaran trip and said he would meet us there upon our arrival back on shore, he was not there, there was no van to pick us fop to return us to our resort, we were left for the boat operators to take care of. Thankfully, they stayed with us, found us a bar to sit at until they found us a ride back to our resort. We were fortunate a tour bus had 8 open seats for us to take. In summary, we thoroughly enjoyed the boat and catamaran trip and would do it again, but will never again use Viator, a very unorganized tour company!

Your guides barely spoke English and did not speak to us at all. They did not explain where we were going at all. NO BEER and ran out of rum at the beach. False advertising. Food provided was terrible, except for the chicken (which they also ran out of). Worst tour guides I’ve ever experienced. Party boat was better but still not great instructions and felt like cattle being herded. Find another company for this experience.

The island was amazing, the lunch was good and we also spotted dolphins on the way back in the catamaran. Overall extremely satisfied

The trip to Saona Island was amazing, must visit this island. The lunch was good and on the way back in the catamaran we spotted dolphins jumping in the water. It was definitely a cherry on the cake. Overall we had fun.

La visita a Altos de Chavon es super. Una mini ciudad pero hermosa con mucha cultura. Luego el viaje a Saona fue hermoso la laguna natural es bella y el almuerzo en Saona fue muy bueno . El retorno en catamaran fue super divertido con música y baile . Solo malo mi traslado de regreso al hotel (frost dijeron que la misma persona nos traería de regreso) pero me enviaron en un bus con muchos otros y fue un largo recorrido por muchos hoteles y llegamos un poco tarde perdí una reservación de cena