Breathtaking Saona: Full-Day Sailboat Caribbean Escape

Our guide was late and we tried to contact him but no answer. The people who was in charge of the boats did not know who our guide was. The struggle was real. The guide could not speak English and My husband translated for everyone. The Island was amazing and we really enjoyed our time there. We liked the music and the boats.

Thankfully there were a few other travelers with us that spoke English. We requested an English guide and no one really explained anything to us in English. It was a bit frustrating, Saona island was crowded and not worth the trip in our opinion. And the charges for photos is astronomical

Great experience, it was fun. Great beaches, excellent hosts. Great music and vibes. Lunch was delicious. Beaches were crystal blue and white sand would definitely do this experience again.

Our tour guide was great and he also doubled as our photographer and took some amazing pictures. However, once on the catamaran, the mood was strange. There was something happening between them and two of them were quite upset and crying. We still left a good tip at the end of the boat ride when we arrived at the island, because they did serve us lots of drinks and some of the crew were really trying their best to make our trip fun. Then once we got to the island, my husband and I opted to do shoulder massages and the massage lady afterwards offered me water and not thinking about it I took a sip, to realize it was tap water she had given me. By the next day I was sick. Then at the end of our time on the island, my husband was bullied by one of the very large boat crew members to give him whatever money he had in his wallet. And then I was approached as we were boarding a different boat for our return, a speed boat this time, by one of the older ladies from the catamaran, she pushed into me and told me that now was a good time to give her money. I let her know that we’d already left a generous tip on the catamaran and that my husband also gave the big guy the rest of our money, so at this point I had nothing left to give. I actually felt so pressured that I even started looking at things and calculating what I could give her instead. Our speed boat back was good and we felt safe. However we were all thirsty but the tour had run out of water in the first hour of the tour, so there was none all day. The island was okish, nothing spectacular, the Bavaro beach is nicer. The lunch was ok, nothing special. Overall, I would not recommend this tour.

Great vibe to the island, good music and people, driver was on time, the tour operator answered promptly

I think is a good overall value for the costs. Communication was good, specially on the day of tour. We opted to just meet up directly with our guides, rather then be picked up. The journey to and from the island, does take a good amount of time. I would say around 4hrs, including boarding and de boarding. Did not have any problems with tour operators. Food and drinks at the island were okay. Not frills there. But again, taking into consideration cost. Is a good trade off.

Pick ups take 3 hours Half hour waiting for the boat On the catamaran for an hour 20min at blue lagoon Back on the catamaran for 30min At Saona beach for an hour Food is good 3 hour transport back Little disorganised and very loud music on boat but we had a good time

STWTravels was able to take 2 first-time travelers to the excursion, and it was nothing but enjoyment for them and myself. Will be coming back!

Boat entertainment was fantastic. Both stop if boat was great too. This is great experience for everybody who like sea journey.

Poor experience on this occasion to see a beautiful setting. Company didn’t pick up as booked and when queried had gone to wrong hotel, taken following day so two early 7am starts. Nearly 4 hrs before setting sail after only one other pick up. Sell sell sell pics and banderos during sail. And after with your personalised group pic on a rum bottle for souvenir. Catamaran is crowded so get on a seat quick when boarding. Drinks are cheap rum & coke & soft only. Some party dancing and loud music. Stop in lagoon for swim and more pics. Then to island which is the gem and will be crowded out for lunch so hard to get a lounger. Food was nice , free soft drinks or cheap rum. Laze for a couple of hours and swim. Then while lying you will be shown pics and asked to buy at 55dollars. Worth a haggle perhaps. Return speadboat approx 30-40 mins jammed into seats like sardines in a tin. Return bus only 2hrs. Conclusion not wholly sure means justified the end. Knowing what I know I’ve done better boat trips and probably wouldn’t have signed up to this. But that’s hindsight, make your own choice. Best wishes