We did this trip through thompson from our hotel I loved seeing the mangroves and the caves but the boat was small the sea got choppy and the guide had poor English, there is so much more that could have been seen in the park rather than taking us over to bicarb island
This was a rich and enjoyable day trip over to the National Park. We had 2 excellent guides, Patricia and Edith, from tour company, "Arena Tours", who gave so much background to everything, from habits of the birds we saw to how many mammals live in the DR today. We saw very old caves with rock formations and primitive drawings; lots of unusual birds, and ended with a fabulous lunch in a beautiful hotel with a river running through it. This was a fabulous trip greatly enhaced by our guides! Don't miss it.
I booked this tour through Air Canada Vacations, paid $85 for a half day tour. The dual hull catamaran picked us up at the marina in Samana. It was a safe, clean boat with life vest provided for each. Drinks provided as well. Be prepared if the sea is rough then you will get wet, bring a rain coat & towel!!!! The tour took us on a 40 min boat ride to the islands where we saw lots of birds, and then went into 3 different caves that had petroglyphics (?sp) on the walls, very cool caves. Then we went into the mangrove forest. Wear walking sandals or runners....some wore flip-flops but it would be safer to wear something sturdier. The take lots of pictures of the sights and some of you then offer you to purchase the CD of shots for $30, I believe....I didn't buy it but nice idea....This tour is something unique to Samana this is why we chose to do this one......
this trip takes you back in time. the area was used to film Jurassic park movie. you get to see indians paintings and carving in caves.its beautuful
We picked up a boat tour from a local just hanging around the dock, they treated us really well and showed us some beautiful stuff at the park. Then we finished with an awesome traditional dinner on the beach at Cayo Levantado, it was evening so we had the whole beach to ourselves!.
In 1493 Columbus decided he wanted the whole of the Dom Rep to himself and pushed the indigenous Indians back into what is now the National Park. His meanness has given us access to the most amazing cave drawings which are well worth seeing. It's amazing to emerge from a cave after seeing ancient pics of pelicans and then seeing them flying around just yards from your boat! We saw frigate birds too sailing above us for all the world looking like birds from the film of my title! Our guide Victor, was knowledgable and answered any questions intelligently and let us spend as much time as we liked investigating the caves. We had torches but it's still slippery but that's all part of stepping through history!
An amazing place ..take mozzy repelant with you. You will be supprised just how much history this place has a good tour guide will tell you everything about its painting and stone carvings. Plus the wildlife in and around the mangroves ..moray eels, friggot birds pelicans .. amazing place
The Los Haitises national park is across the Samaná Bay (about 45 minutes boat ride from the town of Samaná). Once you arrive, the boat will cruise among the many small rocky islets (keys), which are inhabited by several species of birds including the brown pelican, a few species of owls, and many other birds. Landscapes are spectacular with the labyrinth of little islets, mangrove forest and several caverns that can be visited. Taino Indians, the former inhabitants of this area, left pictographs on the cave walls. The pictographs are fascinating to watch while listening to the history of the place from your tour guides. The National Park is one of the worthwhile places to visit while in Samaná, and I highly recommend it. The only drawback could be large groups of tourists with multilingual guides; it can get busy in the caves and hard to follow the information when your guide is switching from language to language.
This park is huge and beautiful. We went by boat around the many islands with dramatic rocks and trees and birds. We went into huge caves and saw carvings, took a smaller boat thru mangroves to an isolated hotel with waterfalls and gardens and had lunch. On the boat there was music and rum, a good time for all!
We booked a day trip to the Los Haitises National Park with Stephanie Tours based in Las Terranas. We were the only English speaking party on the tour and had an English guide called Manolu all to ourselves. Great day out, we saw dolphins in the bay from the speedboat and the boat captain stopped for us to watch. Guide was very knowledgeable about the bird life and plants and trees species in the park. We visited three Tainos caves and had plenty of time to take photos in each. Recommend booking with Stephanie tours ( next to Flora tours with whale symbol outside tour office), they picked us up from our hotel and were very organised.