SAMANA PORT

I visited this port twice. It is a tendering port, a new stop for cruise ships and does not have much to offer that was close and easily accessible to the main dock. The main city area has a very limited shopping area, a few duty free shops but not much. The Dominican Republic has a lot to offer in terms of adventurous excursions, but to get to any of the places one would need more than a cruise ship day; most places were over 3 hours each way. On both my visits, I planned beach days. On my first visit I took a cab/van to a small resort – Hotel Atlantis – in Las Terrenas, on Playa Bonita. The hotel itself had a restaurant on the beach and plenty of beach chairs to enjoy the rays. Taxi ride to and from the resort was $120 and took 1 hour and 15 minutes each way. The beach was fair, not a lot of sand, but lovely (the day we visited the water was rough) and a small 5 minute walk from the hotel there was a picturesque cove. The restaurant offered us snacks and margaritas and we even tried to arrange for a massage (our masseuse never showed up). The margaritas were tasty and a welcome treat in the heat. Overall it was a nice day, but I would not recommend my first excursion.

The second time I visited this port I responded to a Cruisecritic roll call and was one of 33 people that booked a day at Playa Rincon (which is supposed to be one of the 10 best beaches in the world). Getting to Playa Rincon is a challenge, there are two ways to get to Playa Rincon by boat or by car. You can google "Playa Rincon" and get tons of info as it is a very nice beach.

By Boat: You must first ride a car/van about 45 minutes to Las Galeras beach, where you then get a ride by boat to Playa Rincon beach. The boat trip is about 10 minutes, that is what we did.
By Car; I was told it was a lot shorter but a very rough road and will take about 1hr.

The entire group 33 of us booked this with "Casa Dorado" they where very professional, I have a link to their website further below(see Samana) but the website does not tell the entire story. At Playa Rincon beach which is very lovely you can rent chair and shade for ($5.00/per chair) so be aware. On the beach there where a number of small places to eat and a place for a massage and renting Kayaks. Do not waste your money and pay for a snorkel excursion trip, you can snorkel for free right on the beach in the rocky area. Overall, I would make Playa Rincon my stop and not waste money on snorkelling or shopping. Very time limited due to the amount of people a lot of time was wasted waiting around but it was a nice day, suggest a group of no more than 10-11 and go direct to the beach at Playa Rincon.