Hi Seany,
We did the whale watching trip through Tourismo while we were in Cabarete in February. We had never been in the area during the whale watching season before, so this was one thing that we definitely wanted to do.
It was $110.00 per person and they picked us up at our hotel. It does take a bit of time to pick up other people at their various hotels, but I don't mind this, as it lets me get a look at other properties. We stopped for a nice breakfast (included) and then continued on to Samana. It is a very nice drive, and we also stopped for a few minutes to take some pictures of Samana Bay.
The boat was large and comfortable. We were out of the water for about three hours, and we all felt that we had had plenty of opportunity to see whales. We did see quite a number (or the same one several times
. We were quite satisified.
We then stopped at Caya Laventado (Bacardi Island) for lunch. This is a BEAUTIFUL small island which I had been to before, and was happy to see again. They provided lunch and a few tickets for water and/or soft drinks but beers were not included. I "think" they charged us about 30 pesos for a small Presidente and 50 for a grande. This may have changed, but the point is, the prices were not out of line. I had a pina colada but can't remember how much it cost, but it was not exorbinant.
If you do get to stop at Cayo Laventado, do get to the other side of the island from where they serve lunch (from where they drop people off from the boat, turn right, lunch is served on the side to the left. It is stunningly beautiful.
A word of warning, especially if you are travelling with ladies. BYOTP (bring your own toilet paper) and if they are particularly squeamish, they may want to bring some of those paper toilet seat covers. The washrooms do not even have toilet seats. This is a small inconvenience, considering the beauty of the island.
One other word of caution. The people on the boat offered dramamine to anyone who wanted it. I don't tend to get seasick, but I certainly did not want my day to be ruined on the off chance that my stomach decided to surprise me. I was the only one in our group who did take it, and luckily none of us got sick, but there were a lot of people who did, including one of the guides/naturalists. I say, better safe than sorry.
If you have the chance to do this, and are there at the right time, I would definitely go for it. We enjoyed it very much.
Rose
(10)
Whale Watching
