parc national los haitises

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.

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!

Go see this. The caves, the islands, everything about it will blow your mind. If you take a small boat out there, it can be a bumpy ride in the winter, but it is well worth it. Seeing original cave drawings is something spectacular.

half day trip to the Parce National Los Haitises by Flora Tours is really a good and rare experience. first you cross the bay by speedboat (max 20 people, 2 V6 Mercury engines). your guide then give you many explanations in different languages about espacially this bird sanctuary. many different birds are living and breeding on hundreds of small islands and in the mangrove swamps. this place was the last retreat for the Taina Indians who where hunted down and murdered by Spanish conquerers. many caves are here and you visit a few and see anciet drawings from those people on the walls. so even without the birds this trip is so interesting because you get many many information about the history of the Caribean. near of one of those caves you get softdrinks and snacks for free. and at the end after speeding back across the bay (about 30 minutes) there is a warm buffet and drinks included in the price. all together super work of the guides of Flora Tours and many infos about nature and history of Dominican Republic.

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

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

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.

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......

We took the tour and really enjoyed everything we did and saw, what a great day, Our tour guide was awesome, he really had everyone involved in the trip, well worth the money. Pick up was at 8 am and we got back to our resort at 5pm.It started in Samana by boat then to an Island to look in the cave, and back on the boat to another area, The Islands at the national park are a great view, then by a smaller boat and truck ride to a Hotel ( Cano Nondo ) for lunch and to look around and swim in the pools with water falls, what a beautiful area.Great trip

What an amazing trip to see lots of birds in their natural habitat, turkey vultures, frigate birds, pelicans. Two trips ashore to caves , no lights but really interesting as well.Good tour guides who are all local and good fun. To find out more about the history and background to the Dominican Republic this is an absolute must

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!

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!.

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.

Nice way to see the countryside. Pelicans were the highlight.Boat ride was smooth. Caves were fun to see.