Los Haitises National Park and Cayo Levantado Day Trip from Samaná

Enjoy convenient pickup from your Samaná hotel and head to the city’s wharf, where you’ll board a boat with your guide. Take a speedy cruise to Los Haitises National Park, located on San Lorenzo Bay. These subtropical woods are a protected sanctuary for various species of crustaceans, reptiles and birds found on its rocky island hills.

Make sure your camera is out and ready as your experienced captain zigzags through red and white mangrove swamps, navigating through dozens of canals created by the more than 100 rivers crossing one another in the park. This resulting mixture of salty and fresh waters produces a habitat where carp, crab, oysters, river shrimp and manatees flourish. Along the way, learn about native plants like the shortleaf fig or wild banyan tree, the almond tree and orchids.

Then, explore the park’s caverns — Cueva de la Linea, Cueva de la Arena and Cueva de San Gabriel — all marked with petroglyphs believed to have been made by the Tainos, the area’s first inhabitants. Gain insight into this unique pictorial record showing how the indigenous people in the region once lived.

Next, make your way through the canopy thicket and out onto the open waters of San Lorenzo Bay. Pass by the small island of Boca del Tiburon, with the lush Samaná mountains in the background. Catch glimpses of birds like brown pelicans, royal terns and frigate birds from nearby Cayo de los Pájaros (Bird Island).

The final leg of your full-day tour takes you to Cayo Levantado, or Bacardi Island, where you will enjoy a traditional Dominican buffet lunch with an open bar of domestic drinks. Then, swim in the warm blue waters, or stretch out on a beach chaise lounge and soak up the sun. Relax for the rest of the day before being taken back to your Samaná hotel.