Bahía de Samaná is located within the town of Sabana de la Mar, and although this town used to not be very touristy, little by little its popularity has increased thanks to the tours that are made to visit the Parque de los Haitises.
Some say that Sabana de la Mar was founded in 1762 thanks to Diego de Lira, a Spaniard who lived in the area during colonial times. One of the buildings from the colonial era is the bell tower. The church has already been destroyed.
Within the Bay of Samaná you can enjoy different tourist attractions, such as Playa Rincón, which is in the vicinity of Las Galeras, Cayo Levantado and a small island to the northeast of the bay, round lagoon, lemon lagoon and of course the famous mangroves of the Haitises National Park.
Los Haitises means "mountainous land" in Taino, and the Park has the largest tropical forests and mangroves on the island. The park has an area of 1,600 km².
HOW TO VISIT THE NATIONAL PARK OF LOS HAITISES
Full-day guided tour of Los Haitises National Park
They will pick you up at the hotel, the tour includes a guide from the first moment, transportation, a boat tour through the mangroves and a short walk along the coast of San Lorenzo Bay (A small bay within the Samaná Bay. Generally everyone the tours also stop to visit some of the caves, where cave paintings can be seen.
Get to Sabana de la Mar on your own and hire the tour at the tourist office
This option will not only be much cheaper (I'll tell you more below), but you will also be able to see a huge humpback whale skeleton.
When we visited Los Haitises Park, it was on our first trip to the country and we were staying in Punta Cana. We really wanted to see this area, but we were 4 adults + 1 baby + 1 child and they asked us 120 dollars/adults per person and children 60 dollars. So if you do the math, the excursion cost us quite a high price. So since the day before we had already rented a car to visit Higüey and other areas, we rented a car again (26.00 euros/full day and if traveling all 6 together, this is the Dominican Republic and the same rules do not apply here hehe) and we set off to Sabana de la Mar to see if we could get a tour. When we got to the city, we went to the tourist office so they could tell us if it was possible to do the excursion from there. Our surprise was that they not only did the excursion but that it would also be a private tour. So for about 3.30h we walked through the mangroves, around the bay, we stopped in many caves (even more than the tours do) and we enjoyed a beach without people for a while. And all this with a guide who was explaining to us about the place. Perhaps we were lucky to go alone because it was low season, but it was a joy to enjoy this marvel in a speedboat and without other people. They charged us 50 dollars per adult and children free. So we saved almost 500 dollars with this option. And it is said quickly huh...
If you dare to do it for free and rent a car, it is a great option and the roads are in good condition :) fear not.
PLAN YOUR TRIP STEP BY STEP
I hope you enjoy your trip to the Dominican Republic very much and that this article has been useful to you. You can continue reading many more related articles on the blog.
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A hug and see you soon!