Questions about tours to El Limon Waterfall

[pianopaws]

My DH & I will be in the Dominican Republic (Samana) on July 29, 2008, with Royal Caribbean. We have reserved an excursion for the Cayo Levantado Beach Escape departing at 9:30 a.m., for a duration of 5 hours. We should return from this excursion by 2:30 p.m., and we will be in the port at Samana until 6 p.m.

 

I have seen pictures of the El Limon Waterfall, and it looks beautiful. I need some advice from someone who has been there. Getting back from Cayo Levantado at 2:30 p.m., would we still have time to visit the El Limon Waterfall? How long does it take to get there and back? I have heard that you can take a taxi to the ranch where you leave for El Limon. What is a reasonable taxi price, because I understand you have to negotiate with them?

 

My DH had back surgery one & a half years ago. He is doing well now, but is it a difficult or bumpy ride on horseback to the waterfall, and how long are you on horseback? Also, my DH is 6 foot, 4 inches tall and weighs 260 lbs. Is there a weight limit on the horses? Has anyone hiked to the waterfall, and how long does that take?

 

On one of the Dominican Republic websites (samanaonline.com), it says tour operators operate from established storefront locations. Has anyone gone to the El Limon Waterfall via any of these tour operators, and what was the cost? I'm trying to make sure we find one with a good reputation, if anyone can give me a name.

 

Thanks so much for any help I can get!!!

[TravelinTchr]

My DH & I will be in the Dominican Republic (Samana) on July 29, 2008, with Royal Caribbean. We have reserved an excursion for the Cayo Levantado Beach Escape departing at 9:30 a.m., for a duration of 5 hours. We should return from this excursion by 2:30 p.m., and we will be in the port at Samana until 6 p.m.

 

I have seen pictures of the El Limon Waterfall, and it looks beautiful. I need some advice from someone who has been there. Getting back from Cayo Levantado at 2:30 p.m., would we still have time to visit the El Limon Waterfall? How long does it take to get there and back? I have heard that you can take a taxi to the ranch where you leave for El Limon. What is a reasonable taxi price, because I understand you have to negotiate with them?

 

My DH had back surgery one & a half years ago. He is doing well now, but is it a difficult or bumpy ride on horseback to the waterfall, and how long are you on horseback? Also, my DH is 6 foot, 4 inches tall and weighs 260 lbs. Is there a weight limit on the horses? Has anyone hiked to the waterfall, and how long does that take?

 

On one of the Dominican Republic websites (samanaonline.com), it says tour operators operate from established storefront locations. Has anyone gone to the El Limon Waterfall via any of these tour operators, and what was the cost? I'm trying to make sure we find one with a good reputation, if anyone can give me a name.

 

Thanks so much for any help I can get!!!

 

Hey there, Pianopaws!

 

What a coincidence! We'll be in Samana on that same date, also with Royal Carribean. :D Will you by chance be on the Grandeur? ;)

 

Sorry I don't have any info. for you on the Limon Waterfalls, but please visit us on the Royal Carribean Roll Calls, and don't forget to sign up for the Meet and Mingle! :D

 

I'm sure you will find a wealth of information from folks who post on these boards. Hopefully you'll find out the answers to your questions soon. Take care, cruise buddy! :D

 

Melinda

[sunshine175]

I had the same question a few weeks ago and this is the response I received from another member, very helpful.

 

 

We (6 of us) did the El Limon horseback ride - We did this on our own. It is really easy. Once you are at the dock, you will see a lot of taxis and drivers (they are all lined up & will approach you). We "negotiated" with a guide that had good English. He took us to find a taxi & he "negotiated" the price to take us to El Limon. Once in the taxi, really try to take in the sights. It is a very depressed area, but it is very interesting as well. Beautiful scenery on the way. They took us to "the ranch". The Parada was Las Pinos. The guide and taxi waits for you at the ranch.The horseback ride is amazing!! There will be a guide per horse & they really work hard. The road is very narrow and sometimes very muddy. We passed people who decided to walk to El Limon, but I would Highly recommend taking the horseback ride!!! There was a group of walkers that told a guide that they would Triple the cost to get horses to them for the trekk back. We saw them on horses a short time later.

At the half way point, you leave the horses and are on foot- your guide is still at your side. El Limon is spectacular!!!! You can swim if you want to. After the swim & hike back up the mountain to the horses and the horseride back to the ranch, what awaited us was a wonderful lunch of homecooked food in the dominican flavor!!! Yum!!

I would highly recommend this tour to anyone. At first, I was worried about the horses condition, some of them looked skinny, but none of them had any trouble carrying us, they didn't labor at all & they were in good shape.

I hope this helped, sorry it was so long. I guess when good memories pop out, words tend to flow. By the way, we had plenty of time to shop & catch the ship. There is a quaint plaza within walking distance to where you catch the tender back to the ship

__________________

[TeeSeas]

WOW was I glad to see this post! Thanks, Sunshine, for writing it! How long did it take to get to the falls? How long for the whole trip?

Cost? I am going NCL in April and they no longer offer this trip. There is a video on Youtube of it that sold me! Thanks for more info is possible!

[sunshine175]

This is all the info I have on this trip, I had posted a question about the el limon waterfall a few posts down on the boards and that was a response I received, so I copied and posted for you. I did notice our ship did not have an excursion for this so it's all on our own which scares me, had a bad excursion in Belize on our own back in July. But it seems like el limon is real nice and people enjoy the trip. I am pretty sure my husband, myself and 8yr old son will be grabbing a taxi and heading that way.

[Ronni G]

This is all the info I have on this trip, I had posted a question about the el limon waterfall a few posts down on the boards and that was a response I received, so I copied and posted for you. I did notice our ship did not have an excursion for this so it's all on our own which scares me, had a bad excursion in Belize on our own back in July. But it seems like el limon is real nice and people enjoy the trip. I am pretty sure my husband, myself and 8yr old son will be grabbing a taxi and heading that way.

 

 

I am planning a cruise on NCL that stops in Belize City. We don't usually like to book any tours through the ship. Can you share your bad Belize experience? Is it safe there?

[margincall]

How much walking is involved on the jeep tour that goes to the falls

We are mobile but age takes its toll and we walk slower and sometimes need a rest in between for a couple of minutes

 

Thanks in advance

[TeeSeas]

Is the jeep tour an option through your ship or independent? Thus far, I have found only the horseback option....one fellow on Youtube walked but said he would never do it again (lol)....very thick mud on the pathway......or, does the jeep perhaps go to another falls?

 

By the way, shoretrips.com does display one tour to El Limon, but it seems to start at 8:30 am.......my ship, unfortunately, comes in later than that......the search continues!

[schubean]

WOW was I glad to see this post! Thanks, Sunshine, for writing it! How long did it take to get to the falls? How long for the whole trip?

Cost? I am going NCL in April and they no longer offer this trip. There is a video on Youtube of it that sold me! Thanks for more info is possible!

 

Hi I'm the one who answered Sunshine's questions about El Limon. Here is a little more info. I am going by memory, so times might be a little off :rolleyes:

 

From the Dock to "the ranch" was about a 20-25 min. ride - get your camera ready to take lots of pictures - beautiful scenery! & very interesting way of life. There is a lot to take in.

 

We negotiated with the tour guide (who got us the cab) on the cab fare. Because there was 6 of us it was $20/pp. You might be able to negotiate a lower price, but this was worth it because he really gave us a guided tour of his homeland. Also, the tour guide and cab wait for you while you are on the horseback ride, so you don't have to worry about catching another cab back to the ship.

 

Once at the ranch we got our horses. Highly recommend going by horseback! Walking would have been extremely hard. Fortunately, it hadn't rained in a few days. The trail would have been pretty slippery in the rain. There was a group of hikers we passed, so it can be hiked. The horseback ride was $10/pp (don't forget to tip your guide because they work hard- there is a guide for each horse) The ranch gets the $10 for the horses - the guides work for tips. My guide was the only one to speak English & taught me some Spanish along the way.

 

The Horseback ride to the El Limon Park was about 40-45 min. There is a $2/pp entrance fee. Then it was a hike to the waterfalls itself. Going down was beautiful - there was steps and a handrail to help also the guides held the women's free hand to help steady. The waterfall is so beautiful!!! Then we had to climb back up! It was a workout - but well worth it. I'd say, going down was about 5-10 min walk, back up was about 15-20 min. It was hot, so we took a lot of breaks. I forgot to mention, you can swim while at the waterfalls. There is a "shack" that you can change into your swim suite, but not much cover to change by. Just wear you swim suite under you clothes & you will be ok.

 

Once we were back at the ranch, we had lunch $12/pp. Very good food! All homemade. Yummy.

We hated to leave to go back to the ship.

Sorry this was so long. I hope it helps you decide on you tour. :)

[WendyVF]

Did you arrange any of this ahead of time or just show up? I am looking at this excursion being offered through shoretrips. It's not much cheaper than the cruise line but they have a minimum age of 16. My youngest daughter is 13 and has taken horseback riding lessons. Did you see anything that would be concerning for a child that age? Not sure why the cruise excursion has the limitation.

[schubean]

Did you arrange any of this ahead of time or just show up? I am looking at this excursion being offered through shoretrips. It's not much cheaper than the cruise line but they have a minimum age of 16. My youngest daughter is 13 and has taken horseback riding lessons. Did you see anything that would be concerning for a child that age? Not sure why the cruise excursion has the limitation.

 

We did this tour on our own. It, of course, depends on how much time you have in port. When you tender, there will be cabs lined up and tour guides waiting for you to hire them to take you anywhere you would like to go. Negotiate with them for the price you are willing to pay. The cab and tour guide stays at the ranch the whole time you are there,so you don't have to worry about cab ride back to the ship.

 

As for the age limit, I can not think of any reason a 13 year old could not do this horseback ride. Each horse has a guide that walks along your side at all times. Most of the time they are walking, sometimes they trot up a hill.

 

Also, you don't have to buy lunch. We did because we had time and wanted to taste homemade food of the Country we were in. So, if you did nothing else (like eat or tip your horse back guide(they work for tips) it would be $10 for the horseback ride & about $20 for the cab ride/guided tour to El Limon (depends on your negotiating skills). Not too bad for a fun filled & thrilling day in Samana,DR.:)

 

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask any other questions. Have a great vacation.!!