Playa Rincon , Samana

[pinksnyper]

Heading to the up-and-coming port of Samana on RCL EOS jan 2nd and thru Trip Advisor reviews I am confident that we want to head to the Playa Rincon beach, however RCL does not offer an excursion to do so. They only have a beach break to Bacardi Beach/Cayo Lavantado.

 

Anyone have any experience with Samana and being able to reach that beach? Are taxis abundant/safe? Any tour operators available? I have been searching to no end.

 

Thanks a lot everyone!!

[wendywr]

We went to Samana on 12/15. We took a ship sponsored excursion to Playa Rincon, stopping at the Devil's Mouth first. The tour operator wisked us straight from the pier to the tour buses, so we didn't get a chance to see how many independent operators there were. We did talk to several people who did go on their own, and they reported a ton of people trying to talk them into taking their "tour" or offering their taxi services.

 

It is quite a drive to get to Playa Rincon. Odds are, if you are going to hire someone, it'll have to be for the entire day. It takes a good long time on some really rough roads to get there. Do NOT let the driver leave you at Playa Rincon. You won't get home if you do. I didn't see a single car there that wasn't associated with a tour group. There were no taxis there, waiting for business.

 

The beach itself was absolutely amazing though. It wasn't very commercialized at all- there was one food place, and then someone selling chairs for the day. A couple people selling bracelets and cigars, but that was about it. Best of all, the beach was easily the most beautiful we saw for the entire cruise. It was very, very quiet. There was maybe 3 dozen people there, and the majority of them were clumped up in one tiny section of the beach, or at the covered eating area of the food stand.

 

here's a couple beach pictures I took there:

[cmn2d]

Some people on our Roll Call organized a trip to Playa Rincon with Casa Dorado. We were met with taxis when we got off the boat (there were a lot of vehicles here - I'm not sure if they were all pre-arranged tours or if they were taxis for hire) and then drove for quite awhile (maybe 30 minutes?) to a little beach area where we were then taken to Playa Rincon in little speedboats. Play Rincon was a beauty in an unspoiled sort of way and few people were there. There was a woman offering massages ($25 for 30 minutes; I didn't get one so can't comment) as well as a few men selling cigars and one guy selling threaded bracelets. There are also two restaurants there. The fish was $12 US and was very good. As the previous poster said, there are no taxis here to take you back so make sure whoever you come with stays so you have a way back to the ship.

[pinksnyper]

wow thanks for the great info and pictures. Makes me a little worried having to rely on a taxi driver to stick around and wait for us......Maybe we will just go and do the quick and easy Bacardi Beach excursion. Bummer.

[flashdog_1]

I am in communication with Casa Dorado now concerning our excursion on Jan 26th on Dawn. If you get 10 people it is only $26 per person for the taxi and boat ride (someone stays with you at the beach and returns you to the taxi in Las Galeras). Plus, you will pass thru several villages on the way to Las Galeras where you meet your boat. You will have the opportunity, if you so desire, to take supplies to the local school, pass a working marble mine, shop for Dominican cigars, vanilla, rum and coffee. Someone said the coffee was under $3 a lb. Catherine DeLaura is American, married to a Dominican, Roberto, who lived in the states for 20 years, and they run a bed and breakfast as well as the water taxi (the only English speaking one). If you'd like to arrange something with her first go to their websites to see the choices re: fishing, snorkling & Playa Rincon, just the beach, maybe whale watching etc. Casadoradodr.com. (prices for other than just the beach will be more than $26 per person). They price it by the taxi and by the boat, so if you have only 2 people you will pay the full amount of $260. The more you have, the price goes down per person. I've read about them on cruise critic for quite a while now.

[Danman21]

wow thanks for the great info and pictures. Makes me a little worried having to rely on a taxi driver to stick around and wait for us......Maybe we will just go and do the quick and easy Bacardi Beach excursion. Bummer.

 

my DW and 3 1/2 yr/o DS will be on the same cruise and we are interested going to the same beach. Let me know if you want to go together

[b43147]

I have emailed two of the addresses given on this site for CasaDorado and have not heard back. I would like to find out about adding 2 on to a group for the Playa Rincon excursion on 1/26 from the Dawn. Do you know if there is still room for 2 with any of your groups or would you suggest that I keep trying to reach Casa Dorado?

Thank you for any info,

b43147

Bettye

[pinksnyper]

my DW and 3 1/2 yr/o DS will be on the same cruise and we are interested going to the same beach. Let me know if you want to go together

 

Thanks, I think my girlfriend and I decided to just go with the beach break off RCL's menu of excursions. That beach wasnt very expensive at all and I feel better about it without the hassle of tracking down 8 people a wee kbefore sailing ;) Good luck to all trying to hit up this beach! I'll await wonderful pictures. see you on board

[cruisingbooboo]

How much is the RCI beach break?

 

 

 

Thanks, I think my girlfriend and I decided to just go with the beach break off RCL's menu of excursions. That beach wasnt very expensive at all and I feel better about it without the hassle of tracking down 8 people a wee kbefore sailing ;) Good luck to all trying to hit up this beach! I'll await wonderful pictures. see you on board

[wiscwood]

Hi there! I just saw this post and i had to add my experiences to it! Last March I was married on a 14 day cruise, and our absolute favorite part of the entire trip (excluding the wedding of course) was our day at Playa Rincon! We went with a group of cruise critics, using Casa Dorado. It was very easy, and very cheap. Our group met the casa dorado van at the ship, the ride was kind of long, but very interesting and fun. Then they took us to some small powerboats and we took a gorgeous ride to the beach. There is a hut there that makes the best fish ever for $12. Of course plenty of cold beer, white chairs to lay out on, pretty deserted. Fresh plantains, and the most beautiful scenery in the world. Sooooo relaxing. When our group was ready to go (reluctantly), the same casa dorado group took us back to the ship. I can't recommend this trip highly enough. Just wonderful wonderful!!!! So much better than the crowded beaches with the rest of the cruise passengers. DO THIS DAY TRIP!!!! you won't regret it. a little extra planning now will totally pay off when your cruise finally comes.

[RichYak]

How much is the RCI beach break?

On my upcoming sailing, it's $59pp including the non-motorized water stuff. $42pp without.

[b43147]

I did hear back from Catherine. We will just be watching the boards for groups wanting to get together for this excursion or else figure something else out. Thank you anyway.

Bettye

[newistcruiseaddict]

Just be careful when calling. I got impatient waiting for an email response from casa dora and called.

 

My phone bill was $35 for 9 minutes!

 

$12 for fish? Does it feed more than one person?? How much for beer?

[flashdog_1]

I did hear back from Catherine. We will just be watching the boards for groups wanting to get together for this excursion or else figure something else out. Thank you anyway.

Bettye

 

Go on over to the Roll Call Board for Dawn 1/24/09 and see that we have 1 full cab/boat and 8 on another, so you would have room if you are a party of 2, making 10 total (the maximum). There is no other ship in port that day, so we are IT. Please respond over there where the action is. Thanks.

[LeGerri]

Hi, how is the water, can you snorkle, swim, float? Is it calm or wavery.

 

thanks

[flashdog_1]

I did hear back from Catherine. We will just be watching the boards for groups wanting to get together for this excursion or else figure something else out. Thank you anyway.

Bettye

 

Bettye our first 2 boats are full, but one of our newcomers has reserved 2 more boats. Check with her on the roll call board.

[Nickymjw1]

Playa Rincon is best reached by boat after taxi ride. There is a road but it is very bad they say and I don't think Taxi's even go there.

 

See my post in Need Samana help.

 

Thanks

[flashdog_1]

I've read reviews of people who took the land only route and didn't even have time to finish their lunches before their taxi had to leave in order to get them back to the ship! So if you want beach time, do the combo. Check casadoradodr.com

[rez4jc]

LeGerri, water is mostly calm, not really much to see snorkeling. But one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen!

 

newistcruiseaddict, $12 per person - you get to choose your own fish, out of a cooler of fresh caught fish, and they grill it over a wood flame. It comes with bread, fries, fried bananas and rice. Beers are $3, cold and large. They give you plastic cups to share each one.

 

This should be on everyone's list to see & do while in Samana! Relaxing and beautiful!!

 

Oh, yeah, we went thru Cathie at Casa Dorado as well! Wouldn't mind going back and staying at her B&B, for a week! Great couple!!

[NBCSPARKY]

We just got back from EOS 1-2-09 and had a blast. On of the best cruise weeks I have ever had. Anyhow we stopped in Samana and it was an awesome day. We never book onboard excursions because we like the adventure of going our own way at port. When we got off the tender (which was a little too much of a wait) we found ourselves in a nice little Caribbean village. They had a colorful dancing group and the usual bustle of cabbies and vendors trying to hawk a ride or a tour. We walked to the left and down the street to a plaza with a straw market and took in the sights of the town. We were approached by a guy who seemed honest and was registered (he had a vendor tag) and we made a deal for him to get us a cab to go over to Playa Rincon. We were debating on boat or cab but decide on car to see the inland sights. The deal was $125 for the five of us (three older adults and two young adults) and the driver would stay with us for the day. A nice van soon showed up and a young driver who seemed very nice loaded us up for the ride. We traveled on a main road for about 45 minutes and got to see the villages along the way. It is a very beautiful and the towns have a lot of color and charm but in parts it is very poor. The last part was along a very bumpy path that winds along some farm land and a few scattered homes and a tiny little village. This took about twenty minutes to reach the beach which was just simply paradise. The trip was over an hour and we decide to stay till about 2:30pm to give us time to get back to the ship. It was a great day and we totally recommend doing it. I think the perfect thing would be to dive out and boat back but there were no boat taxis that we could find. The food was in these little shacks and it takes time to eat so if you want pack a snack but if you do eat there it is very good. The snorkeling was good at the point to the left but it is shallow so watch out. They rent chairs for $5 and snorkel masks and fins for $10. The ride back was the same except the driver show us a few more of his favorite sites like a little spot where locals go along a river and the dragon spouts along a beach. We gave him a nice tip and got back to the boat among the last few tenders.

[familycruzer]

I did the same trip as nbcsparky and here is my review. I also have lots of pictures in the links in my signature.

 

Samana - Many people ask questions about this port because it is very new to Royal Caribbean and there are not threads about what to do here. After a lot of research, we decided to try our luck with a private tour and not book through the ship. We picked an excursion with Casa Dorado http://www.casadoradodr.com/excursions.html and very happy with the beach but what an experience getting there.

 

We were not supposed to be able to leave the ship until about 9:30 but were whisked to deck 1 by 8:45. The tender ride to Samana is very fast, I would guess less than 10 minutes. The tenders are small compared to Labadee. On my first view of Samana I thought "why are we even coming here?" It does not even look like a port but a big fishing village with a dock to bring in the tender. Once you walk past the entrance, you are bombarded with offers of taxis and tours.

 

Luckily Catherine from Casa Dorado was there to help us find out taxis and we were off. After a 45 minute taxi ride through some of the worst road and living conditions I have seen we arrived at Casa Dorado where we boarded a boat to Playa Rincon and 10 minutes later we were there.

 

The beach is breathtaking and the water was as clear as a pool with some fairly decent snorkeling. I would guess the total number of people at the beach would be under 150 but there was plenty of room to stretch out. We stayed for about 2.5 hours and then headed back to the ship. My DH left his sneakers behind on the beach. Catherines DH sent word back to the beach that if they were found, he would send them back with another ship passenger and we got them back!

 

If you want a peaceful uncrowded beach, head off to Playa Rincon for the day but be ready for an adventure. This excursion is not for the faint at heart. I am glad that I did it but would not leave the ship again. The roads were almost non existant, and there were children holding machettes up to each other along the road. I even saw a family of 4 on a moped with a toddler on the handle bars.

 

Trip cost $260 for 10 people which included round trip taxi service

Chairs $3 each

Beer $5

Frozen Drinks $5

Food $10 - $15 (we did not opt to eat after seeing the cooking conditions)

There were also a few venders that tried to sell their wares but were easily moved on with a simple no.

The bathrooms have no running water and are flushed by pouring water into them. The last picture is of the bathroom.

[Name Of The Game]

Thanks for sharing that. We're beginning to get more convinced that we'd be happier, and safer, staying on the ship. The death defying rides to get anywhere just does not sound appealing, particularly to my nervous mother. Fortunately we'll be going to three other ports with nice beaches.

[honeymooners11]

Hi all,

We are seriously considering the Casa Dorado excursion for our family cruise in April. We are of all ages from 2 years to 60. I was wondering if anyone has gone with a toddler recently if you felt safe and if they enjoyed the day??? Also does anyone have a picture of the van and boat that they use on this excursion??? How do you get off the boat at the beach?? My father has limited mobility and I am unsure if he would be able to jump onto the beach.

 

Thanks in advance for your help...I realy need some pictures to clarify things for me,

 

KT

[Nickymjw1]

The van's are just small taxi van's they hire from other drivers, and the boats are smaller boats if they have a group of more than 10 they will hire other people with boats.

 

They pulled all the way up to the beach, so you just had to step out of the boat with help for those of us that don't jump.

 

I have a bad back and the boat ride was a little ruff on my back when I sat in the front. Sitting in the back was ok.

 

The roads in Samana are really not well maintained so the taxi van ride over will be bumpy.

[Nickymjw1]

Here is a picture of the Casa Dorada boat. The other boats they use are smaller, more like a wooden fishing boat with rows of benches. The ride might be rougher but they seem easier to get out of.