My husband, son and I made our first visit to Dominican Republic last week via Sunwing and we chose this tour halfway through our time there. It was reasonably priced (as exclusions go) and we booked through the Sunwing rep with Nexus Tours/Camel Safari Exploring. It was a full day; we were picked up at 7:15 in an open air truck for a wind-blown fast trip to pick up other guests in different hotels. Our tour guide was Junior; our driver Odeli. Junior was fun, friendly, well versed in all the details about each place we visited as well as lots of information about the country and its people. Odeli was friendly and helpful. We learned a lot at the cheese factory and had a fascinating walk-through. We went to a cacao farm/store and sampled a variety of things made with the cacao bean (also an opportunity to buy) We stopped at store with two men rolling cigars. Of course, part of the visit was to shop for local items, the iconic larimar stone and Mamajuana drink. We bought some larimar bracelets from granddaughters and earrings (rather than from the sellers on the beach where we couldn't be sure of quality). The store owner assured us the silver was real (however, my ears were burning from nickel allergy an hour after wearing earrings, but buyer beware!) Back to the tour: there was a stop for lunch at a wonderful little cafe and the food was excellent. I'll dream about the fried chicken! One of the best parts of the tour, aside from Junior's commentary, was the ability to see local life along the streets as we drove from place to place. If you're quick with your camera, you can capture a lot of everyday life. We took some backroads to see a replica of an old farm (not sure where the people live, but what we saw was probably original buildings). The family was lovely; the daughter (in law?) made coffee over a traditional outdoor firepit. Gramma/Abuela Catalina (Carolina?), 86, sat with us as we watched a son make a broom with palm leaves. Goats, chickens and a friendly dog. On one stop, there was demonstration of pressing sugar cane and a young woman made a batch of molasses cookies (which was nice, but didn't live up to the 'bakery' advertised. And we did not see a 'secluded' beach as advertised. The visit covered a lot of sights and despite some obvious poverty, people were welcoming and friendly. That applied to ordinary people on the street, not just those scheduled on the tour. Be prepared for a full day and take water; we got back to our hotel about 5:30 pm. Be sure to check for any belongings you bring with you in the open truck; we left an umbrella behind and despite immediate reports to our hotel (Viva Tangerine), a report to the Sunwing rep, and an online report to Nexus, it disappeared. We recommend this tour for anyone who wants to have a better look at life in DR. Junior and Odeli were wonderful and Junior provided so much more than the scripted tour info. Both helped our son who has a disability throughout the day and included him in the fun and banter during the tour. We definitely recommend this tour; just relax a bit and accept a few differences from the advertised tour.

This 3 in 1 package was fun but Chaotic! The description or plan that is listed was incorrect. You can only do this activity on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On these days you will be with at least 1000 people in line to the waterfalls. Why? Because these are the days 4 large cruise ships arrive. It took 3hrs to complete the pools. Oh yeah you have to hike 2 miles up hill to get to the falls and you can't bring any water. Then you stand in line like your at disneyworld as one by one you are told to jump or take the chicken route down. Jumping was fun! I highly recommend it. The gear for the zip lines were very Worn out and do not feel great for your nuts and butts. Again you are in line with at least 1000 other tourists on this one. No fast passes or lightning lanes in the Dominican. It's a typical zip line through a jungle. I was hoping for some hight since I walked up a mountain to get to it. Hawaii had better views. Lunch time! The bus left the area and I think we went to the tour guides house as his family cooked for us. Food was amazing but there was also a restaurant at the adventure park. Next the tour bus went off route and took the 8 of us to a cigar shop in the mountains. Then a 2hr ride to get to the buggie attraction. Caution on this one. You go through the nastiest mud and there are no fenders to stop it from entering your mouth and eyes. Your shoes will get destroyed, and you might be using the toilet for the rest of your trip due to the unknown bugs in that pool of mud. Oh yeah don't forget TIP money! I thought we only have to tip at the end of the adventure but any person you meet working these separte adventure areas are not part of the Camel Safari tours. Out of everything we did I'd say the waterfalls would have been the only adventure that is worth the time.

This one is hard to give a star rating for a review. The bus ride is far to long and wasn't discussed with when booking. It was a nice way to see the countryside, but we spent more time going there and coming back then we did on the boat. When we did arrive to the beach it was definitely 5 star from that point, the boat staff were awesome and service for drinks or food was great. We had a younger child with us and it was fun for her also but our group was mostly adults and the atmosphere was more a party. Everyone was very courteous about our child on the boat. I dont think it stopped anyone from having a good time and she still had fun also. I think we got to the boat around almost 11. Went to the shallow spot for a 15-20 minute swim which was nice cause it was pretty hot so it was a good cool down time. Slid off the top deck slide a few times which was a fun feature. Loaded up then took another ride to the sand bar. Was 2 other boats with people that were there over the same time period so got a little crowded. The snorkeling was the highlight of the trip. Seen lots of neat fish but only did that for about 20 minutes then sat on the sand bar and had a couple drinks and some fruit for snack, not much for shade so lots of people were huddled around the shacks to get out of the sun after swimming. It was a very neat place and cool to see but definitely got busy with other boats. The mangroves weren't really much just pulled into a bay gave a little speech about the ecosystem and the importance of the Coast Guard, (aka the mangroves). Then worked our way back to a spot further down the beach then we arrived at, which was an excellent late lunch of chicken, rice, lobster, and some sort of fried fish. Everything tasted great. Was a short time to eat then back on the bus for the long ride back to the resort. Loaded on around 3:30-4pm. The ride back was quicker even with the stop at the little store on the ride back. Got a couple items and worked our way back to the resort. It was a funtime on the ocean and snorkeling but definitely be prepared for the journey there. There was a photographer there taking pictures the whole time on the boat, we bought the photo package off of him because we wanted some great memories from the trip and we think his prices were reasonable and we got alot of great photos, he did a great job and really appreciate it. If it weren't a family thing for us we probably wouldn't of bought the pictures but he took some awesome shots and will have them to look back on. We could tell lots of people weren't interested in buying the pictures but for us it was worth it. We got over 100 pics and a 15 minute go pro video as part of what he took of us.

The boat is perfect for having an amazing time! The reef is nice and we was glad to see this company support a coral restoration project with the local foundation! The crew, drink and food service was amazing! The best in the north shore!

Wow!!! Do this tour if you are in Puerto Plata! Worth every penny! Our tour guide Juan (spoke in three languages fluently) took us to a cheese factory, then a chocolate factory, then in the hills to see how the poor people live in their homes, then to see cigars being made, then a patisserie, and we even had a wonderful lunch. Juan gave us so much local information about the lives of people living in the DR. SO WORTH IT!!

The island and natural pool was incredible. Too many people on the island to really enjoy - snorkelling was quick and not a lot of fish - water was rough for us and tide was high. The mangroves were not a highlight but interesting to see. Lunch was incredible! Service on the boat was fantastic. Our bus guide was good but we didn’t realize we would spend 3hours on the way there without a bathroom break or refreshment. The way home was 2.5hours and better as they incorporated a stop at a cigar place with shopping and a bathroom! We were staying at the Be Live Puerto Plata.

This tour was excellent. It was well-priced compared to similar ones I had seen. The guide, Alberto, was excellent. He speaks a ridiculous amount of languages and made sure everyone had the best time. You stop at a chocolate place, a cheese factory (this sounded really boring to me but ended up being one of my favorite parts of the tour), an authentic farm house (where a family actively lives), a small tobacco plantation/gift shop, a small bakery where they make a traditional cookie, and a buffet lunch. I felt like I got to see a more real side of the DR on this tour by zero bc products that locals produce and use, plus you get to see the countryside and what the small towns here look like. I feel like this should be a required tour for anyone who goes to Puerto Plata and stays on a beach resort. Super interesting tour. And I didn’t feel like any of it was rushed (I usually like to take my time places). Highly recommend this tour with this company.

Note we had done the same tour in 2019 how things have changed. So we had a pick up time of 7:30 am at the lobby. Bus didn't show up until 7:55. It was a way bigger bus than last time there was at least 45 people on this bus compared to maybe 20 last time. So we sat in the back of an old bus there were 3 more resorts after us, and then we were on our way. The. Guide mendy was great very informative. Once we arrived we took our shoes off and left them on the bus. We were guided to a speedboat which sat 16 people on the way there there was 3 boats last trip we were all on a small catamaran type boat that was much much comfortable , not sure exactly how many were in the other boat. After a very fast and rough ride to the island we got to relax and enjoy some sun and beautiful water this had not changed. Rum last time was delicious brugal but this trip we had the cheapest rum in the dr. It wasn't very good, but the fruit was the same, banana, pineapple and watermelon. After 2 or so hours on the island we sped over to the mangroves and then returned to shore. As we re embarked on the bus some french guy decided he was going to sit in my wifes seat. Not cool. We then drove 10 minutes to where we were served lunch. Last time lunch was on the beach. Unfortunately we were on the back of the bus so by the time we got to the buffet there wasn't much food left. I got 2 chicken wings with neck attached and my wife got 2 back with a little bit of rib meat on them. Pretty sad. Also had spaghetti in what tasted like tomato soup but it was cold and a few salads that were now warm. With kola real or water to drink. Left hungry. But got on the bus before french guy so my wife and I could sit together. At that point the guide sent the group of french rude people on a different bus. And we returned back to our hotel with a quick stop at the cigar shop. Last time we got a free cigar and a nice demonstration on how they were made but not this time. By the time we got back we were so thirsty and hungry we both had headaches. We were both pretty disappointed with this tour for the cost. And EVERYONE WANTED A TIP. glad we got to go back to paradise island but we will not be recommending this excursion to anyone anymore. It was disappointing.

Me and my husband and 16 year old daughter and my 52 year old sister went on this excursion. We booked through sunwing and the downfall to that was being picked up and spending half the day in a stuffy bus picking up and dropping off other sunwing resort passengers. (5-6 hours in the bus). They take you to a gift shop bathroom prior to getting on the boat which was needed as there are no bathrooms on boats or island for the next 3 hours. The speed boat ride was fun, they provided fruit and life-jackets and snorkel gear and snorkel tour and that was great and then gave you 2.5 hours to sit on the small island. Honestly, we were done after 90 minutes. That being said, the snorekeling was excellent, and the best we have seen so far. We were really looking forward to the mangroves which was a disappointment because no one was in our boat to tell us anything about them, and we just drove through them. We went on a tour in Punta Cana through mangroves and they had given us lots of history, information and took time. So very poorly done on this particular excursion. Then they drop you back off at the gift shop area where they feed you a typical D.R. lunch (Rice, beans, fried chicken, spaghetti, salad). The part they didn't tell you was that they take you to a gift shop that sales Cigars and MamaJuana etc... and give you samples and wait around while you shop at the gift shop for too long. We were all ready to be home and we had already gone to this exact gift shop/museum 2 days prior on another excursion so that was not cool. The bus did not have enough air and it smelled like diesel and so many people smoke cigarettes everytime we stop so it was hard to get fresh air and we were just ready to be back. This could have easily been a half day tour if we were allowed to just get to our destination and back without the last stop and all the drop off and pick ups. Next time perhaps I would book this excursion through tripadvisor instead as I don't think they have as many people to pick up along the way, but I'm not sure of that either. If you are considering an excursion in Puerta Plata, my advice would be to take the 2 in 1 zip line and 7 falls tour. (Don't do the buggy ride). This Isla Bonita was nice, but not worth being gone 12 hours to snorkel for a minute and fly through mangroves without any information.

I gave this excursion a 2 out of 5 but probably would give it a 2.5 if I could. A 3 just seems a little high so basically a 5/10. I booked the Isla Bonita Deluxe for my family of 4 including 2 teens ages 13 and 15. A coach style bus picked us up from our hotel (Emotions) at 7:25 am. We made a few other pickups before continuing on. We were on the bus for over THREE HOURS before we arrived at the location were we boarded the catamaran. There was a lot of stop and go, and slow spots that made the journey long. There were a few people complaining about having motion sickness, including myself by the time we arrived. Had I known how long the journey would have been prior I would not have booked this particular excursion. This is important information that should be conveyed to anyone booking this tour. Once we boarded the catamaran drinks and snacks were immediately made available. The staff was friendly, music played and the atmosphere was party-like. We arrived at the island for snorkeling which was small but beautiful and unique. There were several other tour groups there. The water was quite rough and the conditions were not the best for snorkeling so we didn’t see many fish. The tour operators kept the drinks flowing and offered fruit to snack on while we were there. We swam and enjoyed the scenery. Unfortunately there was no shade available to take a break from the hot sun and we were there for about 3 hours which seemed long. You could tell people in the group were becoming restless. I am not sure if this is the typical amount of time but it seemed a bit too long in my opinion. Eventually the catamaran returned with another group and we were able to leave. From there we went to look for manatees but there was none to be seen. We then went over to the natural pool and were able to do some more swimming. We were able to slide off the back of the boat which was fun. My youngest son is about 5 feet tall and he was able to stand in a few places. After that the boat was brought to shore and we were taken by bus to a location for lunch. By this time is was about 4:00 and many in the group were heard talking about how hungry they were. Lunch was delicious and consisted of fried chicken, stewed chicken, lobster, rice, veggie salad, pasta salad, dessert and coffee. We were there for a little over an hour before boarding the bus. The tour group leader asked if we wanted to go to the tobacco factory but after a long day in the sun the group unanimously declined and we began out 3 hour journey back to our hotels. Overall I would say the staff were friendly and courteous but the travel time was too long and I’m disappointed to have spent 6 plus hours on a bus to experience this. Organization of time also needs to be improved as too much time was spent on the island and “lunch” was much too late in the day. I would not take this tour again if given the chance, and would not recommend it to others traveling to Puerto Plata.

Nr 1 in Puerto Plata, have done all activities, 27 Faldas, boggy car, monster trucks etc, and today (tripnr 5/last 10 years) i do Paradise Islands again. FANTASTIC 🥰❤️😀

My sister and I booked this tour in December while vacationing at Iberostar through WestJet. The excursion was planned for December 8th. Once we got on the bus they told us they had to cancel due to poor weather (it actually ended up a beautiful day). We could not select another day as we were leaving a few days later. Our west jet representative Jonathan assured us that we would get the refund within two weeks. Here we are a month later with no refund and no one is getting back to us. Don’t book through this company, I just lost over $400 booking here!

Excellent excursions. Tour guides was great, informative, knowledgeable, friendly and accommodating. The only con is that safety goggles and mask should be mandatory to ensure a comfortable ride on the dune buggies. They create excessive dust when driving where it’s almost impossible to see at times. But overall great experience.

03/26/2020 We just returned on the 19th of March after being in the DR for 2 weeks. We bought the tour while on the airplane on the way to Puerto Plata. We read the description in the brochure, in depth, and thought what a great way to see and learn about the country and culture. We tend to gravitate more towards this sort of thing versus the 'adventure adrenaline junky' tours. Boy, were we wrong! The only positive, other than being picked up in a covered, windowless truck with bench seating (which was quite comfortable considering it was quite hot that day) and truthful thing about the description in both guides, was the tour of the cheese factory. It was insightful, informative and was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone...but it went downhill after that and we were not the only ones to say that on the tour. After leaving the cheese factory, we were driven, for which seemed like miles, but was probably only 5 or 10 miles, into the countryside to a little village to visit this little old lady who served us coffee and we were made to bang on drums...oh ya, and leave a tip! We couldn't understand what that stop was all about other than to show life in the countryside...which coincidently, was not on any brochure! The next stop was a visit to where they supposedly made organic oils and such and given the opportunity to purchase overpriced herbs and oils. This was supposed to be the 'typical artisans house' and place where they supposedly made bread, but we didn't see any artisans or bread being made. But you could definitely purchase Vanilla for $6 US where we purchased the same product 2 days previous in Puerto Plata, at the market, for under $1 US. Shameful! On we went to the Cacao plantation/factory where the tour took us in a small circle through the Cacao trees. Took all of 5 minutes or less. Again, on to the visitor centre where they had you sit on chairs, watching a 'sales pitch' for the products that were produced at the centre, but here you could taste the cacao which they served hot. We didn't get to go into the factory and see how everything was made, although you could see workers going about their jobs. Informative, somewhat, but again trying to sell you something. The tour, if you can call it that, of the 'cigar factory' was a total deceitful farce at best. You get dropped off at this store front location where you're herded in and given a demonstration of cigar rolling, along with a history lesson of cigar leaves and such. You have the option to go into the walk-in humidor or peruse the store where you can buy made elsewhere trinkets to take home and collect dust! We weren't shown a tobacco plantation. We weren't shown a 'factory' where you would see the leaves drying and the whole process of what it takes to get leave from the field to the table where the cigars are eventually made. We were shown into a store, plain and simple! And the final visit of the tour...the 'hidden beach'! Which really wasn't hidden as we could see it from our resort! Again, what a complete farce and waste of our time and money! Top it off, the tour description in the brochure on the plane said nothing of this beach, nor were we given notice of being taken there when we made the booking. The only saving grace of this tour was the lunch they served. My wife and I, and others gave the lunch a 9/10. Fried chicken which was crispy, not greasy. Rice that wasn't clumpy and vegetables which were a perfect al dante. And they served us Rum if we wanted, no extra charge! We cannot endorse this tour as we felt it was a deceitful sham in every sense of the word! Would we recommend this tour - NO!

I'm an experienced rider and I asked if I can have a more advanced ride along the beach and they said it's no problem at all. I galloped along the shore with one of the guides and it was glorious. The horses are in good shape, active and looked healthy. A stop for a drink and a swim with the horses is another lovely gem in the plan. Buy something from the guy who sells jewelry on the shore - that little ring with a stone is now my favorite because of the memory of that day. I also attended a zip line and was lucky to be the only person who booked for that time so I has a whole experience to myself, no waiting in line. Zip lines are nice, nothing too exciting but still a good break from a beach-hotel life. Organization was good, the guides were on time, picked me up at the hotel and brought me back. Would recommend.