Traveling alone, ideas for trips/excursions?

Salto de Limon is a great idea. Do you have your own vehicle?

Some excellent ideas for exursions on the Samana Peninsula would definitely be:

1. Parque Nacional Los Haitises
2. Cayo Levantado
3. Playa Rincon

You should also still be able to see the whales in Samana Bay.

These attractions are not in Las Terrenas but are easy day trips from where you are staying.

Playa Rincon is a must see. I would also recommend visiting Cabrera and Hotel La Catalina. It has a very different vibe compared to Las Terrenas.

Playa Coson, great beach and excellent seafood, very close from Las Terrenas.

renting a quad for a few days is fun and you can see alot that you would not be able to in a regular car. water taxis at las galeras can take you to rincon, fronton or madama playas. also you can drive to boca del diablo and hike to fronton, many say to ask at b l diablo to get a dominican youth as a guide to be more safe but if you have a group you should be ok.

Playa Bonita and Playa Coson - very close to LT. And all the other places you read aboud before...

If you should rent a quad and go to Las Galeras you could go to "El Cabito", a very special bar/restaurant high on the cliffs a bit outside LG. Another special place is a private club called "Samana Inn" (maybe it?s called "Casitas de la Loma" now, you can google it), placed outside the village of Guazuma up the hills with a spectacular view to the bay of Samana. Perhaps call before going up there.

Have a nice time at LT!

Things to do

Hi:

I live in Las Terrenas. Don't waste your time or money on the Whale excursion. You can see and learn more on NatGeo. I went on this excursion about a month ago. It was about $60.00US. I did see whales, from about 80 meters away and for about 8 seconds at a time. It could have been a piece of floating boat and I wouldn't really be able to tell. Also if you have a tendency towards getting sea sick you probably will. You are on the boat for about 4 hours and many times just bobbing in the ocean waiting for the whales to come to the surface. Bring a barf bag with you. One tour I would recommend is the coffee road tour. You take 4 wheelers out into the country and stop at a small cocoa, coffee farm and also a rubber farm. Lunch is included out at El Limon. It's worth the price of $55.00 US. Riding the horses up to see Limon Falls is an experience. It is not a very comfortable one. The horses are on their last legs and the saddle and stirrups in some cases are very poor. You can walk up the trail and I would suggest this. The trail at some points is basically a river bed and somewhat slippery especially after a rain so be warned. If you have never been on horses you are probably not going to like this first experience. At times the trail is steep going up or coming down and the horses are stepping ginerly over a dried up river bed of stones. If you are adventourous and don't mind have sore muscles for a couple of days then by all means take this tour. It costs about $50 with lunch included. Sorry if this sounds negative but from someone who has done this a few times I'm just telling it like I see it.

S

S

El Limon is beautiful and super day out my donkey or by foot. If you go by foot on some routes as you cross private land the farmer expects a tip. Take care on your route to remember the turnings as some trails go miles over the countryside. Wear non slip shoes and a choose a dry day. There is a small entry fee to keep the place nice.
It's possible to swim up there and there are refreshments available.
Best to start early in the morning. Depending on fitness allow 1 1/2 to 2 hours for walk up.

Snorkeling is good and there is a sailing club.

I agree with LTSteve. The whales are already gone. And you couldn't really see much even when they were here. If you decide to go, the only one I recommend to go with is Kim Bedall. She has the bigger, highest boat and she is highly experienced in whales.

The trip to Limon could be a nice "adventure" but should be limited to a certain age group. I would say from 12 to 50, or 60, if you are in good physical condition. First you go by horse, which as LTSteve says, are in their last legs and horrible saddle and stirups and the trail is very treacherous. Then you have to get off your horse and proceed on foot on a trail that continues to be treacherous and slippery and there are no hand rails. You go up and down on this trail for quite a while. You could very well have a heat stroke. I don't recommend this excursions for people who have heart conditions or suffer from asthma.

I like the trip to Los Haitises, especially if you go on the catamaran that brings the kayaks. That way you can get on the kayaks when you get there and explore the canals within the mangroves. Awesome.

Juniper

Plenty of people in their 70's. who are mobile should have no problem Horses and donkey are pretty sure footed. Yes, its not for wheelchair types but anyone like me in their 60's its a pretty gentle walk, obviously not taken at breakneck pace. Last time some friends who are the same age as me visited they had no problem either walking up.
There is gentle horse riding on the beach - this is beautiful. Also there are some pleasant walks on dirt tracks in the mountains as Los Puentes - it's cooler up there.
Scenery is great.
Good shoes and socks are needed however.
Yanandu.

Sorry, that I have to write these words: People going up to El Salto del Limon on horseback should not be judged by their age, but by their weight...

If you book that excursion: Please only take healthy horses (if everyone would think about that, you wouldn?t have to write about "donkies") and please don?t go up there on horseback with a weight more than 90kg. And please only go up there, when you are also able to climb up and down on your own feet!!!

I had to watch Dominican "guides" aged around 10 years, who had to carry up the hill 100kg and more gringo-kids on their backs. For me it was toooo much - I don?t know the words, modern slavery??? Why do these meetloaves don?t climb up the hill on their own feet? Hard stuff was, that these kids carriing thats weights up were not given some pesos as a tip - all-in-bookings?

Saludos

In that case, you will do fine!

If you are there for four weeks I would try and see a bit more of the country - how about a weekend trip to Santo Domingo?

I like the trip to Los Haitises, especially if you go on the catamaran that brings the kayaks. That way you can get on the kayaks when you get there and explore the canals within the mangroves. Awesome.

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Hey Juniper-- We definitely want to visit Los Haitises in May--Can you give me the name of this excursion operator and is snorkeling allowed? Thanks!

Go to Kim Bedall in Samana. Get her phone number from any of the brochures in Las Terrenas.

We took Kim's whale-watching tour 3 yrs ago and I agree with Steve: much ado about nothing much!
I thought you were referring to an excursion operator in Las Terrenas who did the kayak tour of Los Haitises-- I'll check some other sources..

There was one a couple of years ago and that's the one we took, but I don't think they are doing it any more. The only one who does it now is Kim. That is apart from the whale excursion.