Samana Island

JayUKcomingtoDR

New member
Jan 15, 2002
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Heres a question for you locals. Hillybilly, AZB, CC, Grahame etc, hope you all can answer this one.
When last in DR I went to Samana Island. It was in parts beautiful and in some areas a little trashy. But right in the middle was a hotel that was, well just stood empty. I even went inside and there was still holiday notice boards up . It looked like something like the Marie Celeste! I think it would be a great place if done up!
Also to the south bit of the island, away from the bar shacks and stuff, was a restaurant, again just stood empty,
Can anyone tell me why they closed? and when? Are they for sale? Have people ever lived on Samana island? Who controls the island? Couldnt they clean it up a bit?

cheers folks. See you in a week. Maybe we could have a few presidente's together!

Jay
 

Dolores1

DR1
May 3, 2000
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www.
The hotel is government owned. It was operated by Occidental Hotels, that also runs Cayacoa and Gran Bahia hotels in Samana. Clearly, the operation was not profitable and they closed it. The island is not Samana Island. It is Cayo Levantado.
 

JayUKcomingtoDR

New member
Jan 15, 2002
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Where did I get Samana from

Sorry, pardon my ignorance. Is there a Samana Island, the tour guides were calling it Bacardi Island! Do you know much about paradise island?

cheers
jay
 

Andy B

Bronze
Jan 1, 2002
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www.elmarinique.com
You will find more information regarding Cayo Levantado ("Barcardi Island") is the Attractions section of www.samana.net
Dolores is correct when she says the government-owned, Occidental-operated hotel is closed due to not being profitable. The last time I was there a little over a year ago it was virtually deserted.

Due to the large numbers of tourists who visit the government-owned island, a lot of trash is generated. However, I did not notice the island (or parts of it) to be "trashy." In fact it struck me as being quite clean compared to a lot of other high-traffic tourist areas in the DR I've seen.

Other than hotel staff living there when the hotel was open, the only permanent residents are a small Marina de Guerre detachment at a facility on a bluff on the island's north side that monitors boat traffic in and out Samana Bay.