Samana Peninsula beaches vs. Punta Cana/Bavaro

[Carlton]

I will be in the Dominican Republic in about 2 weeks and am staying in the Samana Peninsula. I'll definitely be seeing Playa Galeras, Cala Blanca, Playa Rincon, Portillo, and hopefully Playa Bonita and Playa Coson' beaches. How do those beaches stand up against the East Coast beaches Punta Cana/Bavaro in terms of water clarity and color, sand, calmness, etc. Looking for opinions from those who've seen both. I'm just curious. Thanks in advance for any responses.

 

[Natasha]

Actually, Las Galeras and Cala Blanca beaches are really not the star beaches of the Samana' Peninsula. Rincon, Coson, Bonita and Portillo are the stars. Both Las Galeras and Cala Blanca, the immediate beaches, are calm with fairly white sands, specially Cala Blanca. Cala is a wonderful beach, with powdery white sand and bordered by hundreds of palms. The waters are crystal clear, but there was fair amount of seaweed the last time I was there. This doesn't bother me at all - once you go further in a bit, you have the most wonderful calm water, with sandy bottom (no rocks) and with varying tones of blue and green hues. In a word - gorgeous!

Rincon is just SPECTACULAR!!! Some parts of it are not that calm though. As a matter of fact, I found some parts to be too rough and intimidating for me. This is a long, wild beach, and again bordered by thousands of palms. This beach has been voted one of the prettiest in the WORLD not just in the Caribbean, if you care to know.

Portillo has white powdery sand and is just great. It is the best for knorkeling in my opinion due to the coral. Ditto for Coson and Bonita. I didn't get to go to El Valle beach, but I hear it is wonderful.

The beach at Cayo Levantado island is very nice! But you may want to skip it if you don't want to be bothered with the vendors. Besides, the beaches on the peninsula are better than the ones on Cayo.

Now to Punta Cana:
What can you say, it is Punta Cana and that name alone is synonymous with spectacular beaches. That is why the area was heavily promoted and built with all-inclusive resorts. Albeit the beaches being bordered by all-inclusives galore, they are truly unmatched by any that I have seen in visiting 11 islands in the Caribbean plus Hawaii. Punta Cana has some of the whitest sands I have ever seen. The sand is soft and the waters do offer a fair degree of waves. The beaches can be calmer in some parts, but you definitely will not have the stillness of Cala Blanca or Boca Chica, for instance. Words cannot describe the beauty of Punta Cana beaches, so you may just have to take a trip there to see it

Having said that, I still prefer Samana to Punta Cana. Why? Because PC is an all-inclusive resort enclave. I much rather be in Samana any day.

Hope this helps,
Natasha

 

[Susanne]

Natasha has as usual provided useful and accurate information. However, she may have left out the most important thing in why to prefer Samana to Punta Cana: The nature itself.

Ever been to the extreme West of Bretagne/Britanny in France? Samana is like a tropical version of that.

Samana is wild, verdant, with coves, bays, rocks, low mountains, awe inspiring views. Also, as Natasha explained, it is not as dominated by tourism, and a large amount of the hotels there are small and family owned, providing a different atmosphere to the huge all inclusives. The town of Samana itself is interesting, especially the market.

I have been to Playa El Valle and it is spectacular, surrounded by wild mountains and vegetation green and lush enough to be called rain forest. The sands are dark, almost coal coloured, which is rare in Samana where the beaches are normally creamy golden. Don't count on being able to swim from El Valle, though. When the waves come thundering in straight from the Atlantic, the undertow and the waves themselves are far too dangerous. More than one tourist has tried to do so and died in the attempt. In calm waters I suppose it is safe enough, and at low tide I have heard there should be a small stream making a pool right before the ocean.

Rincon is everything Natasha said. You can go there by boat, 4WD or horse. The boat ride is great.

Regards,
Susanne

 

[Carlton]

Where can I get detailed map of Samana Peninsula?

I would like rent a car and do some exploring while in the Samana Peninsula. Where can I get a detailed map of the Samana Peninsula? One of the sites that I'd certainly like to see is Playa El Valle. How do I get there and which place is it closer to...Las Galeras or Portillo, which are the two places I'll be staying. Is it accessible by car? What other sites in the Samana Peninsula would you recommend to explore? (We're already planning on seeing Playa Rincon by boat and EL Limon on horseback). Thanks again.

 

[Susanne]

Re: Where can I get detailed map of Samana Peninsu

I am not certain about the map. I have looked on the Internet but haven't found anything sufficiently detailed.

As for Playa El Valle I think it is closer to El Portillo. You can only go there if you have 4WD and don't let the short distance from the main road (about 8 kilometres) fool you. It could easily take you half an hour or more to drive it. You also have to cross a couple of rivers (no bridges), but the water is shallow. However, an ordinary car won't do it.

From Las Galeras the hotel Casa Marina Bay arrange trips there on the monster bikes that can cross the rivers. You might ask there - I don't know where you will be staying in Las Galeras.

Regards,
Susanne

 

[Vilma]

Re: Where can I get detailed map of Samana Peninsu

I agree with Natasha. The Punta Cana beaches may be more beautiful and spectacular, but the all-inclusive nature of PC was not appealing, plus that's all you get, is beach. There isn't much else. The Samana Peninsula has such a variety of beauty and still has great beaches. So if you are spending 2 weeks for sure go to Samana. You might want to consider going to Punta Cana for a couple of days that's what we did, and personally, that's about all I could stand of the Disneyland atmosphere of the all-incluse resort environment. Have a great time, and don't miss crossing the mountains from the south to north and visiting Las Terrenas.
Vilma