Catalina Island Day Trip Snorkeling Adventure with Altos de Chavon

After an early pick up directly from the lobby of your hotel (from 6:30 till 8:00 am depending on the hotel location) and a convenient stop in a meeting point to organize the transportation, we’ll move on a brand-new bus to start our journey towards the city of La Romana.  

The guide will welcome you with a smile and our adventure begins. The transfer time from Punta Cana to La Romana is around 1.5 hours and on the way to the Marina the guide will give us interesting information about Catalina Island and the culture and typical life in the Dominican Republic.  

Once we arrive at the local Marina in La Romana, we will embark on a brand-new boat to start our adventure to the paradisiacal destination of Catalina Island. The staff on board will offer us something to drink and entertain us with music and dancing. Get ready to enjoy a 1 hour scenic ride across the Caribbean side of the Dominican Republic until your arrival at “The Wall”, a world-famous diving site.  

Here you’ll be offered the chance to enjoy an unforgettable snorkel experience. Get ready to discover the spectacular marine life of this popular reef point! You can expect clear waters with incredible visibility and an amazing underwater ecosystem. After the snorkeling activity, the ride will continue until we arrive at our main destination: Catalina Island.  

Catalina is a beautiful uninhabited island which lies 1.5 miles from the southeastern shore of the Dominican Republic. It is classified as a national monument with a protected environment and little development and is also the Caribbean beach home port of Costa cruise line. We will stay here for about three hours and we will have time to enjoy the beautiful white sand beach and, of course, a delicious lunch buffet-style prepared by a renowned local chef including white rice, beans, pasta, chicken, pork, salads, vegetables, fruits and bread.

After lunch, the rest of the afternoon is yours to relax; you can enjoy the open bar, or just listen to the waves and soak up the sea breeze, to make your free time an authentic vacation experience.  

When our time on the island is over, around 3:00pm we will get aboard the boat again for the ride back to the Marina in La Romana, enjoying music and light refreshments at the bar. The cruise time will be around 50 minutes.  

Once on the bus, we’ll reach the exclusive and world-famous resort of Casa de Campo, a holiday escape for many international stars such as Madonna or Shakira, to make our last stop: a guided tour of the architectural wonder of Altos de Chavon.  

The village was designed and created by Italian master designer and cinematographer Roberto Coppa. Dominican artisans handcrafted the stone pathways, decorative ironwork, furniture and enchanting buildings, reviving almost forgotten crafts of metal work and stone carving. Each stone was hand cut, each wooden door frame was handcrafted and each wrought-iron detail hand-forged. Construction of the village began in 1976 and the village was inaugurated in 1982 with the concert of Frank Sinatra at the Roman-style amphitheater. Today, this amazing village is the site of many fine restaurants, boutiques, museums and the Altos de Chavon School of Design affiliated with Parson´s School of Design in New York.  

Once the tour is over, we will start our drive back to Punta Cana, where the driver will return you safely to your hotel.