La Romana: Catalina Island Snorkeling & Chavón River Cruise

★★★★★★★★★★ 3.67 (3 reviews)

Free cancellation

1/28

Duration8h

GroupUp to 30

LanguagesEN · FR +1

PickupAt your hotel

Two snorkel sites in one morning, then lunch and a river cruise before your ship leaves

You snorkel two reef sites with a certified local guide, swim and relax on Catalina Beach, eat a traditional Dominican lunch on the island, and cruise back along the Chavón River. The group stays under thirty people, pickup happens at 8am from the cruise terminal, and you're back well before your ship departs. Beverages and snorkeling equipment are included.

Step-by-step itinerary

Catalina Island snorkeling and cruise

Pickup at La Romana Cruise Terminal
Snorkel at The Wall site
Snorkel at The Aquarium site
Relax on Catalina Island beach
Enjoy traditional Dominican lunch
Scenic cruise along Chavón River
Return to La Romana Cruise Terminal

The Experience

The boat pulls away from La Romana Cruise Port at 8am, and within twenty minutes you're in water so clear you can see the sand thirty feet down. Catalina Island sits about an hour offshore, and the ride there is when you start to understand why people come back to the Dominican Republic. Your guide—a local who knows exactly where the fish are—hands out snorkeling gear as the boat cuts through the Caribbean, and then you're in The Wall, the first of two sites. It's not a dramatic drop-off; it's more like swimming into an aquarium that happens to be real. Coral formations in colors that don't quite have names, sergeant majors and parrotfish moving through the water like they own it, and the whole thing is shallow enough that beginners don't panic.

After an hour there, you move to The Aquarium—a protected lagoon with even warmer, shallower water and so many tropical fish that you stop trying to count them. The difference between this and a big cruise-ship snorkel tour is the group size: thirty people instead of a hundred, which means you're not swimming in someone else's wake the whole time. You get actual time at each site instead of a quick dip and back to the boat. Around midday, you're on Catalina Beach with a traditional Dominican lunch waiting—rice, beans, plantains, fresh fish—and the kind of time to actually sit and eat instead of wolfing it down between activities. The beach is white sand and quiet enough that you can hear the water.

On the way back to port, the boat takes the Chavón River route, which is the part people don't expect. The river is narrow and lined with mangroves and jungle thick enough that you feel like you're moving through a postcard. Your guide points out the landscape, the vegetation, the way the light hits the water in the late afternoon. You're back at La Romana Cruise Port well before your ship's departure window—the whole excursion is timed around that, so there's no scrambling or stress about missing the boat. The snorkeling gear, the lunch, the drinks (rum, beer, soft drinks), the park entrance fees—it's all included, which means you're not nickel-and-dimed at the end of the day.

What’s included

Your day includes pickup at La Romana Cruise Port at 8:00 AM, round-trip boat transport to Catalina Island, snorkeling equipment (snorkel, mask, fins), a certified local guide for the full excursion, entrance fees to Cotubanamá National Park, snorkeling at two sites (The Wall and The Aquarium), beach time on Catalina Island, a traditional Dominican lunch served on the island, snacks throughout the day (pineapple, chips, cakes), a scenic cruise along the Chavón River on the return, and beverages including rum, beer, soft drinks, and water. You're returned to the cruise port well before your ship's departure.

Good to know

Easy physical level

Operated by Dominican Attitude Excursions

Is this one for you?Right for cruise passengers with a Friday port day in La Romana who want snorkeling without the logistics—the small group and timed return mean you get two reef sites, a beach break, and a river cruise all in one morning, back to the ship stress-free.