Island Day Trips in the Dominican Republic (2026): Saona, Catalina, Cayo Levantado, Cayo Arena and More

Some of the best beaches in the Dominican Republic are not on the mainland at all. A few kilometers offshore there are palm-covered islands inside national parks, sandbars where you stand waist-deep in open sea, and wild cays where the only residents are iguanas and seabirds. Almost all of them are day trips by boat.

This guide covers where the boats leave from, how long each day takes, what it costs (approximate 2026 listings, which change often) and how to get the best of it.

The short version: For the classic island day, book Isla Saona from the Bayahíbe pier. For snorkeling, Isla Catalina. For the shortest, easiest crossing, Cayo Levantado in Samaná Bay. For a tiny sandbar ringed by coral, Cayo Arena from Punta Rucia. For true wilderness, the Cayos Siete Hermanos off Montecristi.

The islands at a glance

Island	Region	Boats leave from	Crossing (approx.)	Price in 2026 (approx.)	Best for
Isla Saona	La Romana & Bayahíbe	Bayahíbe pier	45 to 60 min by speedboat	$65 to $80 from the pier; $90 to $100+ with Punta Cana pickup	First-timers, groups
Isla Catalina	La Romana & Bayahíbe	Bayahíbe, La Romana, Casa de Campo marina	Shorter than Saona	$78 to $85; up to about $110 from Punta Cana	Snorkelers, families
Isla Catalinita	La Romana & Bayahíbe	Bayahíbe and Punta Cana side of the park	Long speedboat ride	More than a standard Saona tour	Snorkelers, divers
Cayo Levantado	Samaná	Samaná waterfront	10 to 15 min	About $28 boat only; $60 to $70 with lunch	Families, whale season
Cayo Arena	Montecristi & Punta Rucia	Punta Rucia, Playa La Ensenada	20 to 30 min	About $65 to $100 on tours; about $165 private	Snorkelers, couples
Cayos Siete Hermanos	Montecristi & Punta Rucia	Montecristi, Playa Juan de Bolaños	Longer open-water run	Private charter, negotiated	Birders, divers
Isla Cabra	Montecristi & Punta Rucia	Playa Juan de Bolaños	Short	From about $77 with the El Morro hike	Combined with El Morro
La Matica and Los Pinos	Santo Domingo	Boca Chica Beach	Wade or short boat	Free to wade; boat negotiated	Kids, birdwatchers

Isla Saona

Isla Saona is the country’s biggest offshore island, about 110 square kilometers of forest, mangrove and white sand inside the Parque Nacional del Este (officially Parque Nacional Cotubanamá). There are no hotels, so everyone visits on a day trip, and it is one of the most booked excursions in the Dominican Republic.

How it works. Boats leave every morning from the pier in Bayahíbe. The standard combo goes out by speedboat and back by catamaran, or the reverse: the speedboat is fast and bumpy, the catamaran slow and social, with music and rum punch. You get the middle of the day on the western tour beaches with a buffet lunch and open bar, and a stop at the Saona natural pool, a sandbar off Punta Palmilla where the water is knee to waist deep, for 30 to 45 minutes.

Prices. Read the full Saona Island day trip page, but in 2026 tours from the Bayahíbe pier were listed at around $65 to $80 per adult including lunch, drinks and the park fee. With hotel pickup from Punta Cana or Santo Domingo, expect around $90 to $100 or more, plus 1.5 to 2.5 hours on a bus each way. The full day runs about 7 to 10 hours depending on pickup.

Quieter versions. The main tour beaches are busy, often more outdoor party than desert island. For more space, pick a premium tour to Canto de la Playa on the south-east coast, usually a little more expensive, or a private boat that sets its own timing. Some trips add the fishing village of Mano Juan, with its painted wooden houses and a sea turtle project, or the wild islet of Isla Catalinita at the park’s eastern edge, which has reefs with fewer boats and stronger currents.

Tips. Stay in Bayahíbe or Dominicus to skip the bus and take the earliest boat. Choose a catamaran leg if you get seasick. At the natural pool, look at the red cushion sea stars but leave them in the water. There is no reliable phone signal or ATM on the island, so bring cash for tips.

Isla Catalina

Isla Catalina is a small, mostly uninhabited island about 2.5 km off the coast south of La Romana. The beach is pleasant, calm and gently sloping, but the reason to go is under the water.

How it works. Most Catalina snorkel trips make two stops: The Wall (La Pared), where the reef drops into deep blue water, and The Aquarium, a shallower reef garden that suits beginners. Then comes lunch and an hour or two on the beach. Tours leave from Bayahíbe, La Romana and the Casa de Campo marina, which makes it easy from Casa de Campo and the Dominicus resorts. Divers can do the same wall at depth with a Bayahíbe dive center.

Prices. In 2026, tours from Bayahíbe were listed at around $78 to $85 per person, with some packages up to about $110 including hotel transport from Punta Cana. The trip takes about 4 to 8 hours. From Punta Cana, it means three or more hours on a bus in total, so it suits the south coast best.

Tips. Costa Cruises uses part of the beach on cruise days, so check the cruise calendar if you want it quieter. Wear a vest at The Wall if you are not a strong swimmer, since it is open water. The crossing is shorter and usually calmer than Saona’s.

Cayo Levantado

Cayo Levantado is a small, forested island in Samaná Bay, often called “Bacardi Island” after the rum brand’s advertising. Because it sits inside the bay, it is protected from the Atlantic swell, and the water is usually calm, shallow and clear.

How it works. Boats cross from the Samaná waterfront in about 10 to 15 minutes. Most of the island belongs to the Cayo Levantado Resort, whose beaches are for guests; boats land at the public section, which has chairs, buffet restaurants, bars and vendors. Confirm with your operator where you will be dropped and whether any fee applies.

Prices. Booking platforms listed a basic boat round trip at around $28 per adult in 2026, for roughly seven hours on the island without lunch, and packages with a buffet lunch at around $60 to $70. See the Cayo Levantado day trip page. You can also agree a price directly with captains near the waterfront.

Combine it. From mid-January to the end of March, many whale-watching trips stop here afterward; whale trips ran around $60 to $160 per adult in 2026 depending on transport and lunch, plus a small sanctuary fee. Combined Los Haitises and Cayo Levantado days with lunch started at around $70. Our whale-watching guide has the details.

Tips. It gets busy from late morning to mid-afternoon, especially in whale season, so go early or stay late. Most tours from Las Terrenas and Las Galeras include pickup.

Cayo Arena

Cayo Arena, sold as Cayo Paraíso or Paradise Island, is a sliver of white sand in the open sea, roughly 10 by 30 meters by one recent description, ringed by shallow turquoise water and coral. A few thatched huts sell fruit and cold drinks.

How it works. Speedboats leave from Punta Rucia and Playa La Ensenada, about 20 to 30 minutes each way, and most trips add a run through the mangrove channels, where manatees live (a sighting is a bonus, not a promise). Snorkel gear is usually included. See the Cayo Arena boat trip page.

Prices. In 2026, group tours were listed from about $65 per person with a Punta Rucia or Puerto Plata start, around $89 to $100 with hotel pickup from Sosúa or Cabarete, and about $165 per person for private boats. Tours from the Puerto Plata coast leave around 7 a.m. and run 8 to 11 hours door to door, with lunch at La Ensenada.

Tips. The cay is tiny, so timing is everything. Sundays are the busiest day, with Dominican families and big tour groups. Stay a night at Punta Rucia Lodge, hire a boat on the beach, and leave by about 9 a.m. to arrive before the tour boats. Do not stand on the coral, and keep weak swimmers in the shallows, as currents pull around the edges.

Cayos Siete Hermanos

The Cayos Siete Hermanos, the Seven Brothers, are seven uninhabited cays of coral sand about 10 km north-west of the Bay of Montecristi, protected as a wildlife refuge. There is nothing on them: no huts, no vendors, no shade. They are the country’s main nesting site for boobies, from late May to early September.

How it works. There is no regular scheduled tour that we could verify, so plan on a private charter from the fishing boats around Playa Juan de Bolaños or through your hotel, ideally arranged the day before. See the Siete Hermanos boat trip page.

Prices. We could not confirm a current published rate. Get a couple of quotes, agree on the route, the number of cays and the time ashore, and check for life jackets, shade and enough fuel. Small groups can split the cost.

Tips. Go in the morning, when the sea is calmest; afternoon returns into the trade wind can be wet and rough. Dive sites around the cays are only about 3 meters deep and can be dived on windy days when other Montecristi sites cannot. Bring water, food, sun protection, snorkel gear and a bag for your trash, and keep well back from nesting birds.

Isla Cabra, off El Morro

Isla Cabra (also written Isla Cabrita) is a small white-sand cay with a little lighthouse off Montecristi, reached on the boat leg of the El Morro hike and boat tour. Boats leave from Playa Juan de Bolaños, run along the cliffs of El Morro and stop near the cay, sometimes for a swim or snorkel. A packaged lookout-plus-boat tour was listed from around $77 per person in 2026, for about 3 hours, and is not open to children under 10. Fishermen on the beach will also take groups directly for a negotiated price. Go early, before the wind picks up, and finish at Playa El Morro.

La Matica and Los Pinos, Boca Chica

The easiest island trip in the country starts on Boca Chica Beach, about 10 minutes from Las Américas airport. La Matica is a mangrove islet at the western end of the lagoon where herons roost, and the water is shallow enough to wade there, usually around waist deep. Los Pinos, the larger island opposite the main beach, is reached by short boat rides that are negotiated on the sand. Wear water shoes and stay inside the lagoon.

Boat-only beaches on the mainland

A few mainland beaches feel like islands because the only easy way in is by boat:

• Bahía de las Águilas: 8 km of empty sand, 15 to 20 minutes by boat from La Cueva. In 2026, a round trip with independent fishermen ran roughly RD$2,000 to RD$2,500 per boat (about $35 to $45), plus a park fee of around RD$150 per person. See the boat trip page.
• Playa Frontón, Playa Madama and Playa Rincón: linked on a Las Galeras beach boat trip, with recent guides suggesting roughly $20 to $40 per person for a shared half day.

Tips for any island day

• Go early and on a weekday. The difference between a 9 a.m. arrival on a Tuesday and noon on a Sunday is enormous everywhere on this list.
• Book from the closest base. Saona and Catalina are much easier from Bayahíbe, Cayo Arena from Punta Rucia, and Cayo Levantado from Samaná town. Hotel pickups from Punta Cana or the Puerto Plata coast add hours on a bus.
• Check what the price includes: lunch, drinks, park fees, snorkel gear, and how long you actually get on the island.
• Plan for seasickness. Open-water speedboat rides to Canto de la Playa, Catalinita and Siete Hermanos can be rough, especially in the afternoon. Catamarans are gentler.
• Bring cash, reef-safe sunscreen, a hat, water and a dry bag. Shade is scarce on sandbars and cays, and phone signal is patchy.
• Leave it as you found it. Do not touch or stand on coral, leave starfish in the water, and carry out your trash. Most of these islands are inside national parks or refuges.
• Pick the right season. December to April usually gives the calmest crossings. Storms between June and November can cancel trips, so keep a spare day.

For beaches you can reach without a boat, see our best beaches in the Dominican Republic, and for regional detail the Samaná travel guide.