Whales
As many of you already know, Samana offers trips around peninsula as well as trips out of peninsula. One of them is whale watching. Yes, you read well. Whales. From mid-January to the end of March. This date is strictly followed by (also because of the Dominican government), so if you plan your holiday out of this date, you won't see them. This is also because most of them leave these waters at the end of March and migrate further. And the main reason why they appear here year after year is that they come here to copulate :).
If you are enjoying a holiday in Samana, getting on this trip is relatively easy. There are various guides and agencies that organize these trips. Mostly, this trip is associated with a visit to the island of Cayo Levantado. From there it is about 10-15 minutes by boat to a place where whales can be seen. The price per person was 70 USD - the price also included a trip to Cayo Levantado, refreshments, lunch and a drinking regime during lunch (in the morning we also received a coffee from the locals :). We arranged the transfer to the city of Samana, from where it departs, by ourselves. (If you are in Punta Cana or Bayahibe, the trip begins early in the morning - first the trip to Miches by bus or car, about 1.5 hours, and from there the cruise is also about 1.5 hours - it's a full day trip).
Whale watching itself is truly an experience. You know, you can't see a whale just like that at any time. We all know that these animals are one of the biggest animals in the world, but when you see them live, you will understand the true meaning of the word greatest. Their huge fins, how they spray water and how fast they move, is something that will make you sled. I could only do an amazed - woooow.
At the end, I would like to give some advices or remarks from this trip. First of all, I would like to draw the attention of parents who have small children. I would not recommend you to take them with you. Mainly for sailing. If you're traveling here with a big cruise ship, that's fine. However, if you are on a smaller ship, it would certainly not be pleasant in case of safety and your stomach condition too. Big waves cause quite strong bumps on a smaller boat, it can be bad for someone and small children would not have to put up with it. So this factor is worth considering. Some guides will allow you to observe the whales for more than 30 minutes, but the whole observation is more of a "chase" of whales, and I think that half an hour is really just that. We did whale watching around 2pm in the afternoon and there were only a few ships in our area that also watched. Our guide told us that it is better to go in the afternoon, because there many, many boats in the morning and you might not enjoy the experience.
And finally, I would just like to show you a few videos where you can see these gigantic creatures.
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