Whale Watching Excursion in Samana
 

My husband & I will be in Samana, Dominican Republic, on January 27, 2012 and have the chance to take a whale watching excursion. It's pricey & something we've never done before & there's no guarantee we'll even see whales so early in the year. I was wondering if anyone has done it. Is it worthwhile? Is there a way to check with some oceanic group to see if the pods are even in the area? Any help here is really appreciated.

Have been to Semana it is pretty much seasonal and hit and miss.Might choose another excursion to be safe unless you
are in very high probablility season. cruisecritic.com
will have reviews.

Many years ago we "adopted" a whale,Stub (they can identify them by their tails)..and as we N.E. know they head south during the winter months to the D.R., Samana to be exact. We received many pictures of Stub years ago. Years ago we were in Los Cabos supposedly where the whales breed...NOT A WHALE!!! Here in N.E. the operators of excursions have rules as to how close they can get to the whales, but nobody has told the curious whales. Whale watching is exciting and seeing these gentle giants of the sea is something you never forget. Although we have been to the D.R. many times and to Samana once, we have never done a whale watch from there. If your going on a cruise ship I can guarantee the price will be very expensive. Don't know of any organizations personally out there,but you might want to do some reach on the other boards if nobody here has had an experience.

Thanks for your replies. Guess I'll hold off for now & take a chance booking onboard in case we hear of sightings. Really appreciated your input though.

Impossible for them to guarantee a whale sighting. Although, you could check out the Whale museum and nature center in Samana:)

Here are some other ideas for tours in Samana - http://meetoncruise.com/ports/Tampa.php#hotels. Enjoy your cruise

There are a few local Licensed Tour Operators from the Port of the Town of Samana who owns many boats ( usually Motor Catamaran of 35 foot ) and will take you on Whale Watching Tour in Samana Bay.

These Tour Operators are :
1) Marivanna Tours
2) Cayenas del Mar
3) Moto Marina Club

Most of them have a presence on the Tourism Website of Go Samana.

http://gosamana-dominicanrepublic.com

You can see their prices online and what's included in their tour.
And they all seem to have NO MINIMUM as number of guests.

The Whales in Samana Bay are Beautiful, Enjoy Them While they are Here.
( January 15 to March 15 - Every Year )

Do not miss out, it's really worth it.

Also, we have a Canadian born "WHALE SPECIALIST" Tour Operator called KIM BEDDALL of the company WHALE SAMANA who owns a 55 Foot Boat who specialized in doing only WHALE WATCHING TOURS in Samana Bay, Dominican Republic.

She comes highly recommended, and she is very well rated in Trip Advisor.

Here is the LINK to her website :
http://www.whalesamana.com/

JON
Living resident of Samana

I am taking this excursion with www.whalesamana.com on Feb 11 so will report what we see when I return.