Tour Laguna Azul desde Puerto Plata

Extremely long day, but we knew that when we booked. What we didn't expect was that we were out for 11 hours, and at least 6 1/2-7 of those hours were driving around. Our guide gave us a bit of info/local history, but over all the drive was quiet with very little talking, no music.
The plantation was neat to see, however I was really turned off when the owner of the plantation flat out asked for money when he was done. I understand they work for tips...but pressuring for money is not right. The tour says there are drinks and lunch provided. We weren't even offered water until 4 hours into the drive. Lunch was ok at best, food wasn't the greatest, service was completely lousy, and when we inquired where the beer was that was supposed to be included, we were told that the 3 bottles that were provided were for all of us to share....all 14 of us?! If we wanted more were to buy it from the restaurant?!? This is not what the tour was supposed to offer and was extremely disappointing. The beaches were nice. The first beach there was an overwhelming amount of people continuously trying to sell us this, that or the other thing....took away from the nice location.
The blue lagoon which I thought was the main focus of this tour took all of 25-30 mins. It was absolutely beautiful and I enjoying seeing it, but it felt rushed so they could get the next boat out to do the loop.
The underground caves were great and we enjoyed this location and the staff were super friendly even though we don't speak much spanish, and they spoke no english - there was still respect. We purchased beers from this location and tipped the lady, due to the service we received. On the way back the guide offered us a drink of rum, with no pop or mix or anything. I don't drink rum like this yuck...
Overall long day of seeing beaches that weren't much different than the resort. Pretty terrible service almost all day. I personally feel it was not at all worth the amount we paid. Definitely disappointed and I wouldn't waste your money!

This was by far the BEST excursion I have been on! Yes, it was a long day but it was well worth it! Our tour guide Rafael from CultourAll Excursions was spectacular.. not to mention he can speak fluently in 6 different languages to accommodate our diverse group. He picked us up promptly at our hotel and driving through the cities provided information about the island and the people and the culture. We started our tour by going to a fruit plantation where we walked through the multitude of fruit trees, eating off of them along the way, learning about how they grow, harvest and sell the fruit, cacao and coffee. The plantation provided more samples of the fruit and cacao and the cacao covered bananas... mmmmmmm!

Then, we drove more through town to a dock where we got on a little motorized boat, slowly wandered through the water through mangroves until we hit the open water and enjoyed the hot sun while making our way past celebrity vacation homes to a really cool swallow cave for a short site. Then, the boat veered to a 'natural pool' where we could jump off the boat into the crystal clear ocean water to cool off for maybe 15 or 20 minutes.

Off to the first beach we go and it was GORGEOUS! Smooth, silky sand, crystal blue waters and definitely bring your snorkel gear! Lots of fish and little creatures to see if you like to snorkel. After about an hour and a half, we got back on the bus to go to our second beach... same thing... beautiful! On the bus, Rafael poured us some drinks.. rum and coke of course as we headed for our lunch buffet... which was super yummy... choices of salad, Dominican fried chicken, fish in a red sauce which was my favorite, rice, beans, plantains, fried yucca.

Then to the Blue Lagoon which is located in this serene family park with beautiful flowers and pretty secluded. There is a cliff where you can pay 1.00 to cruise down the zip line into the middle of the blue lagoon... total adrenaline rush if you are into that.. which I am! You sign a waiver, put a life vest on, hold on the zip line and away you go! They blow a whistle when you need to drop and make sure.. I repeat MAKE SURE you do a pencil drop because if you do not land feet first, you WILL probably get hurt. And be careful if you film with a go-pro, the impact of water may damage it. We jumped with one but we held it on the impact and it was fine.

Then a short walk to this smaller blue water cave for a casual swim. Little fish and shrimp to see if you snorkel. Then one last beautiful beach for an hour before the ride home during the early stages of the sunset.

I would suggest bringing a towel, snorkel gear, camera, go-pro, water shoes, extra money in case you want to buy a souvenir or cigar or coffee or cacao or tipping the tour guide. The only negative thing were the hustlers at the beach trying to get you to buy things but that happens everywhere.

Super great experience and I would recommend this to everyone! Thank you to Rafael for making this excursion so great! I cant wait to come back and do it all over again!

Wir wurden pünktlich abgeholt. Das Programm wurde eingehalten, soweit es möglich war. Da Ostern unsere Reise statt fand, waren auch viele Einheimische am Strand, aus Sicherheitsgründen viel deshalb die Bootsfahrt zur Blauen Lagune und Höhle aus. Als Ersatz gab es einen Extrastopp zum Baden. Am interessantesten war der Stopp auf der Plantage und der dominikanische Straßenverkehr. Der Reiseleiter sprach gut deutsch Sprache bei Buchung angeben und hat viel interessantes über Land und Leute erzählt.Es war ein schöner Ausflug.

Long day but a great tour

This is a long excursion but good. I do think they could cut out one of the beaches they go to as two and the lagoon is a little much. The highlight is the lagoon. Beautiful