The 12 best Punta Cana excursions & tours
Check out the best Punta Cana excursions that offer the best value for your money. You’ll find only top-rated tours on this list!
Punta Cana is a beautiful place, but we should not stay only there, as there are many incredible spots and beaches to visit in the surrounding area.
There are some recommended excursions in Punta Cana itself, and other more distant ones, which require a few hours of travel time. We will see which are the best in each case, how much they cost, and I will also tell you my favorites for a complete trip.
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What can we expect from the best Punta Cana excursions?
Although Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic is a beach destination, there are excursions of all kinds, which will allow you to alternate the hotel beach with different activities:
- islands
- adventure
- nature
- culture and historical sites
You will find both half-day and full-day tours.
Best tours & excursions from Punta Cana
The following excursions from Punta Cana, you will have to consider a transfer time, which is always included in the tours we recommend.
Saona Island, the best Punta Cana excursion!
How many times in the office do you imagine a Caribbean beach, with fine white sand, turquoise waters and coconut trees? Well, that’s Isla Saona, simply a paradise!
In this excursion from Punta Cana, you will travel by catamaran to the island, drinks included. Before arriving, you will get off in the middle of the sea on a sandbank. Here you might see starfish, but please don’t touch them or take them out of the water (no, not even for 5 seconds). Afterwards there will be time to enjoy on the island until lunch time, which is buffet and very tasty.
Price: Around 70 dollars. You can hire the excursion with snorkeling included for an extra cost.
You can also hire this excursion from Bayahibe here, which is cheaper because it is closer.
The best: they pick you up at your hotel, it includes drinks and lunch, and the place is amazing.
The worst: being the most famous Punta Cana excursion, the island can be overcrowded depending on the time of your trip.
This tour also includes: Roundtrip transportation from Punta Cana, bilingual guide, lunch and drinks.
➥ BOOK IT HERE. 🌴
💯Alternative excursion: You can combine Saona Island with Altos de Chavón, which is a replica of a very beautiful 16th century village. You can book it here.
Santo Domingo Excursion
Many people do not visit the capital, but it is without a doubt a must-see that allows you to combine your beach vacation in Punta Cana with a day of history and culture in one of the oldest cities in the Caribbean. The price? Around $90.
The best: they pick you up at your hotel, lunch included.
The worst: the transfer takes a long time (you can also do the tour by plane by booking here).
➥ Book a day trip to Santo Domingo here.
Catalina Island
Besides Saona Island, another famous excursion in Punta Cana is to Catalina Island.
The tour costs about $80 and includes snorkeling and time on the beach, plus lunch.
➥ Book snorkeling in Catalina Island here.
Samana and Bacardi Island
In my opinion, Samana beaches are among the best in the country, and that’s why I think it is a highly recommended destination to visit from Punta Cana.
On the Samana excursion, you will visit a waterfall called Salto del Limon and the beautiful Cayo Levantado, known as Bacardi Island, since the famous rum’s advertising was filmed there.
✅ the tour includes all transfers, entrance fees, lunch and drinks.
❌ the long transfer times, because Samana is not close to Punta Cana. Besides, the destination is very worthwhile, and I recommend staying in Samana for a few days if you have enough time (otherwise there is also a day trip with flight included).
⭐ Whale watching in Samaná: if you travel between January and March, you will have a unique opportunity to see humpback whales in the bay. This excursion includes whale watching and Bacardi Island.
Los Haitises National Park
If you like karst landscapes, this tour is calling you!
Los Haitises National Park is located in Samana. During the excursion instead of visiting the destinations I mentioned in the previous tour, you will only visit this national park which is very worthwhile.
You will see karst mountains, caverns, navigate through mangroves, and discover some of the local fauna.
Punta Cana Excursions: adventure & more!
These activities take place in and around Punta Cana itself, so you won’t have long travel times. In fact, most are half-day tours, allowing you to enjoy the half-day at the hotel or on the beach.
Snorkeling and catamaran tour
This is the typical excursion in Punta Cana. It lasts about 3 hours, costs about 50-60 dollars and during the catamaran ride they take you to the coral reef area to snorkel and enjoy the underwater world.
Parasailing & snorkeling
This excursion is similar to the previous one, as it includes the catamaran ride and snorkeling, but paying an extra you will also have a 10 minute parasailing flight.
It will be your chance to see the incredible views of Punta Cana and its beaches from above.
Cooking classes
Whenever we go to a new country, we always find it a fun idea to take a food tour or an excursion where they teach us how to cook typical local recipes.
In Punta Cana there are two activities that are worthwhile, and depending on which day of the week you want to do it, the recipe you will be taught will be different:
Adventure and Zip Line Activities
If you are traveling with children or teenagers, who often get bored of too much beach, there are some adventure excursions that can be an excellent option to spend a few hours and let the kids have fun (although I must admit that adults also have a great time!).
Here are the two options I know of:
- Bavaro Adventure Park: this park has zip lines, paintball, segway, and you choose at the time of booking if you want to do 3, 5 or 15 activities. You can book the entrance fee with transfers included here.
- Ziplines in the jungle: a super fun tour on 12 ziplines, one of the longest in the Caribbean, which even goes over a river. Can be booked from here with transfers included.
Punta Cana fishing trip
If you enjoy fishing, this 4-hour excursion will teach you local fishing techniques for about $120.
Buggy tour through beaches, plantations and cenotes.
This is a very fun activity to do. You will be able to drive a buggy through the Macao area (a wilder beach in Punta Cana) and among cocoa plantations, and then you will visit a cenote, which is a natural fresh water pool, fed by subway rivers (they are very common in the Riviera Maya, Mexico).
For safety reasons, pregnant women and children under 5 years old are not allowed on this excursion.
Be careful what clothes to wear, because you could end up with a lot of mud!
A similar excursion can be done by quad or ATV, here you can see the details.
Any of these excursions can also be complemented with a catamaran trip along Bibijagua beach. You can book it from here.
Punta Cana nightclubs: tours and tickets
Would you like to discover the Dominican nightlife?
You can choose to buy just the ticket to the discotheques, or you can also hire a party bus tour (with drinks, music, etc) that takes you to a couple of them.
- Party Bus: 5-hour tour that includes the bus and entrance to two discos, usually with open bar. It costs about $90. Book it here.
- Coco Bongo: from this link you can book the entrance to the famous Coco Bongo nightclub with transfers and open bar of national drinks included.
Why choose these Punta Cana excursions?
- No need to worry about transportation: they pick you up at your accommodation in Punta Cana and return you there.
- In most cases children under 11 years old pay half the total price, and children under 2, 3, 4 or 5 years old (depending on the activity) can do it for free.
- Flexibility: All of them usually have free cancellation up to 24 or 48 hours before.
How much do Punta Cana excursions cost?
The costs are very varied, depending on whether it is a full day or half day excursion. It also depends on the age of the person going (as we said before, minors pay less or not at all).
Also, it is not the same if lunch and/or drinks are included or not in an activity, for example.
In general, excursions in Punta Cana and surroundings, which are usually half-day excursions, cost between US$15 and US$120 (fishing is usually the most expensive) and full-day tours to more distant destinations cost between US$70 and US$150.
My favorite tours
Among the 12 best Punta Cana excursions we have mentioned, if I have to choose the ones I like the most and I think they are a must if we are looking for a complete trip, “with a little bit of everything”, they would be:
(I do not include Samana, a destination I love, for the reasons I explained before that I prefer to stay there for a few days).
With these excursions in Punta Cana you are guaranteed to have a complete idea of the best landscapes and activities in the area, without forgetting the adventure and adrenaline.
In case you are an senior visitor or have some kind of difficulty (or even suffer from vertigo, like me), I recommend the first two.
