Saona Island From Punta Cana
Getting to Saona from Punta Cana: a coach drives about 70 km to Bayahibe (45 to 90 minutes on the listings), then a boat. Plus La Romana and Santo Domingo.
To get to Saona Island from Punta Cana you take a day tour: a coach collects you at your hotel and drives about 70 km to Bayahibe, 45 minutes to an hour and a half on the listings checked here, and a speedboat or a catamaran crosses from there. Every Punta Cana tour on this site makes that drive. JAC Tours Punta Cana’s Catamaran to Saona Island with Food & Open Bar picks up in Bávaro, Punta Cana and Bayahibe and is from $66 a person (checked October 2026); the GetYourGuide search showed it booked 27 times on 22 October 2026.
How long the drive takes
It is about 70 km by road, and the listings give these times from the Punta Cana side:
- JAC Tours Punta Cana’s Saona day with an open bar: 35 minutes, a 15-minute stop near Higüey, then 25 minutes.
- The Saona Island Catamaran, Lunch & Open Bar day: 45 minutes from Bávaro.
- Advenza Tours’ small group of up to 20: about an hour, with a stop at a gift shop on the way home.
- Bizar Tour Operador’s Saona Island Excursion by Catamaran with Lunch: an hour and a half.
Most add a short stop at a roadside café or shop. One October guest on a Punta Cana day said that stop ran to 30 minutes and the group arrived late, so treat the timetable as approximate. The private catamaran collects between 8:00 and 8:20 am; on the group days your voucher gives the pickup time.
Lobby, gate or meeting point
The large resorts in Bávaro and Punta Cana are spread out, and pickups are not always at the door. Two listings tell guests in Cap Cana to meet at the United Petroleum gas station, and guests in private rentals in Bávaro or Punta Cana get a designated meeting point. One October guest wished the coach had come into the lobby rather than to the hotel gate. Hotels in Uvero Alto and Cabeza de Toro are on the pickup lists of the small-group and private tours.
From Bayahibe and Dominicus
Stay here and the boats are minutes away, and so are the small-group operators. Dominican Attitude Excursions meets guests at its office on Calle Roma 7 in Bayahibe, next to the public bus station. Quetzal Excursions picks up in Bayahibe and Dominicus only, and charges extra from Punta Cana, Santo Domingo or La Romana. Dominican Emotion runs its four-beach day from its office in Dominicus: ten minutes by van, then 40 minutes by speedboat.
From La Romana and the cruise port
Dominican Attitude Excursions’ AIDAperla & AIDAdiva La Romana shore excursion has a driver waiting at the taxi stand outside the port, 20 minutes by van to the boats, and the operator watches the ship’s schedule to have you back in time. It is from $145 a person (checked October 2026). For a day that adds La Romana’s 1970s replica village of Altos de Chavón, Caribbean Route Punta Cana’s Saona Island and Altos de Chavón Day Trip spends an hour there on the way from Bávaro.
From Santo Domingo, Boca Chica and Juan Dolio
La EX Tours’ Isla Saona Day Trip with Catamaran Ride leaves Parque Colón in the Zona Colonial at 6:10 am, opposite Pizzarelli, and also collects in Boca Chica and Juan Dolio. The coach takes about two and a half hours each way and the party catamaran two hours each way, with a 30-minute stop at the natural pool and three hours on the island; you are back between 7 and 8 pm. It is from $87 a person (checked October 2026), and the listing asks for patience with island time.
Pick the tour for where you are staying:
Catamaran to Saona with Food & Open Bar
Pickup in Bávaro, Punta Cana or Bayahibe, the natural pool and a buffet lunch.
Check dates →Small Group Virgin Beaches Cruise
Pickup in Bayahibe and Dominicus, quieter beaches, snorkel gear and the park fees.
See the small-group cruise →AIDA La Romana Shore Excursion
A driver at the port taxi stand and back in time for the ship.
See the shore excursion →Isla Saona Day Trip From Santo Domingo
6:10 am from Parque Colón, a party catamaran and three hours on the island.
See the day trip →Prices and review counts as listed on GetYourGuide in October 2026, not a quote.
For the boats themselves, see catamaran or speedboat.
Check dates and book
From Punta Cana to Saona, Pickup Included
JAC Tours Punta Cana collects in Bavaro, Punta Cana and Bayahibe, stops at the natural pool, gives you about three hours on Saona with a buffet lunch, and runs one leg by catamaran with an open bar. Rated 4.3 from 1,175 reviews, from $66 a person as of October 2026, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
Check Saona Tour Dates