Samaná (Santa Bárbara de Samaná) is a town on the Samaná Peninsula, in the Dominican Republic. It overlooks Samaná Bay, which plays host to thousands of humpback whales during winter’s mating season. The town’s waterfront promenade, the Malecón, has restaurants and bars. In the bay, Cayo Levantado is a tiny island known for its palm-lined beaches.

We left Boquerón early in the morning and it was a fairly comfortable 26 hour motor sail to Samaná, DR. At one point we even had to slow down because we didn’t want to arrive at night. Inevitably we entered the bay in the dark. Thankfully it was very well marked and the sun slowly came up by the time we arrived at the marina.

On this passage we saw dolphins and humpback whales, so cool! Not to mention that a shark took half of our yellowfin tuna 😂.

Puerto Bahia marina was highly recommended by a friend since it had everything we needed to relax after a long sleepless passage. From an infinity pool, gym, bars, restaurants, mini market and of course laundry. Also all the authorities offices were on site to easily check in the DR. 

We were surprised by how clear the water was inside the marina, we could see sea stars, all kinds of small fish and even jellyfish. We started exploring the place/resort and found a beach full of flamingos! We also walked to town, had lunch with friends and returned by tuk-tuk. 

We successfully crossed the Mona passage and entered another country!

Cheers 🥂