After spending the first couple days hanging around the pools and beaches of the Bavaro, the crew loaded into a van and drove to the south east corner of the island. The plan was to take a motorboat out to Saona Island and have a Caribbean cookout on the beach, then slowly cruise back to the mainland on a Catamaran.

Saona Island is beautiful – the scenery reminds me of the posters on my wall, the ones that inspire me every day when I wake up. The smells of grilled chicken, fish, and beef were passing by with the breeze, and I couldn’t take my eyes off the water, that damn blue water.

We gathered around picnic tables and conversed, played beach volleyball, and drank cold beer in the sun (Presidente). After the food, which was really good (and included in the excursion), I took a walk down the beach to get away a little bit. I ended up in a marshy area with thorns in my feet, cracking a coconut over a broken palm stump.

I saw a stray donkey, too, just sort of hanging out fifty yards from the beach. I didn’t expect that – and you should have heard the birds, crying out like monkeys in a jungle. I wonder if my presence was the reason for all the chatter.

I made it back to “camp” as the dingy was coming ashore. The Cat was about a hundred yards out in the water, the sails still down at this point. It’s a “party” boat, so the crew will entertain and encourage dancing, but it was not over the top and it was not aggressive. They left me alone when I said I wanted to kick back, and I sat in the front of the boat – either in the meshing of the Cat or with my feet over the side, calmed by the sounds of the water under the boat and the clouds in the sky. Slow breaths (in between sips of rum) put me in a tranquil state – there’s just something about sailboat scenery.

After the rum, I tried Brahma Beer – the first beer I’ve been offered in the DR that wasn’t Presidente. It’s Brazilian and had more flavor and more alcohol – good things – and I would have chosen it over Presidente if it was offered at the resort. It might be tough to find (you can check BevMo or Total Wine), but if you see it, give it a go.

I’ll have photos from the Cat later – I didn’t touch my camera once aboard, so I’ll have to wait to grab them from the others.

Unfortunately, unless you’ve got a boat or gills, you’ve got no choice but to access it via excursion, which means you’ll have to shell out $100/per person (includes food and booze, book through your hotel).

Check out the photos: