Catamaran & Snorkeling in Cap Cana : Punta Cana

The one thing we did this year outside of the resort was going on a Catamaran & Snorkeling trip in Cap Cana. The one thing I wanted to do this year, was go out on the water. Last year's efforts to do so in Mexico were unsuccessful. It ended up being a fantastic choice of all the on the water things we could have done. We ended up in a smaller than normal group with a bunch of people that worked for the travel agency, which was probably a good thing.

We got picked up and taken out to Cap Cana, which is a gated community type area with crazy expensive condos. They started building it at the height of the market around 2004/2005 (?) and construction mostly halted when everything crashed. So, half of this place is done and looking fantastic and the other half looks like an abandoned construction zone. It was fairly busy and looked like construction was picking back up but it was so strange to see.

First, we just sailed up the shore a ways and then came back about half way. Only Bill, myself and one other couple actually went snorkeling. I was not too thrilled about it after snorkeling in a cave last year and learning that I was in fact claustrophobic. The lady of the other couple got out right away and so it was just Bill, another guy, me, and two guides. After about 10 minutes, I finally stopped hyperventilating and became more normal. We saw tons of stuff.... fish, coral, crabs, sea urchins. So many sea urchins.

After that, we got to eat and drink. They sailed further back from where we came from and we went swimming with a floating bar. The swimming didn't last too long because the air was cool and windy.

Additionally, we had an awesome main guide. I cannot remember her name, but she was originally from Germany. She moved to the Dominican Republic to be a SCUBA instructor, but ended up doing what she's doing now because she needed some time out of the water. She's a great example of making moving to another country work.

Overall, this side trip was fantastic and I would definitely recommend it. I would even do the same trip again because the people were so great and it was a nice, relaxing day.