⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Tauro Tours made our Samaná experience truly special. Melvin’s communication was excellent—he answered questions months in advance and handled all logistics effortlessly. Our ATV tour ended up being just our family, which made it feel very personal and extremely safe. We visited Playa Rincón and another beautiful beach with a restaurant right on the water and enjoyed a relaxed, delicious lunch. He also shared the cocoa-making process from a personal, cultural perspective and made sure we had great family photos along the way. Tip: bring sunglasses for the ATV ride—there’s some dust on the road. The catamaran tour was excellent—beautiful boat, great staff, local food served onboard, and good snorkeling near Cayo Levantado (no artificial fish feeding, which I appreciated). The ride back became a lively party atmosphere, which others were clearly enjoying. We also did the zip-line tour through his company (transport provided). Arrival looked a little rugged at first, but everything was very well engineered and the experience felt completely safe. It ended with a refreshing swim at a waterfall and a peaceful eco-style exit property that was a really nice surprise. Everything felt personal, safe, and grounded in real local life. Highly recommend Tauro Tours and especially Melvin.
Best tour ever! Even tho i'm from Samana, Melvin and his team showed us the most beautifulest spots!I encourage everyone to take advantage of this well organized and knowledgeable group! He also does other tours. Communication is top! and he finds the most comfortable way to make this experience with it! Thank you MELVIN see you Next YEAR!!!!
I did 3 different tours with Melvin. Wow is all i could say!!!! My family and I had such an amazing time. If you are looking for someone knowledgeable and experienced and down to earth you are looking in the right direction! On behalf of myself and my family we would like to thank Melvin for such an amazing vacation😘😍
Definitely recommend! Melvin was super accommodating for us during our trip. We ended up doing 3 excursions with them in Samana in February. #1 Whale Watching: For this excursion, you get to go on a boat to go see humpback whales! Taurotours will you pick you up at your resort, so its super convenient. We ended up getting into the wrong van (for.a different company) but Melvin got it all figured out and we were there with lots of time to spare. We got on the boat (there is about 70 other people) and headed out to the "whale sanctuary. That's what they kept calling it, but it was just really the middle of the ocean. We saw lots of whales and baby whales. We got splashed a lot on the way out and the waves were quite big. I would suggest taking some gravel before hand even if you don't usually get sea sick.Also bring a water bottle, they supply some coke and water on the boat, but not until the way back. Also there are lots of companies doing this, so as soon as a whale is spotted, all the boats start chasing towards it, which was a bit annoying. #2 El Limon Waterfall with Horse Back Riding: We were picked up at our hotel by a Tauro tour guide name Pedro (Peter) and brought out to the falls! On the drive there, Peter told us about places we were passing and gave facts about Dominican. He was great. We stopped at a Cigar Factory on the way where we could learn about the Cocoa, tea, mama Juana(their mixtures of alcohol) and some herbs and fruit. Quite interesting. You have the chance to buy souvenirs, cigars and/or the cocoa. Then we left the factory and went to farm that that has the horses to take you to the falls. You get some boots and a helmet to ride the horses and there were two men that volunteered to bring us to the falls. Our horses looked a bit sickly compared to what you would see in Canada, and the trail was rock and mud, so it was a bit uncomfortable. We rode for about 20-25 minutes and the men ran along side of us mushing the horses and explaining some plants along the way. These men are not included in the price and the expect to be tipped on top of the price that you are already paying. Once we got to the falls, there is a souvenir shop with a guy pressuring you into buy his things. Once you pass the shop, you will have to walk down about 205 stairs (the guys counted them) to get to the falls. The falls are beautiful and its worth seeing. You have the chance to go swimming under the falls, but we didn't want to swim in the freshwater, so we chose not to. Then once you are done, you get back on the horse and head back for lunch (which is included). After lunch you drive back to your resort. Its a great experience and the tour guide was really great, but if you don't like stairs or seeing horses working hard on a hike, then its not the trip for you. ATVing & Rincon Beach(The only one we did with Melvin as the tour guide) Out of all them, I would highly suggest doing this excursion, it is a bit pricey, its our favourite. Its definitely worth it. You get to take an ATV all over Samana and through all types of terrain. Some of it is driving down the road and through the towns, but then sometimes you veer off down trails and get to see all the farms and county side. We also drove up rocky, dirt hills. On the roads, we sometimes hit 40-50km/h. It was amazing! Then mid way through you drive through a small jungle and then onto Rincon beach. Its so beautiful everywhere you look and you stop for a swim and a drink. Then after you're done, you head over to a fresh water river and swim there. Halfway in, you stop at a market and learn about cocoa, tea, and such. You get to taste a bit of everything. It made for a great day! If you are going to do these tours, make sure you factor in tipping money in to the total price. If we go back, we will definitely book with Taurotours/Melvin again! :)
We did the snorkel tour and Bacardi beach. Melvin was amazing. He really cared about us having a great time on our trip. His communication before we went was fantastic the atmosphere on the boat was super fun and he along with his boat crew took great care of us. It’s worth noting the food at Bacardi beach was more than we could eat and very good. Highly recommend him and Tauro Tours!