Lifejackets are a must, as the ride goes beyond Sosua bay and into open sea on the beautiful coastal scenery of Sosua and Alicia beach. The Banana boat ride is family friendly, suitable for ages 10 or older. There is also a donut boat ride for 1-4 people, operated by the same provider. This tour can be booked with Correa at +1 (849) 248-3116.

The Sosua banana boat tour is available from 8am to 6pm, departing from the East or West side of the beach. You can prebook and have it ready on any day of the week, except on Easter Weekend when boating restrictions are in place in Sosua Beach due to the massive influx of travelers that particular weekend.

You can also book the powered snorkel tour with Correa Water Sports.

Recommended Tour: Puerto Plata Catamaran.

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On Video: Fishing in Sosua

There are several fishing yachts available, all equipped with crew, bait, fishing gear, GPS, radio and other navigation equipment. The tours have a schedule of 8am-1 and 1-5pm, although in some cases if a large specimen is on the line that might alter the schedule 30-60 minutes. For more information contact 1-561-430-2021 or visit the fishing tour page.

P.D. some endangered species such as the billfish (Marlin, Sailfish) and also the Goliath Grouper and Caribbean Parrotfish should be treated under the catch and release term. They’re great for sports fishing and photo ops, and releasing them ensures a healthy supply for the sport.

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A Sosua private catamaran charter, sailing in an exotic Belize 43 by Fountaine Pajot, a great introduction to the world of double hulled boats. Featuring 4 cabins and 3 bathrooms set in each corner of the hulls for maximum privacy, with plenty of interior space (980 sq ft).

The catamaran has 13m in length, and 7m beam width. The interior living area has plenty of lounge seating with dining table and 180-degree sofa; a kitchen conveniently close so anyone can cook to entertain friends or just grab a drink from the nearby bar zone.

Photo Gallery

Sosua Yachting Experience

The areas around Sosua Beach provide excellent, crystal clear waters with reefs swarming with tropical fish where passengers can jump into, swim and interact within the Caribbean underwater environment. Sosua yacht parties make great use of the double hulled, wider deck of a catamaran, and the onboard stereo equipment ensures the party music is on full time from start to end.

Floor plan of the catamaran

Sosua Catamaran Charters

The all-inclusive charters depart from Sosua Beach every day with three available shifts: 9am, 1pm or 5pm for a 4-hour tour; fully crewed and include drinks, food, music, snorkel gear and support staff. The cost of this catamaran is US$1100.00 for 1-15 people, quite affordable by today’s standards. To book it visit the Sosua Catamaran page and use the booking form.

Sosua Yacht Party

More catamarans can be booked for a larger party of friends, for as many as 100 guests in the ultimate Sosua yacht party. See the full selection of yachts in the website and have them all sailing side by side and make stops around the beaches and snorkel reefs of the North Coast of Puerto Plata.

Aerial view of the Belize 43 Catamaran

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The Casa Marina beach in Sosua is the third one past the main beach and Alicia beach, nested in a small cove where the beach resort with the same name is located. It stretches to about 131 meters (429 ft) and has the Sosua By the Sea Resort to the East, and Casa Marina Resort areas to its West. It is fairly easy to reach from anywhere in El Batey. This beach can get deep only a few feet into the waterline, so we recommend it for good swimmers.

Photo Gallery

A Resort Beach

The Casa Marina beach has no vendors, and is used mainly by the resort guests staying at the hotel. This makes it less attractive to those that expect services available such as drinks, food, tours, etc; It is worth a visit if you are doing some hopping just to get to know all the local beaches. Right next to it we find the Imbert Beach, which eroded and was recovered by building a jetty.

On Video

See also:

• Sosua Beach
• Alicia Beach

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Sosua catamaran cruise is one of the top 5  tour experiences when visiting the Puerto Plata region, departing from Sosua Beach where snorkeling, parties and yacht tours are common everyday as the number of visitors grows with each year. Nautical activities include yacht party, sailing, banana boats, diving, snorkeling and more recently, Dominican catamaran weddings.

A private catamaran cruise in Sosua is an exciting tour.

Private Catamaran

Private catamaran charters are in demand these days, and sometimes it takes booking a few months ahead to secure a specific, special date. There are only 2 catamarans in Sosua, no wonder why.  One is a Lagoon 52 and the second one is a Privilege 52 custom design.

The only difference among the two is the number of bedrooms, the Lagoon has 2 and the Privilege 52 has 4; and the fact that one is a motor yacht with sailing capabilities, the other only motor powered. We love Lagoon models, specially the dual powered ones. The lagoon includes a flybridge, great for the vistas.

On Video:

Privilege 52: Sleek design, Spacious Interiors

The catamaran featured here today is the Privilege 52 custom model, which is a wide body sailing yacht with double hull, very spacious salon, full kitchen, console, 4 berth cabins, 4 bathrooms, and a flat, no flybridge sleek design that truly makes a 360-degree view as a true cat should be.

The interior feels like a sailing yacht more than an actual catamaran, with its great layout distribution. It is pristine inside, and the berth cabins can do the job for someone who wants to take a quick nap or escape from the group for a minute, with air conditioning and ventilation hatch.

Sosua Sailing and Snorkeling

The scenic beauty of the North Atlantic coast of the island provides great reef interaction for tourists, finding an interesting group of marine species such as the Sergeant Major, found in shallow waters in Sosua Bay, also in deeper reefs. Yellow tail Snapper is also a species you can see when snorkeling in Sosua. Also Sea Horses, Tangs, Chromis, Squirrel Fish, Angel Fish, Parrot Fish and other interesting species. See them all at the Sosua marine life page.

Tour Information:

The Sosua catamaran cruise is available 3 times a day from 9am-1pm, 1-5pm and 5-9pm for sunset cruises; the 4 hr private charter cost is US$1,350.00 for groups of 1-20 people; extra guests cost $25/person, and max capacity is 25 people. Departure is from Sosua Beach, guests get to board a Yamaha outboard fast boat to ferry them to the catamaran docked in the Sosua Bay.

Hit the button above  to visit the Sosua Catamaran page for the full selection of yachts, booking information and availability.

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Sosua party boats bring together friends and family into one of the most entertaining activities at sea, sailing along the beautiful landscape of the North Dominican Republic regions inside Puerto Plata. The party boats depart from Sosua Bay, fully crewed with capacity for up to 40 people in most cases.

One of the largest party boats in Sosua, 62 feet long.

Among the fleet there are Viking yachts, Hatteras, Bertram; also the double hull catamarans such as Lagoon 52 and Privilege; and larger yachts like the Ocean Yachts brand. Operators offer 3 schedules starting early in the morning, 8:00 or 9:00am; also 1-5 or 5-9 for sunset/night parties. The button below takes you to the Golden Key Management list of party boats:

ON VIDEO:

Every boat included in this page is equipped with stereo system, skipper, captain, full kitchen, BBQ, snorkel gear and WiFi access to play music from the Youtube, Spotify and other online music sources. Guests will be distributed among the rear deck, bow, salon, and flybridge lounges.

The Viking yacht is a favorite party boat.

All the Sosua boats include Presidente, the best Dominican beer.

Catamarans are also top choice when selecting party boats,  due to their wider body, larger capacity and large number of interior rooms and bathrooms. Catamarans are also more stable than standard boats (monohull yachts) as the twin hulls add stability if the sea is rocking the boat.

The catamaran offers the ultimate party boat amenities.

Onboard Party DJ

Private charter agencies such as Sosua Catamaran are now offering onboard international DJ service, complete with deck, monitor speakers and millions of songs in the database. Birthday parties in a Sosua yacht now can be as posh as those happening in Ibiza or Miami, any given day.

Onboard Chef Service

Every party needs food, to keep up with the drinking, and specially under the Caribbean sun and salty ocean condition. The private party boats include standard servings that can be complemented with chef services that extend the party food into a higher experience – provided by Sosua Chef.

Onboard chef takes the party to a new level

Boat Party Decor

Birthday parties in the boats also can order decoration services for the interior salon, deck, or the entire boats. Weddings and vow renewals also take advantage of these services which can extend to full planning when adding photography and venue-related items offered by Sosua Events.

Party decoration for boats are also offered.

Sosua party boats can be booked online, get ready to fill an online form with the number of guests, date and time of the charter, and preference of yacht or catamaran for your event. Once per week one of the bookings is given a free yacht party drone photo shoot, you might be the lucky one, ask the agent about it.

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This beautiful waterway is born up in  Bella Vista, where it falls and pools in a beautiful natural landscape where locals gather every weekend; snaking its way between Maranatha and Sosua Abajo to finally mingle with the Atlantic Ocean at El Tablon beach.

Backtracking our steps, we drove to the gorgeous natural scenery of Los Pescadores beach (El Tablon) where the river meets the beach, and decided to shoot a video for an article we wrote about a year ago on the Sosua fishermen. After talking a local fisherman into hiring his boat to shoot some scenes, we found out we could sail in the river, and voilá, we raised the offer to include a motorized river tour.

Photo Gallery: Sosua River

The Sosua Fishermen Village

The river end on the beach has a sandy beach, cleaned by the local fishermen who operate a fish cleaning station and a fresh fish store where anyone can buy the catch of the day (fishermen arrive around 11am). Here there are boats sitting by the shore, some coming and going in hopes of catching the big fish that land bigger financial rewards.

The beach at El Tablon is like a small bay, with towering walls on the East side; squatters long ago created a small barrio called La Piedra (the rock) which could be considered the lowest income neighborhood in Sosua- yet it looks so naturally beautiful as the vines hang down from above as those hanging rocks in the Avatar film. Magnificent Frigate birds fly low looking for fish, and ducks swim carelessly around.

Rail bird with red beak

The first leg of the tour was great, the river is dead calm and the gorgeous greenery around it is home to several bird species such as Rails, Herons, ground doves, etc; also turtles and small fish seen by the shores. As we advanced, the beauty of local Ceiba trees was mesmerizing, the way the roots grow in perfect balance.

On Video:

The Human Factor: Trash in the rivers

The Sosua river feels great for the first 300 meters as it is pristine private land, undeveloped; further on we started to find a lot of trash, some hanging higher than usual as the river swells and then recedes back down, leaving plastic everywhere. Large, fallen tree trunks carried by the river had to be avoided along the way, also another concern.

The deeper we sailed the more concerned we became of finding a way to fix this issue. The fisherman manning the boat said the trash source are the homes by the river between Sosua Abajo and Maranatha. Fixing the problem will take a big effort: to get proper handling of trash in these communities, enforce the law and raise awareness in the young and older folks about the river`s importance. We will try our best to create awareness.

This eco tour is recommended as part of the Bella Vista river, Martinico and Saltadero tour, 4 rivers worth visiting while in the North Coast. This one in particular allows the visitor to get fresh Tuna, Mahi Mahi and other interesting Caribbean fish, the fresh catch of the day direct from the fishermen.

How to Get There:

Finding Sosua river is easy, just take the main highway 5 and turn into Charamicos, then turn left into El Tablon where a young forest road leads down to the Fishermen village. There are many fishermen that would do the tour for about US$50; The location is great for photography and the fishermen are great people.

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We drove up the road through farmland deep into a region called Madre Vieja, where small villages welcome the visitor with a few sparsely scattered spots to get a refreshment or food. Cows and horses are the main stock, also chicken, gobblers and pigs. The natural landscape of this area offers mountain vistas like no other place, and there is electricity for as far as we could drive. Phone signal died halfway, so satellite would be the only choice.

Martinico River Photo Gallery

When we reached the Martinico a nice woman selling snacks welcomed us and helped us set up camp to fix our sandwiches and drinks; she has mamajuana bottles, beer and lays for sale. There is also a sort of cafeteria restaurant next to the river where ATV tours stop for a more varied menu.

The Martinico is beautiful, it has a blue/green hue and sits surrounded by tall, mature trees with plenty of lush green plants around it, quite favored by nature. There are decent sized fish in its waters, meaning it is not polluted. The depth varies from 1 foot to about 25 feet; swimmers can jump from a higher ground.

Saltadero River Photo Gallery

To reach the Saltadero we drove about 25 more minutes, taking the first right past Martinico river, then another right turn until we found the first left and drove forward towards a river bank past a new eco village project being built nearby and a great looking farm you can`t miss.

At the river bank you need to drive through a creek with pebble stones, any SUV can do it. Then drive about 300 meters until you find a steep where the wooden staircase leads down to the Saltadero waterfall.

This tour requires climbing down a long staircase made of branch wood, easy to go down but tiresome for the physically unfit when coming back up. The view past the Gazebo reveals a hidden treasure of the North Dominican Republic: A waterfall guarding a natural pool in the middle of pristine lands, hidden from civilization. We can only imagine what Taino people worshiped here.

On Video:

The Hydroelectric Dam

Just 7 minutes past Martinico we were told about another great spot for photos, the dam over the Yasica. This is a concrete dam 40 m high with a regulated flow of 12.2 m3/sec and a total reservoir volume of 105 MMC. The contribution area of the dam site is 197 km2.

The hydroelectric project has two turbines at the foot of the dam with a combined power of 14,000 KW and an annual generation of 31 million KW. The area to be irrigated is approximately 4,000 ha (63,600 acres) which is served by a counter reservoir located downstream of the dam.

The reservoir also supplies drinking water to Sabaneta de Yásica, Sosua, Puerto Plata; also controls flooding on the upper Jamao highway and the lower area of the river. This is the reason it is forbidden to use it as a personal pool, we could only take photos and enjoy the sightseeing.

The hydroelectric dam over the Yasica river

The dam is a great visit between the Martinico Saltadero rivers, please follow the local rules and do not leave anything behind when visiting this area as it is the main water supply, there are guards there to make sure nobody breaks the rules. This tour to Martinico Saltadero rivers can also be done with ATVs, available in Sosua via several concierge and tour operators including the Sosua Villa Rentals concierge service.

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High Occupancy in the Dominican Republic

The Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic (Asonahores) reported that for the period of Easter 2022 the average hotel occupancy rate is 74.6%, figures almost similar to the years prior to the pandemic.

Rafael Blanco Tejera, president of Asonahores, said that the tourism industry continues to grow remarkably, showing results with solid numbers from a recovery process that has been the product of the joint effort developed with the authorities.

“The tourism sector will continue to strengthen its operations to increase the response capacity demanded by the number of visitors we receive each season and continue to contribute to the economy and the chain of productive sectors,” said Blanco Tejera.

The destinations that are leading occupancy are Punta Cana and La Romana/Bayahibe, each with 88.2% occupancy. Samaná continues with 79%, Boca Chica and Juan Dolio with 71%, Puerto Plata with 66.3% and Sosúa/Cabarete with 55%.

Asonahores specified that it will continue to promote initiatives that allow expanding opportunities for expansion and investment in the Dominican tourism product in order to increase the number of tourists who visit the country.

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