Cayo Levantado (Bacardi Island) Complete Guide
Cayo Levantado, often called Bacardi Island after the rum brand that once filmed an ad on its postcard beach, is the small green dot you see from Samana town. It is a 45 minute ferry crossing, a calm Caribbean swim and a guaranteed photo op that pairs well with a Los Haitises morning.
This guide covers what you actually get on the public beach, how the day trip stacks with Los Haitises and what to skip, with real ferry windows and prices.
What Cayo Levantado actually is
The island sits in the middle of Samana Bay. About two thirds of it is private resort. The remaining third is a public beach with palm trees, sun loungers, a handful of grilled fish shacks and a calm bay you can wade into for a hundred metres before it deepens.
The water is clear, shallow and warm. There is no real snorkelling at the public side, but the swimming experience is the easiest in the whole Samana region. Families with small children land here for that reason.
🪨 Book this tour: Full-Day Trip to Limon Waterfall and Bacardi Islan →
How to get there
Public ferries leave from the Samana town pier roughly every hour from 8 am to 4 pm. The crossing takes 30 to 45 minutes depending on the boat. Tickets at the pier run around 600 DOP per adult round trip.
Tour boats from Sabana de la Mar that combine Los Haitises with Cayo Levantado are the most efficient option. They sail north across the bay, do the park first and finish with two hours on the island. You skip the queue at Samana pier and save half a day of road time.
Best months and best hour to be there
The bay flattens between December and April, which doubles as humpback whale season. You will pass whale watching boats on the crossing in February. June to October is hotter and brings short afternoon showers that rarely cut the day short.
Arrive on the 8 am or 9 am ferry. Cruise ship passengers from the Samana Bay terminal start landing around 11 am, so the public beach is at its calmest in the first two hours. By 1 pm the beach gets busy and the shade under the palm row fills up.
What to bring, what to skip
Bring cash for grilled snapper, water, your own towel and reef safe sunscreen. The fish shacks accept pesos. Plates run 700 to 1,200 DOP for a full meal. Bring water shoes if you have them, since the shallow shelf has a few sharp coral chunks near the south end.
Skip the parasailing offers. The boats are not insured to the same standard you would expect at a Punta Cana resort, and the ride is short for the price. The same goes for jet ski rentals at the pier.
Where it fits in your trip
A boat tour that does Los Haitises in the morning and lands at Cayo Levantado at 1 pm gives you the best version of both. You see the park while the bay is still glassy and finish at a calm swim spot when the air is hottest.
Half day options that only visit Cayo Levantado make sense if you are based in Samana town with kids who need a relaxed beach day. From Punta Cana the road time alone makes the standalone trip a hard sell, so go for the Los Haitises plus Cayo combo instead.
Cayo Levantado is a side stop, not a destination. As an extension of a Los Haitises morning it adds a calm Caribbean swim with very low logistics. As a stand alone day it is a long ride for a small beach. Book the combo, take the 8 am ferry or the first tour boat and you get the best of both with one transfer.
Ready to plan? Browse our Cayo Levantado (Bacardi Island) tours.