Dominican Republic with kids: Power snorkeling at Sosua Beach

During our Fathom cruise in the Dominican Republic, we knew we wanted to both visit a local beach and take a snorkeling trip. We were able to do both during a power snorkeling trip with Wild Play Adventures.

snorkeling-at-sosoa

Usually, we opt to skip official cruise excursions in favor of booking privately. You get a more personalized experience, usually for less. However, in the case of our DR trip, the official excursion was the only snorkeling trip to fit our tight schedule. While there were a lot of people on our trip (at least 25), we still had a great experience, due primarily to the beautiful location and abundance of saline.

power-snorkel

Wild Play Adventures picked us up in an air conditioned bus directly from our port at Amber Cove, and drove us 50 minutes to Sosua, a beach town outside of the city of Puerto Plata. The beach at Sosua is gorgeous, and the little town hugging the shoreline is made up of a hodge podge of shops, restaurants, beach bars, and dive shops. It’s a little rough around the edges, and certainly far more local than touristy, and we wished we had more time to explore. Certainly, we’d like to return to Sosua on a return trip to the DR.

snorkel-dominican-republic

We checked into Wild Play’s snorkel center right on the sand, and were given lockers to store our belongings. We were issued fins, snorkels, and masks, and were brought onto the snorkel boat (which came right up to the shore) within minutes. I loved how quickly we were out on the water.

We rode in the boat to two nearby snorkel locations, jumping into the water to explore both. Since this was a ‘power snorkel’ trip, we were issued power snorkel machines, which have propellers that allow you to move more quickly through the water. These machines looked more intimidating than they actually were…the snorkel staff handed them to you in the water once you were already floating, so they were easy to manage. The kids enjoyed using them to propel themselves further underwater, and across small currents. Using the machines was optional, and I decided to snorkel once with one, once without.

wild-play-dr

We saw a wide variety of tropical fish, jellyfish, and coral in both locations…more than we even saw in Hawaii. I do wish our group had been smaller in number, so I recommend a private tour if and when possible. However, the big group was more manageable than you’d think once in the water. Between snorkel locations, we were served fresh cut fruit and beverages, including water bottles and soda. The two locations were only about 10 minutes apart, but if you’re prone to seasickness, I recommend medicating ahead of time.

Cost:

As noted, our snorkel tour was an official excursion on our Fathom cruise. We paid $69 per adult (12 and up). Check the Wild Play website for current pricing and excursion options. Expect the excursion to take half a day. We left at 2 pm and returned at 6:30 pm.

snorkeling-at-sosoa-beach

Age group:

For the power snorkel option, kids had to be 10 and up. Younger kids could participate without the power assist, but trust me, they’ll want to use one. I recommend booking a non-power assist tour if you have young kids.

snorkeling-in-dominican-republic

Directions:

Wild Play picks you up from your cruise port at Amber Cove.

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