Island & sandbar · Bayahibe
Saona natural pool: the sandbar stop, and how to do it properly
The natural pool is a shallow sandbar in open water between the mainland and Saona.
- The activity
- La Palmilla, a shallow sandbar 200 to 300 metres off the beach line in open sea, knee to waist deep, where the boats anchor between the mainland and Saona Island.
- Location
- Off the southeast coast inside Cotubanama National Park, reached from Bayahibe.
- Duration
- A full day combined with beach time on Saona: around ten hours door to door from Punta Cana.
- Best time to arrive
- On the early departure. The sandbar is quietest before the catamarans reach it, and the water is at its clearest.
- Admission cost
- From about $64 to $80 including boat, lunch, open bar and the park fee, on the same tours that visit Saona itself.
- The starfish
- Cushion starfish live on the sandbar and are protected. Taking them out of the water kills them and operators explicitly forbid it: look, do not lift.
- Depth
- Varies with tide. At low water it is waist deep; at high water closer to chest height.
What to expect
The natural pool is the moment people book the trip for: the boat cuts its engine kilometres from any land and you step out into warm, waist-deep water over white sand. On a clear day the effect is genuinely striking.
It is also the busiest point of the day, because every operator uses roughly the same window, and on a shared boat the stop can be as short as ten to fifteen minutes. The trips that work best are those that reach the sandbar early or late, when a handful of boats are anchored rather than twenty.
The honest takeaway
The sandbar is almost universally enjoyed; the crowding and the handling of the starfish are the recurring criticisms.
What visitors praise
- A genuine novelty. Standing in shallow water far offshore is unlike anything else on the coast.
- Warm, calm and safe. Suitable for non-swimmers and children with supervision.
- Combined with Saona. Beach time and sandbar in one day.
- Good inclusive pricing. Lunch, drinks and park fees usually covered.
What visitors find difficult
- Very busy at midday. Boats converge on the same spot at the same hour.
- Starfish handling. Despite the rules, some operators still allow it. Do not participate.
- Loud boats. The party format dominates most departures.
- Short stop. On a large shared catamaran the time at the sandbar can be ten to fifteen minutes before the anchor comes up.
Drawn from the recurring themes in public visitor reviews of the activity and the tours that reach it. We do not reproduce individual reviews or aggregate scores; for current ratings, check Viator or another booking platform directly.
Getting there
Departures are from Bayahibe, twenty minutes from La Romana and about an hour from Punta Cana by road. Tours from Punta Cana include the transfer and pick up between 7 and 8am.
Smaller operators and private boats leave from the same beach and can time the sandbar stop to avoid the main fleet.
How to make the most of the day
- 1Book a small-boat or private trip. The sandbar with three boats is a different place from the sandbar with twenty.
- 2Ask about the timing of the pool stop. Early or late is what you want.
- 3Never lift a starfish from the water. It kills them, and it is prohibited in the national park.
- 4Bring water shoes. The sand is soft but shells and sea urchins occur at the edges.
- 5Skip the photo package unless you have seen samples. Operators charge $100 to $200 for tour photos, and reviewers often find few images of their own group.
A little more background
The sandbar sits on a shallow bank between the mainland and Saona, inside the Parque Nacional del Este. The cushion starfish that live on it can take several years to reach full size, and lifting them out of the water suffocates them, which is why the practice is now formally prohibited.
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