New posts

Reply to thread

Message

Congratulations on winning your cruise!! That's exciting in itself! I can only give you a little info on Catalina Island and that is quite outdated as we were there 7 years or more ago. Catalina is a small island near La Romana, Dominican Republic. Last I heard, cruise companies pay the gov't to use it as a private beach. The beach is very nice and there is (if you are standing on the beach facing the ocean) nice coral, sea ferns, etc in the ocean along the point of land that juts out in to the ocean to the left of the beach. Very nice area to snorkle and not too far from the beach or tendering dock. Beware of the current out near the point though. It can be strong and I remember they had warning bouys near the point. There's probably more than a few vendors hawking their wares on Catalina. Swimming and snorkeling are the main features plus I'm sure that fishing and scuba excursions will depart from there as well, along with some excursions that will start at La Romana. If you see a very tall smokestack on the Dominican shore near La Romana, it's at a molasses factory. I don't know if it's still in production now but when we were there it was very stinky sweet when we were downwind from it. Sorry I don't have any other info - hopefully others will jump in and give you some more current info and ideas

<blockquote data-quote="Raven" data-source="post: 727570"><p>Congratulations on winning your cruise!!&nbsp; That's exciting in itself!&nbsp; I can only give you a little info on Catalina Island and that is quite outdated as we were there 7 years or more ago.&nbsp; &nbsp; Catalina is a small island near La Romana, Dominican Republic.&nbsp;&nbsp; Last I heard, cruise companies pay the gov't to use it as a private beach.&nbsp; The beach is very nice and there is (if you are standing on the beach facing the ocean) nice coral, sea ferns, etc in the ocean along the point of land that juts out in to the ocean to the left of the beach.&nbsp;&nbsp; Very nice area to snorkle and not too far from the beach or tendering dock.&nbsp; Beware of the current out near the point though.&nbsp; It can be strong and I remember they had warning bouys near the point.&nbsp;&nbsp; There's probably more than a few vendors hawking their wares on Catalina.&nbsp; Swimming and snorkeling are the main features plus I'm sure that fishing and scuba excursions will depart from there as well, along with some excursions that will start at La Romana.&nbsp; &nbsp; If you see a very tall smokestack on the Dominican shore near La Romana, it's at a molasses factory.&nbsp; I don't know if it's still in production now but when we were there it was very stinky sweet when we were downwind from it.&nbsp;&nbsp; Sorry I don't have any other info - hopefully others will jump in and give you some more current info and ideas <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>

[QUOTE="Raven, post: 727570"] Congratulations on winning your cruise!! That's exciting in itself! I can only give you a little info on Catalina Island and that is quite outdated as we were there 7 years or more ago. Catalina is a small island near La Romana, Dominican Republic. Last I heard, cruise companies pay the gov't to use it as a private beach. The beach is very nice and there is (if you are standing on the beach facing the ocean) nice coral, sea ferns, etc in the ocean along the point of land that juts out in to the ocean to the left of the beach. Very nice area to snorkle and not too far from the beach or tendering dock. Beware of the current out near the point though. It can be strong and I remember they had warning bouys near the point. There's probably more than a few vendors hawking their wares on Catalina. Swimming and snorkeling are the main features plus I'm sure that fishing and scuba excursions will depart from there as well, along with some excursions that will start at La Romana. If you see a very tall smokestack on the Dominican shore near La Romana, it's at a molasses factory. I don't know if it's still in production now but when we were there it was very stinky sweet when we were downwind from it. Sorry I don't have any other info - hopefully others will jump in and give you some more current info and ideas :) [/QUOTE]