Marinarium: Marine Park And Aquarium

One thing I would recommend doing when you’re out vacationing in remote areas and especially at All-Inclusive resorts is to take a look through the available excursions. Excursions can add more fun to a vacation and also allow you to do things you normally don’t get to do when you’re at home.

The first excursion we took when we were on vacation in the Dominican Republic was the Outback Safari, the second excursion we signed up for was to do some snorkeling with a company called Marinarium.

We were set to go on a Thursday afternoon to do some snorkeling. The bus was to pick us up and take us to where we needed to go. We weren’t sure if it was going to happen because we overheard that the previous day the excursion was canceled due to a rough sea. We waited 30 minutes after our pickup time when we were told that our excursion was canceled for that day due to rough sea conditions again. We weren’t sure if we were going to go because the waves at the beach were pretty big but we waited anyway, after all we did spend $160US to go!

The following day our trip advisor was at the resort so we spoke with her and the only available time that Marinarium had was on the Sunday in which our flight back to Toronto was on. We were ok because we would be back (if the sea conditions was good) in plenty of time to checkout and catch our bus to the airport.

Sunday came around and the excursion was good to go!

What is Marinarium?

Marinarium is a marine park located on the east coast of the Dominican Republic (roughly Punta Cana) and was about a 30-40 minute ride from our resort. They offer snorkeling among the Coral Sea life and as well an exclusive underwater pen which they have nursing sharks and sting rays.

The tour is aboard a large two level catamaran which offers great party-like entertainment with snacks, bottled water and of course alcohol! They don’t serve alcohol (coco locos, rum n cokes etc) until after the snorkeling.

Unfortunately Robyn’s underwater digital camera (Pentax Optio W10) charge died and we forgot to bring the charger so we were unable to take any photos of the Coral life. The underwater cameras, that would be normally available for purchase from the staff but were sold out, were also a bit expensive in the $30 US range.

The coral is pretty amazing, even if it isn’t colourful as Australia’s but the fish types and colours definitely made up for it. We tried to stay behind the group of about 50 people so that we could get more fish around us. Robyn was right to bring some bread and to have us hang back from the large group. We were surrounded by various fish and made the experience that much better. Robyn also pointed out a puffer fish which was pretty amazing. We followed it around a coral bed for a while before we were ushered by one of the staff in the water to rejoin the group.

When we got to the underwater pen where they kept the nursing sharks and stingrays it was pretty cool. The pen is a decent size and the ocean’s floor is only 15 feet away. Even with the 50 or so people snorkeling there was room to move and enjoy what was beneath the water’s surface. As some of you might know I am really interested in Sharks and being able to see nursing sharks it pretty cool even if they are docile and just lay on the bottom of the sea. Sting rays have also been pretty interesting as well and they are also part of the Shark family. These rays have had their barbs removed so they cannot harm anyone if they get accidently stepped on or annoyed.

After everyone swam back to the catamaran and got on board they started surfing snacks (bread with cheese, fruit), water and the alcohol. They brought up the anchor and set their course down along the coast.

We eventually arrived at out next spot; a natural pool. This pool (or as the staff liked to call it the “Office”) was a large area where the ocean was only 4 feet deep and off the coast by about 300 yards. We all jumped into the water and had sort of a party near the boat. Again they brought around more booze on a neat floating bar.

After 40 minutes of hanging around we got back on board and headed back up coast where they cranked up the music and got us into dancing and had a good time. You could tell the people on the beach were jealous when we went by with the music cranked and everyone dancing.

After we got back to the dock we disembarked and got back on to our bus to head back to our resort to finish packing and check out. It was definitely one of the best things we did all week.

I highly recommend checking out the Marinarium if you’re ever in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic it is worth the money and experience of snorkeling.