Saona Island

Saona is a low, palm-covered island off the southeast coast of the Dominican Republic, and the day trip out to it is the most-booked excursion from Punta Cana. It is a long day: pickup is usually between 7 and 8 a.m., it is about an hour by road to the departure point near Bayahíbe, and you are back roughly ten hours later. The classic format is a speedboat out and a slower catamaran back with music and an open bar, with a stop at the Natural Pool — a waist-deep sandbar in the open sea where starfish rest on the white sand. On the island you get a few hours of warm, shallow water, palm shade and a Dominican buffet lunch. Two things worth knowing about photographs here: the light is softest in the morning, before the midday sun goes hard, and the starfish stay in the water — lifting one out for a picture can harm it, so the shot gets framed around it instead. Our photographers ride the boats with you and shoot the whole day, from the beach arrival to the low light on the catamaran home.