Bird Island
Pelicans and frigatebirds.
Jason Boldero — CC BY 2.0 · Anton Bielousov — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Anton Bielousov — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Anton Bielousov — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Liné1 — CC BY-SA 3.0
A national park on the remote north-east coast, founded in 1976, protecting a remarkable limestone plateau of tightly packed green conical hills rising from the sea and mangroves like small islands, with sinkholes, caves and streams between them and dense wet forest receiving some two thousand millimetres of rain a year. Visitors arrive by boat across Samaná Bay, passing small rocky islets where pelicans and frigatebirds nest, among them Bird Island, before entering quiet mangrove channels with tangled roots over the water. Caves open in the plateau walls, such as the Cueva de la Línea and San Gabriel cave, with Taíno pictographs and petroglyphs of faces, animals and canoes. Rare birds found only on the island live in the park. Trips take half a day from Samaná, Sánchez or Sabana de la Mar and are sometimes combined with Cayo Levantado. Use licensed operators; sea trips are cancelled in rough weather, and the hurricane season runs from June to November.
Pelicans and frigatebirds.
Taíno art.
Quiet channels.
South shore of Samaná Bay, by boat from Samaná
On a half-day boat trip from Samaná, Sánchez or Sabana de la Mar with a licensed operator.