Saona
Where the Atlantic and the Caribbean go head to head, lies the incarnation of the tropical island idyll. Its curves of white sand fringed by swaying palm trees, green against the azure sea, combine in a single image celebrated by millions of Europeans as the setting for the Bounty (chocolate) Bar TV commercial. Saona is the notion of paradise made manifest – and it looks even better than on film. Photo by: DiFo&Natura
There are just two tiny settlements on the 25 km by 5 km island. Punta Gorda and the picturesque fishing village of Mano Juan are sleepy relics of the trading stations established after 1493 by Colombus, who bullied the Taino chieftain Cotubanama into an unequal partnership. Cotubanama’s descendants now appear to be exacting an exquisite revenge. After centuries of subsistence fishing, in just ten years they have become unofficial beach-masters to the fleet of speedboats and catamarans that each day bring over hundreds of day-trippers from every major resort on the mainland. Photo by: axeman3d
Saona is part of a National Park and Marine Reserve with no amenities except in the tiny, restricted areas allotted to each resort group – where the islanders ply the by now run-happy tourists with trinkets, curios, ‘personalized’ photos or video clips and ‘massages’ to the thumping beats of a beach boom-box. Photo by: axeman3d
You can walk away along equally fabulous but empty beaches, to lagoons full of flamingos and mangroves striped by pelicans, red-footed boobies, and Hispaniolan lizard-cuckoos and parrots. You can snorkel or dive among giant sponges and teeming fish on the reefs where manatees float in languor and dolphins somersault. The serenity of wonderland is still there – if you want to find it. Photo by: chiri_dr
When to go: November to June. Population: 300 (2007). How to get there: By catamaran or speedboat from the beach at Bayahibe or Dominicus on the mainland. Most of the boats are pre-booked to resort groups, but there are some independent excursion sellers. Photo by: dmguz
Photo by: Pisces With Camera
