Dominican Republic Countryside Safari Tour from Punta Cana

Terrible DR Country Side excursion and the worst tour guide that I have ever met.

On August 24, 2026; my wife and I took the country side tour with this company, which started very nice, they picked us up at our resort in an air conditioned mini bus and took us to the meeting point to transfer to the safari transport. The meeting point was 15 minutes away and everything started smooth and the mini bus driver told us that upon returning form the tour we will be transported back in a similar mini bus to our hotel. The first stop at a coffee and cacao farm was really nice and we enjoyed it very much. From there, it started to go south, our tour guide started to ignore our questions and request all in favor of giving more attention to a group of German tourists (he spoke fluent German and thought very highly of himself, because he spoke 4 languages, I guess a rarity in the DR). The rest of the tour through the town of Higuey was not as expected, very dirty town, nothing to really see, except a short stop at a church.The next stop to eat lunch was good, again the tour guide ignore my wife's request to get a cold coconut from a nearby stand, however; the lunch was surprisingly very good. From there we departed to go horse backriding(if it can be called that). This was a 10 minute ride around the small perimeter of country side farm houses, which basically the horses knew their way around without the need for the rider to guide them, not enjoyable at all. We were then rushed to the public beach at Macao, which really was a nice beach but to get there you have to go through a path littered with garbage on both sides, which is a shame because there is a manglar area which is vital to the ecosystem and it is choked off and dying, the resort beach was definetely better than this. We are now taken to our meeting point to head back to the resort and a few of the passengers were loaded into their mini buses and some of us were told that we will be taken back to our resort in the safari truck.T his truck was great for the country side but not city driving and when I requested to be dropped of first, we were told that we had to follow their route, so insead of being a 15 minute ride back to the resort it was an additional hour after the truck went to the furthest resorts first only to turn around and drop us off. On our way back, with just my wife and I in the truck, the tour guide flagged down a minibus from th same company and requested that driver to wait for him at the next light so that he could get on board ride home in comfort while leaving us in the back of the truck by ourselves. When we arrived at the resort , the driver was very apologetic and he confessed that the company did not organized the return adequately and that all tourist should have been transferred back to their respective resorts in mini buses and not a safari truck. also, the tour guide baling on us for his convinience of taking a ride home was also a violation of company policies. He should have stayed in the truck until we arrived at the resort. Needless, to say that , I also filed a complain with the tour company inside the resort that I booked the trip with. From my perspective, I will never use this company again, however, I will return to the Dominican Republic as the resort staff was outstanding and so was the complete experience.

Response from the operator: Dear Guest, Thank you for taking the time to share your detailed feedback with us. We sincerely regret that your experience did not meet the standards we strive to provide. We take your comments regarding the transportation arrangements, the guide’s conduct, and the organization of the tour very seriously. We would like to investigate what happened and review the situation with the team involved. To assist us with our investigation, we kindly ask you to send us any additional information you may have to contact@runnersadventures.com, including the name of the tour guide, the date of the excursion, your reservation or booking number, and the name of the company or agency through which you booked the excursion. This information will help us identify your booking and review the circumstances of your experience in detail. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate you bringing this matter to our attention. We look forward to receiving the requested information so we can investigate accordingly.

via Tripadvisor

Dominican Experience was fantastic!

Our tour guide “Sexy Papi #6” was very wonderful! He was energetic and was able to tell us all about the culture and lifestyle of the Dominic Republic, coffee making, cigar making and even the wildlife around the plantation of Marias House. He was very knowledgeable and would recommend him as a guide.

via Tripadvisor

The Dominican with Sexy Poppi

It was really a great experience, our tour guide, “sexy puppy #6” made the trip extraordinary. His in-depth knowledge of Dominican culture, coffee, making and chocolate production and cigar making was great. Excellent energy

via Tripadvisor

Unprofessional, confusing

They did not contact me prior to verify when pickup time is. Very unprofessional and non communicative. Would not book with them again.

Response from the operator: Dear Customer, Thank you for sharing your feedback. We are sorry to hear about your experience and would like to clarify what happened after reviewing the details of your reservation. According to our investigation, when you made your reservation through Viator, a confirmation was sent to you with the scheduled pickup time. It is possible that this information was not reviewed or seen. Additionally, one of our agents contacted you when our bus was already waiting in your hotel lobby. The driver and our team waited several additional minutes beyond the scheduled pickup time, but unfortunately, you did not come to the designated meeting point. We completely understand that unexpected situations can occur; however, our tours involve other guests whose scheduled times we must also respect. For this reason, we are unable to delay the departure indefinitely. We also confirmed with the assistance of one of our agents that you were able to reschedule your excursion for another date. We hope you were able to enjoy the experience on the new date and appreciate your understanding.

via Viator

Seeing the sites.

It was a great experience. Everything was included in the price. Pickup at 745 returned at 4pm, 8 hours total. Friendly passengers, laidback atmosphere. Only 16 people onboard so comfortable seating. Poppy 6 and driver were excellent with a disability they helped me in and out of the carrier. Poppy explained everything in several languages so everyone could know what was happening. A open carrier, a little more walking than expected and beware of the bumpy roads. ☀️

via Tripadvisor