Puerto Plata Dune Buggy Adventure - Amber cove & Taino Bay

Dishonest operators

We booked a family dune buggy tour for 6 people, expecting a fun and safe experience, but it was extremely disappointing from start to finish. The dune buggies were poorly maintained — several had issues, including stuck pedals, and one completely broke down in the middle of the tour. This created both inconvenience and safety concerns. Basic protective gear like goggles and face coverings were not provided initially. Only after the ride became very dusty did the guide go back to get them, and even then we were told we would have to pay an additional $10, which should have been included from the start. The route itself did not match expectations. Although we stopped near the beach, we did not ride along the shore as advertised. Instead, much of the ride was through muddy areas with a strong odor and surrounded by cows, which was unpleasant. The most concerning issue occurred at the end of the tour. A guide asked for my husband’s debit card to charge for accessories and photos, but instead processed an unauthorized charge of $176. We never received any photos, and despite repeated attempts to contact the company, we have received no response. This experience felt unsafe, poorly organized, and dishonest. I strongly advise others to reconsider booking with this operator.

via Tripadvisor

Bad experience with prepaid tour driver never showed up

Booked pre paid for 11 people got up early to meet the driver. Never showed up. It was our first day So disappointing stayed on the side of the eoad for a couple hours tried to call no answer.. Such a bad experience on the first day of vacation. Was told would get a refund over thousand $ have not been refunded yet. Terrible

Response from the operator: We take all feedback very seriously, but we are obligated to correct the narrative presented in this review, as it does not reflect the reality of the events. Our team arrived punctually at the meeting point and waited for your group for over two hours. Since your group was our only scheduled excursion for that day, we remained there the entire time. During those two hours of waiting, we exhausted absolutely every possible method of contact: Phone calls: We called you multiple times, and on one of those calls, our driver even managed to speak with you directly. Direct text messages: We sent direct text messages (SMS) to your contact number advising you that we were waiting. Platform messages: We wrote to you formally through the Viator platform, also reminding you of the cancellation policy. Viator Support: We contacted Viator customer service in real-time so they could reach out to you themselves and inform you that we had been waiting for hours. Local Authorities: We notified the port authorities and Politur (Tourist Police), providing them with our guide's details in case you approached them looking for us. We have solid proof of every single one of these actions. We have taken screenshots of the text messages sent, the platform messages, the call logs from our driver, and our communications with support. All of this evidence has already been submitted and documented with Viator. You were clearly informed that by failing to appear (No-Show) and not complying with the 24-hour cancellation policy, a refund was not applicable. We are very disappointed that you did not get to experience the tour, but as an agency, we did more than humanly possible to contact you through every channel and provide the service you paid for."

via Viator

Great adventure

Carlos was a very nice driver. We did the dune buggy alone with one guide on an atv, we rode fast and did not have to wait after a group. We rode on the beach, on the hills, thru the forest and in the mud. It was an overall very great and fun experience, would gladly recommend if you you're not scared of getting dirty and riding fast.

via Tripadvisor

Woooo whoooooooo Mud

Fun Muddy experience- the tour guys were great and really make the adventure more fun and memorable. Would totally do it again.

via Viator

First the taxi driver...

First the taxi driver piled us all in and took us unnecessarily to a shop to try to sell us items. We then pulled back in the van where we waited an additional hour for all of the buggy’s and helmets to be brought to us. The buggy’s are in pretty bad shape as they appear homemade. The tour was fun, but towards the end we once again stopped at a shack to be pushed to buy more drinks and food. Once we denied the mood seemed to change with the guides. We then get back and we are told if we want any pictures that were taken they would be an additional $100. Which I agreed to pay since we had a large group. I did not receive all the photos and did get duplicates of some of the same sent to me. When I reached back out to see if I could get them a sent again. Cricket. So overall the experience was fun, but expect to be pushed to spend as much money as you are willing.

via Viator