Whether you are visiting the DR on a vacation or you are on an extended Staycation it’s nice to head out on excursions! You can find almost anything in the DR to entertain the family. Some of the most popular are Whale Watching Excursions, Jeep Safari Excursions, City Tours, big game fishing, catamarans, Horseback riding into the mountains or on a beach, even Zip lining.

We recently took a horseback riding excursion to the La Limon Waterfalls. We had our own transportation to get us to the starting point for the excursion, but if you are staying in Las Terrenas most of the tours include travel from Las Terrenas to the trail head.

Your Horse and Tour Guide

Once at the trail head you are given a helmet if you like and then helped on to your horse. The saddles are well padded, which is nice for those of us that aren’t too used to riding. Also, in most cases you will be given your own personal guide that will steady and guide your horse as needed or will just act as your personal tour guide if you like. If you go during mango season they will generally hunt down some mangos for you.

These are all done on a volunteer basis and are not paid by the tour operator. They make all their money off the tips they are given. Some people tip as high as 1000 pesos but the majority tips between 200 and 500 pesos. Your guide will be with you for the whole trip and pretty much takes out his whole day in the hope to make a little money so it is nice to be generous here.

The horses are gentle and easy to ride. If the guide feels you are not secure with the horse he will keep it slow and steady, if you seem a little more secure he’s likely to put the horse into a trot or run a couple times to give you a little more of a ride.

The Trail

Parts of the trail are rather rocky paths, but the horses are used to the journey and are pretty sure footed. Just hang on and they pretty much know where to go. You will have some great photo opportunities along the way so be sure to bring your camera. Along the way your guide will usually try to find you some of the local fruit if you go during one of the season when they are ripe.

El Limon Falls

This is the main highlight of the trip. There is a changing area near the falls so you are able to change your clothes and get into swim suits. There is a nice pool at the foot of the falls and a creek heading away from the falls to swim in. If you head in back of the falls you will find a cave you can swim into and check out. If you don’t swim well then you will likely want to tell them at the staging point where they can give you a life preserver.

What to Wear and Bring

Bring comfortable clothes, a hat is good, sunglasses and sunscreen, and a swim suit. It is also a good idea to bring water and maybe a couple snacks, you will likely be on the excursion for 3-4 hours.

Some of the excursion packages include lunch after the horse rides to the El Limon falls, we found the food to be very good with a variety of local style foods. Our package includes Beer, sodas and water to drink.

Excursion Prices

The prices vary by the season. During the more busing times of year the tour companies are going to be less interested in negotiating. During the slow times you can usually get the price down considerably. Expect the prices to be anywhere from $25 USD to around $60 USD per person. The more people you have and the slower the season the more likely you will be able to get it near the $25 per person mark.

Was it worth it?

Everyone in our group had a good time and thought it was well worth the price. Although I would likely only do this particular excursion once, it was well worth doing!