Bayahibe is a different coast
Bayahibe is not a hop along the Punta Cana beach strip. You leave the resort corridor entirely and take the highway south-west toward La Romana, which is why the price and the hour-plus drive look nothing like a Bávaro run. At the end of it you get two connected places: Bayahibe village, the small fishing town where the Saona and Catalina island boats leave from, with its dive shops, marina and low-key restaurants; and Dominicus, the beach a few minutes on with the all-inclusive resorts and the calm swimming water. Guests come here for the islands and the diving rather than the mega-resort strip. Boat departures are early — most Saona trips board between 7 and 8 in the morning — so if you are arriving the night before, tell us and we plan the drive around it.