Booked a last minute all inclusive through Expedia.ca for 2 adults and 1 child. Air Transat was the airline and was great from beginning to end. Stayed at Dreams Palm Beach for 5 days. Check-in at the hotel was quick (~30mins). We met other vacationers on excursion who said their hotel check in at Be Live Collection took 3 hrs! So we count ourselves lucky! Room was decent and the hotel gave us a complimentary king size bed with an extra single bed at no charge because this was our second stay with them (Be sure to show them proof if you are a repeating guest). The World Cafe restaurant was our fav because they always have refresh fruits/food and the waiters are super helpful. The a la cart restaurants require no reservation but their food is crap. Unfortunately, the seaweed makes the beach unusable or “use at your own risk” kinda situation. The hotel staff work tirelessly every single day to clear the beach of seaweed but it’s a losing battle with Mother Nature. Nevertheless, we enjoyed ourselves at the pristine pools. But as you know, everyone goes south for the beach and turquoise water so it was a disappointment. Fortunately, we happened to bump into a very pleasant excursion seller on the beach named Rey. He’s with a company called “Excursion VIP”. His registered number is 11 (see his pic attached). We read some online warnings about not buying from beach sellers and though we agree, we must say Rey was a rare exception! We purchased a Saona Island excursion for 2 adults and 1 child for $180 from him. The tour operator at our hotel was charging $302.50 for the exact trip. We were picked up at the hotel lobby, which I must say, I was very surprised when the Hyundai air conditioned coach bus arrived. The transportation company was “Mega Transport”. They must be new because I could not find any online presence but God they did not disappoint! The ride was about 2 hrs with a 10 min stop for washroom and souvenirs. Ramon “Grandpa Family” was our tour guide. He and his crew were all amazingly helpful from beginning to end. We all received bracelets from the Ministry which were scanned as we were entering the boat to Saona. The buffet at Soana was served at 1pm. It was freshly cooked and delicious! The beach at Saona was seaweed free, clear and breathtakingly beautiful! Only downside was that there were a lot of ppl so available lounge chairs were scarce. We sat on towels so it wasn’t too bad. On the bus back, we heard stories from other vacationer who booked the Catalina trip through their hotels but had an awful experience. Lesson learned to don’t judge a book by its cover. Even though the “beach seller” was just a guy on the beach, he was with a legit company and gave us and everyone who purchased from him an amazing day! Will connect with you again Rey! Thank you for everything! In case anyone’s looking for him-his number is +1 (829) 531-8137. We were also able to connect with him via WhatsApp. Highly recommend Rey and highly recommend Dreams Palm Beach!