| Dominican Republic Adventure Guide: Isla Saona |
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This idyllic 50-square-mile island is part of the Parque Nacional del Este, with beaches that are some of the most beautiful in the country (US $75). The tour includes a boat trip to the island along with chances for swimming and sunning.
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| 5min Related Video: Saona |
| Wikipedia: Saona Island |
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| Native name: Isla Saona | |
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| Geography | |
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  Saona Island (Dominican Republic)
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| Coordinates | 18°09′20″N 68°41′58″W / 18.15556°N 68.69944°W |
| Area | 110 square kilometres (42 sq mi) |
| Length | 25 kilometres (16 mi) |
| Width | 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) |
| Country | |
| Dominican Republic | |
| Province | La Altagracia Province |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 300 |
| Density | 2.73 /km² (7.1 /sq mi) |
Saona Island or Isla Saona (in Spanish) is a tropical island located a short distance from the mainland on the south-east tip of the Dominican Republic, near La Altagracia Province. It is a government protected nature reserve and a popular destination for tourists from all over the Dominican Republic, who arrive in fleets of catamarans and small motorboats on organised excursions every day. The Island is famous for the natural beauty of its beaches, and has been used on many occasions by film-makers and advertisers looking for a stereotypical 'desert island' setting for their film or product. It is promoted amongst European visitors as the setting for the famous Bounty chocolate bar adverts.
The island was baptized "Saona" by Christopher Columbus, who discovered it in May 1494 during his second voyage to the Americas. The name was meant to honor the commune of Savona, where Columbus lived at the time. Saona Island and the modern city Savona, in Italy, still have twinning relationships; the small powerplant in Saona Island is a gift of Savona.
Michele da Cuneo, Columbus’s childhood friend from Savona, sailed with Columbus during this second voyage and wrote: "In my opinion, since Genoa was Genoa, there was never born a man so well equipped and expert in the art of navigation as the said lord Admiral." [1] Columbus named the small island of "Saona ... to honor Michele da Cuneo, his friend from Savona."[2] Columbus named Michele da Cuneo first governor of the island.
With an area of 42 sq miles (110 sq km) Saona is the largest Dominican offshore island and forms part of the National Park of the East (Parque Nacional del Este).
The seas around the Island are rich in wildlife, with many species of birds and tropical marine fish, and there are large areas where natural sandbars offshore bring the depth to just a few feet. These are once again popular with the tourist trade, with small boats stopping hundreds of metres off the beach and disgorging tourists into the waist-deep shallows where they snorkel, drink and check out the fields of starfish indigenous to the region.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Saona Island |
Coordinates: 18°09′20″N 68°41′58″W / 18.15556°N 68.69944°W
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
 | Day Trips (travel guide) |
| Sagona (family name) |
| Altos de Chavon & Isla Saona (travel guide) |
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 | Dominican Republic Adventure Guide. Dominican Republic. Copyright © 2000 by Hunter Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Saona Island". Read more |
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