Hoyo Azul Scape Park Cap Cana Full Review

Our family just returned from our first trip to Punta Cana and our first all-inclusive resort. It was a wonderful experience for our family of 5. You can read a full review of our experience at the Iberostar Dominicana here.

While planning our trip, we knew that we would want to do at least one off-site excursion. It was our first time visiting the Dominican Republic and we wanted to enjoy the area as much as we could. For this trip, we were traveling with our family of 5, which included our 2-year-old, 8-year-old, and 9-year-old. Steven’s parents also joined us for the trip. With all of that in mind, we had to take into account a number of things when trying to pick an excursion. Is it age appropriate? Are there strenuous activities? Is it a full day or half day excursion? How much is it going to cost us?

Our initial online research at home gave us a good idea of what was available for off-site excursions during our stay. Our travel agent told us to wait and to book our excursion once we got to the resort.

We booked our vacation with a local travel agent, who booked the trip through Apple Vacations. By booking it through Apple Vacations, we had a travel rep ready to help us with any off-site excursions once we arrived at the Iberostar Dominicana. We met with our Amstar rep, Benny, on the second day of our trip. Benny helped us schedule our return transportation to the airport on the day of our departure. (I know, it was kind of depressing talking about leaving already when we just got there!) Benny also shared various off-site excursions that we could book through Amstar. He was very knowledgeable about the various excursions and had various brochures for us to look at.

After looking through them and asking him a number of questions, we decided to book the Hoyo Azul Scape Park Cap Cana. The Scape Park was an all-day excursion that promised a day full of thrills and family fun. With our admission, we were granted access to a Cave Swim, Hoyo Azul, various Zip Lines, a Cave Expedition, Iguanaland, a Cultural Route, and more.

Our stay in Punta Cana was from Thursday to Thursday, so we decided to book the Hoyo Azul Scape Park Cap Cana on the Monday of our trip. We wanted to break the week up a bit, and the weather also looked like it would be a great day for it. The shuttle for the Scape Park picked us up at our resort at 8:00am. We had several other resorts to stop at in the area to pick up more people who had booked the Scape Park for the day. After about an hour of driving, we arrived at the park. Our bus driver parked the bus and informed us that we would be departing at 5:00pm from that location.

Upon arrival, they had a check-in desk right when you got off the bus. We had to sign a waiver and we received a wristband. There were several other buses that also arrived when we did, so this whole check-in process took us about 30 minutes to complete.

As we said, we were traveling with 4 adults and 3 children, ages 2, 8, and 9. Our 2-year-old was limited to what she could participate in, but our 8- and 9-year-old were able to participate in all activities.

We entered the park through a massive gift shop and headed to our left. We passed Monkeyland and Iguanaland and saw the first main attraction – Zip Line Eco Adventure. Minimum age: 6. Maximum Waistline: 44. This zip line consisted of 8 zip lines that flew over a canopy of trees. Leah, our two oldest daughters, and Steven’s dad decided to get geared up and prepared for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

These zip lines were spectacular. They had attendants in between every zip line that would slow you down if needed before you made it to each platform. They made sure we were appropriately connected to the zip line and gear each time. Most of the attendants were Spanish speaking but knew a couple words in English which was helpful. They were all very kind and knowledgeable with what they were doing and made us feel very comfortable. This was a very strenuous activity that required lots of staircases, climbing, hiking through uneven terrain, and at one point crawling. However, the views and experience were 110% worth it! The zip line took about an hour to complete.

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After the zip line, we continued down the path and we ended up at our next stop, the Cave Swim. The Cave Swim had you swimming in clear, cool, blue water. The water was a bit chilly, but it felt great after a bit of a walk in the Dominican heat. It was a neat experience that the whole family enjoyed.

We then took a walk along the Cultural Path to the Saltos Azules. This part of the park was huge! In this area, we were able to jump from a rope or glide on a monkey bar into a pool, ride a water hammock, zip line into a pool, and enjoy a refreshing swim under a waterfall. This was by far, one of our favorite areas.

The Hamaca Ride

Minimum age: 5

This attraction had you sitting in a hammock and speeding over the pool below. At the end, you splashed into the refreshing waters below. Our 2 oldest daughters loved this and went on this over and over again.

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Mabo Rope and Mabey Trapeze

Minimum Age 6

Steven’s dad loved this part. For this attraction, you hung from a monkey bar and zip lined over a pool. Once the lifeguard blew his whistle, you let go and fell into the pool below. He had a lot of fun, and it was fun watching others enjoy the attraction too.

Waterfall Pool

All ages

This was a large, shallow pool, that we could take a refreshing swim in. The waterfall was beautiful, and we had some great photo ops in this area. We had really hoped the girls would want to stick around and swim in the pool a bit more. It was a nice break from walking and was very relaxing and refreshing.

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Playground

During our time in the Saltos Azules area, our youngest daughter, who is 2, was unable to do a good chunk of the activities. The park had a really nice park and playground area that she enjoyed during this time. They had swings, slides, chairs, and hammocks. Unfortunately, the slides were too hot to go down, but she enjoyed the swings and the shaded hammock area.

Zip Line Over Water

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After visiting Saltos Azules, we headed back towards the entrance of the park. Looking at the park map, we still needed to see Hoyo Azul and Iguabonita Cave. Hoyo Azul has you discovering a hidden cenote and swimming in some truly amazing turquoise waters, while Iguabonita Cave has you exploring an underground cave. Our entire family was able to partake in both of these excursions

We decided to head to Hoyo Azul next, as we wanted to dry off a bit before our bus ride back to the resort. Hoyo Azul was absolutely beautiful and the description they offered of seeing “the most impressive turquoise waters nature can offer” was no lie! The deepest part of this cenote was 49’ deep! But, beware! The walk to this attraction is no joke – it is a hike. The paths were well marked and the surroundings along the way were beautiful, but it is a long walk, so be prepared.

After another refreshing swim, we started the long trek back to Iguabonita Cave. This attraction is a guided tour. We checked in with a guide and she provided us all with a helmet. After a short hike, we made it to the entry of the cave. Let us just say – wow! These caves were absolutely beautiful. Our guide was very knowledgeable and had a great sense of humor. The whole tour took about 15 minutes to complete.

Upon completion of the cave tour, we had enjoyed all of the main attractions and had seen most of the park. We made our way back to the front entrance and enjoyed exploring Monkeyland and Iguanaland. Both these areas had you walking amongst iguanas or monkeys. We couldn’t touch any of the animals, but the kids still enjoyed it.

It was just around 4:00pm by the time we made it back to the front of the park. We took a quick stroll through the gift shop to see what they had to offer. They had a ton of stuff, and it was really reasonably priced. They also had a photo area for you to look at any pictures that they may have taken of you throughout the day. There were several workers trying to get our attention to come over and take a look at our photos, but we weren’t interested in purchasing any of the pictures they had taken.

Shortly before 5:00pm, we headed out to the bus parking area and found our driver, where he loaded us all up and drove us back to our resort.

Helpful Tips and Other Observations

Attraction Hours

Be sure to check the times that each attraction is open by looking at the map that you downloaded on your phone upon arrival. There were a couple attractions that had hours that were closed for lunch.

Food

Food was available to purchase throughout the park. They had a main restaurant at the entrance of the park and a number of smaller venues and bars that offered a lighter snack throughout the park. Their website indicated no carry-in food or beverages, but we did bring in water bottles and some snacks for the kids. The food at the park was not included with your admission, so we decided not to purchase anything for lunch and just wait until we got back to our resort for dinner. Our kids did pretty well with just the snacks we had brought along.

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi was available throughout the park. Upon check-in, they encouraged us to connect to the Wi-Fi and download the park map to our phone. Leah was able to connect, but Steven was not able to.

Attraction Wait Times

We were surprised with the wait times at the attractions. Not once did we have to wait in a line for any of the attractions. We are not sure what park capacity was on the day of our visit, but it was really nice not having to deal with crowds. We enjoyed being able to go on an attraction we enjoyed over and over again and not have to waste any time waiting in a line.

Construction

We noticed a lot of areas throughout the park blocked off that were currently under construction. It will be neat to see what attractions they will be adding to the park in the coming years.

Be Prepared to Walk

This place is huge! We read numerous reviews that said you would be walking a lot at the park, and they weren’t joking. This place is huge! The main pathways were paved, but a number of paths were not. Be prepared for that steep incline and occasional tree root in the pathway.

To Bring, or Not to Bring

Bring

Water shoes or other closed toed shoes. They do have water shoes for sale at the gift shop if you don’t have a pair.
A towel
Sunscreen
Snacks, and water. I know their website says no carry-in food or beverage, but our bags were not checked. That little snack and water can go a long way when traveling with kids.
Cash or credit card for any food or gift shop purchases. Also bring some smaller bills for tipping. They had tip jars at each attraction if you feel the desire to tip.
Waterproof case for your phone. You are able to take your phone on all attractions and take as many pictures as you want. They also have workers taking your pictures at most attractions. You are able to view these photos at the gift shop at the end of the day and purchase them if you’d like.

Don’t Bring

Life Jackets – No need to bring any life jackets for your kids on this excursion. Lifejackets were available for use at various attractions throughout the park.
Strollers – We might get some people that disagree with us on this one, but we think that bringing a stroller wouldn’t have been worth it. We had thought about bringing ours just to help with our 2-year-old, but on most of the pathways in the park, the stroller would not have been usable.

Cost

The cost to enter the park was $129 per adult, $69 per child ages 6-12. 5 under were free. The admission included entry on all of the attractions, and the best part, if you really enjoyed one, you could go on it as much as you wanted! You could also add on a sunset cruise or buggies at an additional cost. We opted out of both add-ons.

What We Would Change

We would like to see the park change the whole check-in process. After an hour bus ride, we really just wanted to get into the park to enjoy all of the attractions and we didn’t really want to have to wait in line for another 30 minutes to get checked in. We wished that they would have had someone on the bus to have us fill out the waivers and provide us with our wristbands. That way, we could enter the park right as we arrived.
After paying as much as we did to enter the park, we wish that lunch would have been included with the price. As we said, we didn’t eat at the restaurant, so we aren’t sure what options were offered, but a simple lunch buffet that was included in the price would have been great.

Overall Experience

After our day at Hoyo Azul Scape Park Cap Cana, we looked back and said that we wished we would have visited the attractions in a different order. We wished we would have started with those attractions that were a much larger distance away and ended on those more relaxing attractions. If we were to do it all over again, we would take the long hike to Hoyo Azul and Iguabonita Cave first and then head to the Zip Line. We would then head to the Cave Swim and end the day relaxing in the Saltos Azules area.

Our overall experience at Hoyo Azul Scape Park Cap Cana was wonderful. Our family had a day full of thrills and adrenaline rushes and we all really enjoyed ourselves. From our 2 year old to us adults, we found something that we all could enjoy. We were a bit nervous when we saw that the excursion would be an all-day event, but the time really did go by fast, and we really found something to do the entire day. From families to younger and older couples, we saw them all at the park during our visit and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. Be sure to check this place out on your next trip to Punta Cana.

You can check out Hoyo Azul Scape Park Cap Cana’s website here.

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