Back from ten days in Punta Cana with two teenagers, 15 and 17. We did the Cap Cana catamaran with the beach club lunch and the cenote stop on the 26th of May. Timings first, then what I would pack differently. Hotel pickup at half eight. On the water by ten. Beach club from about half twelve. Cenote at three. Back at the hotel by six. That is nine and a half hours door to door in a week that hit 32 most afternoons. What earned its place in the bag. Water shoes for the cenote. The steps down are wet limestone and the handrail stops before the steps do. Two microfibre towels instead of hotel towels. A wet hotel towel weighs a kilo and nobody volunteers to carry it. Stick sunscreen for faces. Spray blows back at you on a moving catamaran and my eldest found that out the hard way. One 20 litre dry bag for the whole family's phones. Cheaper than four small ones and it becomes the wet clothes bag on the ride home. Seasickness tablets 45 minutes before boarding. On the boat is too late. The swell off Cap Cana was small in late May and a catamaran still rolls at anchor. Small US notes for the beach club. About 40 dollars across the four of us. Leave at home: the chest harness for the action camera. Every single frame is a hand. The cenote is fresh water and feels cold after the sea, I would guess about 24. My 15 year old refused to get in, and then would not get out.
