The official foundation of the municipality was in 1756, when a dozen families from the Canary Islands settled in the area, initiated by the Governor Francisco Rubio and Peñaranda during the same time as the settlement of the Peninsula of Santa Bárbara of Samaná.

In the years following the foundation, the hamlet had a hundred houses and a population of 300 inhabitants, who took advantage of the large tracts of land for grazing, although these had greater potential for varied crops.

During the 1930s the Hato Mayor-Sabana de la Mar highway was inaugurated of constant communication with Santo Domingo and the first power plant to serve the community is installed.

In 1963, the bridge over the Yabón River was built, which allowed permanent transit between Hayo Mayor del Rey and Sabana de la Mar.

A large portion of the Los Haitises National Park and the San Lorenzo Bay are located in Sabana de la Mar.

Los Haitises, one of the largest National Parks in the Dominican Republic (with a total area of almost 1,200 square kilometers), is located in the Northeast region of the country, specifically in Sabana de la Mar.

Excursions through Los Haitises offer the possibility of discovering the largest mangrove reserve in the Caribbean, caves with pictographs and petroglyphs of Taino origin; as well as a humid forest of lush vegetation that keeps endemic and migratory birds, as well as endangered species, which are part of this place.