He landed on what today is known as the Rincón Beach, where he met the Ciguayos who presented him with the only violent resistance he faced during this visit to the Americas.

[6][7] In 1756, under the direction of Spanish governor Francisco Rubio y Peñaranda, families from the Canary Islands founded the village and named it Santa Bárbara de Samaná.

But in 1807, a small force from the British Royal Navy raided Samaná and turned it back to the Spanish creoles who were fighting against the last French bastion on the island.

After a small encounter called the Samaná Affair, the French retired, taking with them various families that had resettled here after the Haitian Revolution.

[8] In 1824, Haitian President Jean-Pierre Boyer invited United States Blacks to migrate to Haiti, which by then ruled the entire island of Hispaniola.

With the creation of the Samaná Maritime District (an old division similar to a province) in 1865, the city was elevated to the category of municipality.

The largest boost to local economy takes place from January to March with the annual migration of thousands of North Atlantic humpback whales that come to the Samaná Bay to give birth.