Tourist satisfaction is a key factor in tourism sustainability. A multiple mediation model is proposed to analyze the relationship between ecotourism knowledge and ecotourist satisfaction, assisting our understanding of the generative mechanism by which ecotourism knowledge influences ecotourist satisfaction. Ecotourists at the Natural Park Saltos de la Damajagua (Dominican Republic) were administered a questionnaire. The results (PLS‐SEM) show that ecotourism site perceived value and attitudes towards ecotourism fully mediate the influence of ecotourism knowledge on ecotourist satisfaction. Ecotourism knowledge will therefore only have positive effects on ecotourist satisfaction when the ecotourism site is of high perceived value and there are positive attitudes towards ecotourism. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.