12 Best Tourist Attractions Destination in Dominican Republic - Dominican Republic Travel Guide
There are many resort towns in the Dominican
Republic like Puerto Plata, Boca Chica and La Romana with great beaches, reefs
to explore and sunken offshore galleons. The locals love a party, which is
apparent by the many festivals, parties and carnivals that can be found
throughout the Dominican Republic. There are two carnivals in Santo Domingo
complete with parades, floats, live music and street dancing.
The Dominican Republic attracts many tourists to
postcard-perfect beaches, luxury resorts, and a solid tourism infrastructure.
The diverse geography, ranging from lush forests and mountains to semi-desert
areas, also creates unique opportunities for travelers looking for more than
just a beach holiday.
Punta Cana, Puerto Plata, and La Romana beach
resorts offer what many packed holidaymakers are looking for: a relaxing
tropical escape. Independent travelers who want to escape from this scene can
head to remote areas of the country such as the Samaná Peninsula, the
mountainous interior, or towns and cities that are less tourist-focused.
Surfers and kiteboarders in places like Cabarete will find exactly what they're
looking for. And there's no place in the Caribbean that delivers history like
the Santo Domingo colonial zone.
Immerse yourself in nature, find secluded beaches,
and learn about the culture with our list of the top attractions and best places
to visit in the Dominican Republic.
01. Santo Domingo's
Zona Colonial
In this city, where Christopher Columbus landed in
America for the first time, you will find the hustle and bustle of modern day
life being played out against the backdrop of centuries-old buildings. Colonial
architecture, much of which houses museums, restaurants, shops, and quaint
hotels today, lines the streets and squares, and in mind-blowing fashion takes
you back to another era. Much of the activity is centered around Calle El Conde,
the main thoroughfare and a popular shopping or fresco dining street. Walking
around the different streets, you'll see crumbling ruins, like those of
Monesterio de San Francisco; beautifully preserved buildings, like the Catedral
Primada de América (First Cathedral in the Americas), still in use today; and
residential areas, offering a glimpse of local life. Even eating pizza on a hot
night in a restored colonial building or lounging in your 450-year-old hotel's
courtyard can feel like a unique experience in this lovely city. Santo Domingo
is a place worth a while to spend.
02. The Resort
Destination of Punta Cana
Where an endless stretch of beautiful white sand
beach meets the Caribbean's emerald waters is Punta Cana, the first resort
destination of the Dominican Republic. If you're looking for all-inclusive
luxury resorts, a retreat for a couple, or family-friendly accommodation
combined with an endless list of water-based entertainment activities, this is
the place to come. Bavaro Beach is the most beautiful stretch of beach in Punta
Cana, where you can wade into the water or walk along the sand for hours.
Resorts line the beach and make all the activities easy to access. For a quiet
getaway, this is not a place to come. The ocean, with boats, parasailers and
tour boats coming and going, is a flurry of activity. Roped-off areas provide
safe swimming spaces. There's a smattering of restaurants and retail inland
from the beach, most of which are very modern, especially according to
Dominican Republic standards.
03. Puerto Plata
& Playa Dorada
On the north coast, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean,
Puerto Plata's resort destination and the beautiful beach stretch known as
Playa Dorada is one of the largest tourist attractions in the Dominican
Republic. This golden-sand beach is lined with luxurious resorts, though much
less densely packed than Punta Cana's. Also, this area is much more subdued and
has a quiet feeling. Although it is a beautiful area for swimming or
snorkeling, the beaches are not busy with boats and water sports. You can walk
to undeveloped beaches with palm trees and forest beyond the resorts.
04. Cabarate &
the Beachside Restaurants
Cabarete is known for its relaxed atmosphere and
huge beach lined with casual restaurants where visitors can dine on the sand.
Unlike resort destinations such as Punta Cana or Puerto Plata in the Dominican
Republic, this town is not full of all-inclusive resorts and packaged holiday
tourists. Instead, Cabarete attracts free spirits, backpackers, retired people
and kiteboarders who come here to spend a couple of weeks or months, especially
in winter.
If you're staying in Puerto Plata, you can spend a
day trip to Cabarete on the beach, enjoy a meal, or do some shopping. Musicians
often perform at local beachfront restaurants in the early evenings, especially
on weekends and tuesdays, and provide entertainment as sunsets.
05. Las Galeras
The small town of Las Galeras is located at the
farthest tip of the Samaná Peninsula, where the road dead ends at the ocean,
overlooking one of the many beautiful beaches of the area. Its remote location
will attract independent travelers looking for an experience off -
the-beaten-path. Palm-lined beaches of white sand and turquoise water create an
idyllic scene. Beaches such as Playa Rincon, La Playita, Playa Fronton and
other unnamed stretches of undeveloped beaches in the area are among the
Dominican Republic's best beaches and offer the polar opposite experience of
the island's major resort destinations. Here, you can hire a boat to take you
to a remote beach for a morning or afternoon, or walk from town to several
beautiful sandy coves in the surrounding area.
The city itself has only one main street, but
restaurants along here, many operated by French expats, offer exceptional
cuisine at prices for backpackers. More great options are provided by
restaurants in the surrounding mountains or along the oceanfront cliffs, which
require a city drive. Las Galeras is the perfect place to get away from busy
streets and the tourist scene while providing sufficient infrastructure to make
you feel comfortable.
06. Kiteboarding on
Cabarete's Kite Beach
Kite Beach is located around a headland from the
main beach of Cabarete, about a 20-minute walk along the waterfront. This small
area has a unique vibe of its own. The beach is quiet in the mornings, except
for walkers and runners or people swimming and paddleboarding standing up.
Kiteboarders go down on the beach in the afternoon when the winds pick up, and
the sky fills with kites. The sand is a color riot with kites waiting to
materialize the best winds. A couple of restaurants along here offer casual
food, many focusing on vegetarian food and other healthy offers. A free circus offers
entertainment at the end of the beach on Friday afternoons. Even if you're not
a kiter, the spectacle is worth visiting. Cabarete hosts February's annual
Ocean Master competition, where the world's best compete in kitesurfing,
windsurfing, surfing, and paddleboarding. This is a great time on Kite Beach to
see some amazing kiting. If you're interested in taking this sport on your own,
there are numerous schools that offer kiters lessons and hotels. See our
Kiteboard Learning article: lessons, schools, and where to stay at Kite Beach.
07. Whale Watching
in Samaná Bay
Thousands of humpback whales enter Samaná Bay every
winter, from December to March, to mat and give birth, making this one of the
best places to see these beautiful giants in the wilderness. The city of Samaná
is the main departure point for Whale Watching trips on the Samaná Peninsula.
The city itself holds little else for travelers, but the whales are such a
popular tourist attraction, with many companies offering day trips from
different destinations around the island. If you're traveling to Las Galeras,
if you're located in nearby Las Terrenas, less than an hour away, you can stop
in Samaná and sign up with a marine biologist for a half-day whale watching
trip. You can also do a 12-hour whale watching day trip from Punta Cana, which
involves a short flight and a shuttle bus to the boat.
08. Las Terrenas
Las Terrenas is a busy Dominican city on the north
coast with a peaceful and laid-back beachfront area where winding, single-lane
dirt roads meander past small French cafés and look out over palm trees,
beaches and the aquamarine ocean. Just a short walk inland takes you to the
streets full of motorbikes, where Dominicans go about work and everyday life.
This is one of the best places to visit if you want a taste of Dominican
culture and all of a city's conveniences combined with a great destination on
the beach. Like Las Galeras, many French people set up restaurants and inns to
make Las Terrenas their home.
09. Bahia de Las Aguilas
Well off the main tourist route, Jaragua National
Park's remote Bahia de Las Aguillas is a glorious eight-kilometer stretch of
beach that you may all have on any given day. Together with a distinct lack of
tourism and development, the shallow, clear, calm water and white-sand bottom
make this one of the most pristine beaches in the Dominican Republic. Located
on the country's southwestern coast, near the Haiti border, this area is, to
say the least, isolated. The driving time from Santo Domingo is at least six
hours. The nearest town to the beach is Pedernales, nearly an hour away by car,
and some of the least developed in the country is the tourism infrastructure in
this part of the Dominican. You're not going to find luxury resorts, but if you
come out this way, you'll find tranquility, loneliness and unique experiences.
The climate here is semi-arid, and the landscape, largely made up of cactus and
scrub, is very different from other parts of the country.
10. Isla Saona and
Parque Nacional de Este
While the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Parque
Nacional del Este, is a serene place of natural beauty and habitat for
countless plants, animals and birds, most people know the park for Isla Saona's
beaches. This island is a tourist magnet with all sorts of day trippers from
Punta Cana and La Romana's nearby resort destinations. What most people would
imagine if they were to picture a tropical island paradise is the soft-sand
beach and turquoise water. However, despite the fact that there are no resorts
on the island, during the day it is a lively destination as catamarans and
speedboats drop tourists on the beaches to relax in lounge chairs and soak up the
sun. If you're tired of the Punta Cana scene and are looking for a trip, you
can hop from Punta Cana on a Saona Island Day Trip. For a relaxing day on the
beach and playing in the shallow waters, a small speedboat will whisk you over
to the island.
11. Jarabacoa
While many Dominican holidaymakers consider
Jarabacoa a destination for summer retreats, foreign travelers tend to see it
as a playground for outdoor adventure in the Dominican Republic's interior
mountains. Opportunities for rafting, hiking, biking and other kinds of
exploration are in the vicinity. The climate here is much milder than the coast
at an elevation of more than 500 meters and nights are often cool. If you spend
more than a week or two in the country, Jarabacoa is worth a venture. If you're
traveling between Santo Domingo and either Puerto Plata or Cabarete, this town
also makes a convenient stop for a few nights.
12. La Romana
Not far from Punta Cana, La Romana is one of the
lesser-known destinations of the Dominican resort. There are a number of large
resorts in this area, some of which are geared towards more independent
self-catering travelers. The number of resorts here, however, is not almost on
the same scale as Punta Cana. The main draw is beautiful beaches in the area.
One of the most popular things to do here is to visit the Altos de Chavón,
where in a replica of the village of a 16th-century craftsman you can shop for
craftsmen and souvenirs. The village is set off alone, but if you don't have
your own transportation, you can join an organized shopping trip. Bayahibe, a
fishing town with a public beach and the starting point for trips to Isla
Saona, is not far from La Romana. You can also take a day trip to Santo Domingo
from La Romana, about 1.5 hours away. Golfing in the area is another popular
activity.
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