Spend Your Fun-filled Holidays on the Contrasting Land – The Dominican Republic!

On the territory of the Dominican Republic (DR), there are contrasting natural and man-made inviters that will grab your attention. The natural ones are those of the highest summit and the lowest spot in the Caribbean; while the man-made ones are bustling city life and nearby rural settlements where city life has not even managed to touch, forget about changing.

This Caribbean country is also known for its big resorts providing all facilities and recreation at the beachfront.

The Dominican Republic Tourist Attractions

In and Around Santo Domingo

• Santo Domingo:
  This is the capital of the island where we visited the Cathedral, Columbus Park, Puerta de El Conde, the Alcazar, and a historical house of Ponce DeLeon who discovered Florida. Among the historical monuments, we saw Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center, the Presidential Palace, Paseo de los Indios, Centro de los Héroes, and the Malecón waterfront of shops and restaurants. Lastly, the Plaza de la Cultura offered the National Theater and many museums including the worth a visit – Museum of Modern Art exhibiting of popular local and global artists. We explored all this in three hours.

• Santo Domingo Colonial Town:
  Here, in three hours, we explored the Cathedral, Street Las Damas, the Alcazar de Colon, the Pantheon, Fortress Ozama, some buildings of the 16th century, the amber museum, and the Mercado Modelo that is a local market where we bought some good craftworks.
• Amusing Eastern Santo Domingo:
  Here, we headed towards Tres Ojos known as Three Eyes that is a cave holding three sulfured water underground lakes and an open roof. From here, we went to Faro to see the recent interesting attraction of the lighthouse and aquarium. At the lighthouse, a monument exists for Christopher Columbus, which is currently a museum and a burial site. The Aquarium offers you a whole variety of the Dominican marine life. We took three hours here too.
• Lake Enriquillo:
  Located far in the south close to the Dominican-Haitian border, you will come across several villages in the vicinity where he halted at La Descubierta and Las Barias for swimming in waters down 40 m below sea level. In its subtropical and dry forest, spend some time spotting extinct species such as crocodiles, pink flamingos, and iguanas. Lastly, we saw the Haiti border without spending much time. This took our full day.
• The Cave of Wonders and Rio Chavon:
  Carrying a good amount of archaeological value, this is the first natural museum in the Antilles located 25 m below the sea level. We had lunch on a boat on the Chavon River. Then, we headed towards the artists village of Altos de Chavon that seems like a Spanish town of the 15th century.
• Fun-Fun Cave:
  A choice of the adventure enthusiasts, this cave is the largest one in the Caribbean. An enjoyable horseback ride and a little walk along the tropical forest of “Los Haitises” made us reach at the entrance from where a 20-meter fall through a rope is inevitable. In the cave, the tunnels, unlimited corridors, swimming in underground waters, amazing stalactites and stalagmites, cave species, native art, and mysterious river sounds are simply worth a visit.

In and Around the Puerto Plata City

• Puerto Plata:
  Offering many places to see and located on the north coast, we started with the cable car on Isabel de Torres to have a beautiful city and bay view followed by the fortress of San Felipe, the amber museum, and shopping places. One whole day went in this.
• Ocean World Adventure Park, Casino, and Marina:
  Located at the end of playa Cofresi outside the town, this is an interesting family place offering daily shows and marine animals like sharks, dolphins, and sea lions. Swimming with the friendly dolphins is a must for good experience. There are shops and restaurants too here making it suitable for a full day trip.
• Jeep Safari:
  Taking a day, this fascinating tour made us to visit the fruit and tropical plants plantations; explore history, people, and typical houses; and study the sugar cane fields. Lastly, we went to a mini zoo.
• Funny Bikes:
  This is an alternative decent way to explore the countryside on personal 4×4 funny bikes drive covering the sugar cane fields, streams, and some Dominicans and Haitians villages.
• Paradise Island – Cayo Arena:
  Here, we explored the virgin nature for full day along with the white sands, azure waters, coral reef snorkeling, and lagoons full of flora and fauna.
• Tropical Jeep Safari:
  Discover the captivating beauty of the north coast through a 4×4 SUV that will take you from your stay hotel. Through this ride, it was really memorable to find about the lifestyle of typical countrymen and their small huts. We also visited the challenging 29 Charcos de Damajagua whereon you can scale and hop on 7 of them.
• White Water Rafting:
  This is the time for extreme sports and adventure that is enjoyed in the Yaque del Norte – among the longest rivers in the Caribbean. In our tour, breakfast, lunch, and drinks are offered as it was for full day. Please note that this is not apt for children under 14 and pregnant women.
• Free Style Catamaran:
  Sail across the Atlantic Ocean by lying down at sunset with a glass of a drink.

Best Time to Visit

Peak times in Dominican Republic are December to February and July to August.

Accommodations

At Santo Domingo

• Antiguo Hotel Europa
• Aparta Hotel Delta
• Aparthotel Plaza Colonial
• Coutyard Santo Domingo by Marriott
• V Centenario Intercontinental Hotel

At Puerto Plata

• Amhsa Marina Paradise Beach Resort & Casino
• Barcelo Puerto Plata
• BlueBay Villas Doradas
• Casa Colonial Beach & Spa
• Interclubs Fun Royal/Fun Tropicale

Tip

On tours, dress up in long slacks (men) and a skirt (ladies).