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Surrounded by all-inclusive resorts, this safe beach is great for windsurfing and kayaking.

A beach of pristine sand, ideal for paragliding and building sandcastles.

A beach for exploring rather than swimming. A long, wild, deserted 6-mile (10-km) stretch, where big breakers crash onto the palm-littered sand. As part of a protected National Park, the beach has escaped development and offers nature in the wild, including mangroves, coconut groves, and hungry mosquitoes.

Only a few miles from the well-tended beaches of Bávaro and Punta Cana, this long, sweeping stretch of untamed coastline is as undeveloped as anywhere in the country. Pounding surf and a powerful undertow discourage most swimmers, but the bay at Punta Macao, with its sheltering headlands, is safer.

As close as you can get to Haiti without crossing the border, this deserted beach overlooks a calm sea and offers great views of the Cabo Rojo headland to the south. Facilities here are minimal, but most evenings the beach comes to life when fishing boats return home to the village.

This long strip of soft sand offers plenty of scope for kayaking, sailing, and snorkeling.

Legend has it that polo was introduced in 1954 by the Indian maharaja Jabar Singh, who was hired to teach the dictator Trujillo’s sons. Its main home is now the exclusive Casa de Campo resort, where only the seriously rich can play, under the eye of the maharaja’s sons. Visitors are also allowed to watch the matches during weekends.

The walk from Las Terrenas to the gorgeous Playa Bonita includes some of the country’s prettiest beach scenery, with a shade-providing background of coconut groves. The headland of Punta Bonita is harder going over a stony hillside, but a path leads through a panorama of vegetation and boulders.