DK Travel : Dominican Republic : Places of interest

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Ocean World, Puerto Plata

This large new marine theme park offers interactive experiences such as swimming with bottlenose dolphins, exploring an imitation reef, feeding sea lions, and even getting close to sharks. There are many exhibits, a gift shop, and a restaurant too. Environmentalists are critical of the concept of keeping dolphins in captivity.
Parque Nacional del Este

Adjacent to the well-trodden tourist track of Bayahibe and Playa Dominicus, this large expanse of protected natural wilderness covers over 100,000 acres of dry forest and palm-lined beaches. The terrain on the mainland peninsula is much tougher going and less popular with tourists, but offers the determined explorer a wealth of birdlife and tropical vegetation as well as glimpses of Taino art and culture.
Parque Nacional Jaragua

The park comprises the most southerly tip of the country, the Pedernales Peninsula, as well as Isla Beata, an uninhabited scrub-covered island. Covering more than 500 sq miles (1,293 sq km), this is the biggest of the national parks, comprising dry limestone studded with cacti and other desert vegetation. This terrain is home to a huge array of land and sea birds, iguanas, lizards, and bats. The best way to get a sense of its natural importance is to contact the national park office at the village of Oviedo, for the boat tours of Laguna Oviedo.
Parque Nacional Los Haïtises

Sánchez is probably the most convenient starting point for a day trip to this wild and isolated nature reserve. A boat departs daily, crossing to the Sabana de la Mar fishing port, where hired guides can lead a boat trip to the small part of the park that’s open to visitors. Here, you’re confronted by one of the country’s most unique landscapes: hump-shaped hillocks rising out of the water and covered with dense tropical vegetation. These strange mogotes , along with mangroves and rainforest, shelter a variety of flora and fauna.
Parque Nacional Monte Cristi

Divided between a series of offshore islands, a mangrove delta, and a large inland expanse of desert badlands, the national park shelters a profusion of wildlife, including crocodiles, turtles, and innumerable bird species. The most accessible and interesting part is the flat-topped mountain of El Morro, the imposing outcrop that looks like a sleeping camel. You can walk up some steps from the national park office through a cleavage in the mountain, reaching an isolated beach below, from where it’s a relatively short swim to Isla Cabrita. The sea around Monte Cristi is said to be full of shipwrecks.

El Morro, Parque Nacional

Cactus, Parque Nacional
Parque Zoológical Nacional, Santo Domingo

An expansive 400-acre park of tropical gardens and water features, the zoo is home to tigers as well as more local fauna such as flamingos and the elusive Dominican mammals, hutías and solenodons . Children will enjoy spotting creatures in sympathetically landscaped compounds as well as riding in the shuttle train.
Pedernales

Pedernales is quite literally the end of the track, the final Dominican outpost before crossing over into Haiti. This remote settlement of one-story concrete buildings huddled together, is hardly a conventional tourist destination. But the place is not without interest, especially on Mondays and Fridays when the no-man’s-land between the two countries is the scene of a large open-air market. The village’s beach is also worth a visit, and from here it’s usually easy to walk over the border.
Playa Caletón

A perfect cove of white sand with mangrove forest surrounding it, this is one of the most beautiful beaches on the North Coast. Even so, it is still not overcrowded yet, and on a week day visitors are liable to be few and far between. At weekends there are more locals around, and you can buy fried fish on the beach. Protected by two rocky and forest-clad promontories, the small bay, known locally by the diminutive La Playita, has shallow clean water, ideal for children.
Playa Dorada

The tourist paradise par excellence, this development contains more than a dozen separate resorts, offering every conceivable activity and self-indulgence known to mankind. The range of beach activities encompasses everything from snorkeling to volleyball, while round-the-clock catering provides all sorts of eating and drinking options. The beach itself is a wonderfully white strip of soft sand, cleaned daily, but it can sometimes seem a little crowded, especially in high season. The other most prized asset is the Robert Trent Jones-designed golf course.
Playa Ensenata

This stretch of fine white sand shares a headland with the Punta Rucia Beach to the west, accessible with some difficulty from the small village of Estero Hondo. Given the remoteness of the place, it’s surprising how busy it can become, especially at weekends, when locals come to picnic, swim, and enjoy. It is possibly one of the best beaches in the country with clear shallow water, dramatic mountain scenery, and a welcome absence of vendors and hustlers. Food and drink are usually available at weekends from a few impromptu beach bars.