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As remote a place as you’re likely to find, up a tortuous mountain road from Pedernales. The tiny border post of El Aguacate (Avocado) is almost lost among pine forests and clouds.

Located in Hotel Caribani, this upmarket, air-conditioned restaurant serves Dominican and international food, either à la carte or from a buffet.

An air-conditioned restaurant with rustic wooden seating and nautical decor. The cuisine is typically Dominican with lots of local seafood.

The small seaside town called Paradise is aptly named, with a gorgeous, if somewhat unkempt beach. It’s shaded by sea grape trees (see Sea Grape) and bisected by a cool freshwater stream.

A quiet, nicely presented, rustic restaurant with lovely views across a garden and the sea. Both Swiss and local fare are served.

The menu is limited to simple food such as chicken. Fela’s is essentially a fast-food restaurant.

Large helpings of good value, traditional Dominican dishes, served in simple surroundings.

Probably the country’s most intriguing natural phenomenon, this huge saltwater lake is eerily atmospheric in its spectacular natural setting. The lake also forms an inland ecosystem, with its mixture of saline water, ancient fossils, and varied wildlife. Chief among these are the American crocodiles that inhabit its main island, the Isla Cabritos.

Filled with fresh rather than salt water, Laguna Rincón, near the village of Cabral, is another surprisingly large lake, the country’s second biggest after Laguna Limón. You can get close to the water on the small road from Cabral which skirts the lake, but the best way is to take a guided boat trip (see Boat Trips). The lagoon and surrounding land forms an officially protected Reserva Científica (Scientific Reserve) and is home to a colony of freshwater slider turtles, found only on the Hispaniola Island.

A rough track leads inland from the village of El Arroyo to the open-cast mines where semi-precious larimar is excavated. You can buy pieces of the blue mineral.