Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo’s Zona Colonial (UNESCO World Heritage Site) — founded 1498 by Bartolomé Colón (Christopher’s brother), the first permanent European settlement in the Americas — contains the first cathedral, first hospital, first university and first palace built by Europeans in the New World. The Calle Las Damas (the first paved street in the Americas) and the Alcázar de Colón (Diego Colón’s palace, 1510).

💡 The Cathedral of Santa María la Menor (1512–1541) is the oldest cathedral in the Americas — constructed during the Spanish colonial period, its construction was supervised by Christopher Columbus’s son Diego and grandson Luis. Pope John Paul II visited in 1992 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s arrival. The remains attributed to Columbus are in a mausoleum here (disputed with Seville).

The Fortaleza Ozama (1502, the oldest European military fort still standing in the Americas, overlooking the mouth of the Ozama River) and the Palacio Nacional (1947, the seat of the Dominican government, built under dictator Trujillo, with 700 rooms of Carrara marble and mahogany). The evening Malécon — the 15km coastal promenade, where the entire city walks at sunset.

💡 Rafael Trujillo ruled the Dominican Republic from 1930 to 1961 — one of the most brutal and narcissistic dictators in Latin American history. He renamed the capital Ciudad Trujillo, required portraits in every home, and in 1937 ordered the Parsley Massacre — the killing of 20,000–35,000 Haitian agricultural workers in the borderlands. He was assassinated in 1961 by CIA-supported conspirators.

3h from Santo Domingo. Las Terrenas (Samaná Peninsula) — the finest beach on the northeastern coast, with a distinct French-influenced expat culture, coconut palms and good seafood. January to March: the Samaná Bay humpback whale watching (3,000 humpback whales winter in the bay — the largest concentration in the Atlantic, visible from boats 2km from shore).

💡 The Samaná Bay humpback whale aggregation (Megaptera novaeangliae) is one of the largest winter breeding concentrations in the world — up to 3,000 individuals arrive from their North Atlantic feeding grounds between January and March to calve and mate in the warm bay waters. Whale watching boats operate from the Samaná harbour for US$30–60.

1h from Las Terrenas by boat or 1h30 by road. Las Galeras — the most remote and undeveloped village on the Samaná Peninsula — with Playa Rincón (consistently ranked one of the finest Caribbean beaches, reachable only by boat or a 45-min hike through the forest) and El Valle (a secluded bay with no development and excellent snorkelling).

💡 Playa Rincón is 3km of white sand at the end of a forested headland, reachable only by boat from Las Galeras (15 min, US$5–10) or a 45-min overland trail. There is no development — a few wooden food stalls open on weekends. It regularly appears on top-10 Caribbean beach lists and is virtually empty on weekdays.

3h30 from Samaná. Jarabacoa (“land of many waters”, 529m) — the adventure sports capital of the Caribbean — sits in a mountain valley at the foot of Pico Duarte (3,087m, the highest peak in the Caribbean) with three river confluence waterfalls (Jima, Baiguate, Jimenoa) and Class III–IV white-water rafting on the Yaque del Norte River.

💡 Pico Duarte (3,087m) is the highest mountain in the Caribbean — higher than any peak in Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico or any of the island chains. The 2–3 day trek to the summit starts from La Ciénaga (2h from Jarabacoa) and passes through cloud forest, pine forest and alpine meadow.

45-min flight from Santiago. Punta Cana — 48km of beaches on the eastern tip of the island, the highest density of all-inclusive resort hotels in the Caribbean (100,000+ hotel rooms), the most visited destination in the Caribbean, and the finest white sand and turquoise water in the Dominican Republic at Playa Bavaro.

💡 Punta Cana’s white sand beaches are made of crushed coral rather than silica — they stay cool to walk on even in 35°C heat, because coral reflects heat rather than absorbing it. This is the reason the sand is white rather than golden and the water appears turquoise rather than green.

A catamaran day trip from Punta Cana — the coral reef at Catalina Island (one of the finest snorkel sites in the country, with large stingray, barracuda and reef shark populations), the natural pools of Altos de Chavón (a recreated 16th-century Mediterranean village above the Chavón River canyon, built as an artists’ colony in 1976, one of the most improbable architectural projects in the Caribbean). Fly from PUJ.

💡 Altos de Chavón was designed and built by Gulf + Western executive Charles Bluhdorn in 1976 as a gift to the Dominican Republic — a full-scale replica of a 16th-century Mediterranean hilltop village, with cobblestone streets, a Romanesque chapel and a 5,000-seat amphitheatre. Frank Sinatra performed at the opening; it is now a campus of the Parsons School of Design.