Best of the Dominican Republic: Santo Domingo Zona Colonial, Punta Cana, Saona Island, Samaná Whales, Puerto Plata and a Deep Caribbean Heritage Tour
Browse more guides: Dominican Republic travel | Americas destinations Best of the Dominican Republic: Santo Domingo's Zona Colonial (UNESCO 1990), Punta Cana, Saona Island, Samaná Humpback Whales, Puerto Plata, plus a Deep Caribbean Heritage Tour of Hispaniola I have walked Calle El Conde at six in the morning with a cortadito in one hand, sat on a Saona Island catamaran at noon with rum punch dripping down my wrist, and watched a 12 metre humpback breach off Samaná Bay at four in the afternoon, all in the same week. The Dominican Republic packs more historic firsts, more coastline, more mountain altitude and more decibels of merengue per square kilometre than any other Caribbean country I have visited. This is my long-form, measured, no-nonsense field guide to planning it. TL;DR The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern two thirds of Hispaniola, the island Christopher Columbus reached on 5 December 1492, and it has been an unrepeatable mix of Taíno, Spanish, African and Ca...