Things to do in Punta Cana

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,097
6,247
113
South Coast
A local NJ radio station is giving away an AI vacation, and the winner has the choice of Punta Cana or Jamaica. Today they publicized Punta Cana, and recommended this [2 yr old] article from USA today "for those of you that may want to leave the AI".

Things to do in Punta Cana

For what essentially is a beach resort area, Punta Cana has a varied selection of activities for those willing to leave the comforts of their all-inclusive. Cave repelling, ziplining or fishing marlin-rich seas will add some excitement. Exploring historical sites from the founding of the New World is a rare opportunity that shouldn't be missed.

Diving and snorkeling

Although the DR's longest coral reef runs along Punta Cana, the area is not known as a top diving and snorkeling destination. This is the Atlantic coast, so conditions can be rough, especially in winter. With maximum visibility from 54-60 feet, the area offers more than a dozen dive sites starting as shallow as 21 feet and going to 90 feet, including two sunken ships ? The Monica at 36 feet and The Astron at 60 feet. The best diving excursion is 90 minutes away in Caribbean waters off Catalina Island.

The best snorkeling is probably the shallows near Club Med. Casual snorkeling from shore isn't possible in many places due to heavy boat traffic; swimmers are confined to designated areas. Try the section at Cabeza de Toro Beach without boat traffic if you're staying nearby. Ask around for other places and press those returning from a snorkel excursion about what/how much they saw. Generally, Punta Cana is a nice place just to get wet.

Fishing

Big fish are abundant off Punta Cana, with a long seven-month season for good marlin fishing. White marlin run from March to July, with big blue marlin bending rods from July to September. The entire marlin season typically is a time of rough seas but the water flattens toward the end of October. That's the time for light tackle and fly-fishing for dorado and wahoo. Charter boats are available at the Yacht Club in Cabeza de Toro, which sponsors a number of marlin tournaments, the Puntacana Marina and the big Cap Cana Marina. All offshore game fish charters typically last 4-8 hours and having other anglers along to split expenses is something to consider. Cap Cana Marina also has guides and equipment for stalking snook and tarpon.

Best adventure trips

Cave Repelling:Fun Fun Cave is a silly name for the cave entrance that leads to a large system with a flowing 4.5-mile long river. Located to the north in Los Haitises National Park, your experience starts with a walk through the rain forest to reach the cave entrance, where you repel almost 60 feet down to the cave floor. Guides lead you through tunnels and underground corridors to view Taino petroglyphs and wall paintings.

Ziplining: Take a 45-minute trip by safari truck to Anamuya Mountain for an exciting day atop 16 platforms strung with 12 zip lines, including the DR's longest. Slide through the air for over 1.2 miles while soaring as high as 2,500 feet along a tropical mountain range. Be sure to check the health, weight and age restrictions.

Best day trip away

Saona Island (Isla Saona) is 68 miles away but it's still one of the most popular day excursions from Punta Cana. Located on the DR's Caribbean south coast, Saona Island is part of the National Park of the East. Its unspoiled hotel-free beaches lined with palms and clean turquoise waters are its main attractions. One look and you'll understand why people are drawn here. The boat ride to the island (by catamaran or speedboat) is fun, too. Study online reviews before selecting your tour company.

Best natural attraction

Indigenous Eyes Ecological Park and Reserve features walks on 11 winding trails through a tropical forest growing more than 500 species of exotic plants. The trails pass 11 natural lagoons; visitors can swim in one or more of them. Also known as the Puntacana Ecological Reserve Trails, the park is located at Punta Cana's southern end. Guided tours must be booked in advance; (809) 959-9221. Open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Come on your own or join a half-day excursion.

Golf

With a dozen golf courses designed by such top golf architects as Jack Nicklaus, P. B. Dye, Nick Faldo, Tom Fazio and Nick Price, the Punta Cana region ranks among the Caribbean's most popular golf destinations. Dedicated golfers can stay at one resort and concentrate on a single championship course while occasional golfers can play a round or two on a championship or "resort" course. Most accept outsiders, subject to course demand. Golf courses are located along the coastal beaches from Juanillo to Macao, with four clustered around Punta Cana/Cap Cana. Green fees vary by season and time of day, with prices decreasing after 2 p.m. More information: Dominican tourism and a detailed golf guide that includes the entire DR.

Historical attractions

Ponce de Leon Fort Museum is the plantation house built by the famous explorer Juan Ponce de Leon more than 500 years ago, at San Rafael de Yuma near the south coast. The museum contains only several of the explorer's personal belongings, including his shield. The interior furnishings look as they did in his day. Open 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Tuesday ? Sunday. Call ahead: (809) 551-0118.

Join a lengthy day excursion to old Santo Domingo (Zona Colonial), the oldest city in the Americas (1496). Walk the city's historic cobbled streets filled with monuments and museums. Among them, the First Cathedral (no shorts allowed inside) and the Alcazar de Col?n, home of Bartolome Columbus, city founder and brother of Christopher. Shop El Conde pedestrian mall lined with good shopping for amber and cigars. A new highway reduces drive time.

Shopping

Colorful Bi2JH2O ("bibijagua") Artisanal Shopping Plaza features rows of shopping stalls on Bavaro Beach. It's a good spot for Haitian paintings, woodcarvings and other handicrafts and mamajuana, the local (legal) herbal aphrodisiac. Be prepared to haggle, and consider the amber and larimar jewelry suspect except as costume jewelry.

Palma Real Shopping Village(Google will need to translate this page) is Bavaro's upscale, partially enclosed mall. Shops sell beachwear, clothing, skin-care products, and jewelry. You'll also find a reliable pharmacy, several restaurants, movie theater, banks, ATMs, and money exchange. Stores are open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; restaurants stay open later. Regular shuttle buses run to and from most hotels several times daily.

Puntacana Village, part of the commercial and residential complex near the airport, houses shops, restaurants, supermarket, banks and doctors' offices. Shopping at the Village mall is upscale for clothing and artwork by leading Dominican artists.

Restaurants

For good local seafood, try Jellyfish Restaurant and Lounge on Bavaro Beach. Besides fish, the double-deck, open-air facility offers chicken and beef dishes and a children's menu. When wind, rain or sun pose a problem, Jellyfish raises sheer white protective linens that don't obscure the view. Nice soft lighting at night creates a different atmosphere. Very popular, so reserve ahead: (809)840-7684.

?M. Timothy O'Keefe has visited almost all of the Caribbean islands and writes about them at GuideToCaribbeanVacations.com/.
http://experience.usatoday.com/cari...de-for-punta-cana-dominican-republic/3430467/
 

Conchman

Silver
Jul 3, 2002
4,586
160
63
57
www.oceanworld.net
Not to mention Swimming with the Dolphins (3 facilities) and shark/stingray encounters.

I don't get the attraction of Soana Island, you go from one beach with palm trees to another beach with palm trees. There is nothing on the island, or did I miss something?
 

4*4*4

Bronze
May 4, 2015
566
0
0
Thanks for the ideas when leaving the AI, AE. My wife and I thought we had exhausted the possible activities around us and now see we have barely scratched the surface. Thanks.
 

nigrarosa

Active member
Jan 3, 2013
67
35
28
59
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
There is one thing not mentioned and that is Fun Buggy Punta Cana. No i do not have any interest in this business,but i have done many tours and attractions in many places and this one i did twice. They take you out to the real Dominican and not to the souvenir shops.
 

markryan

New member
Jul 16, 2014
374
0
0
Not to mention Swimming with the Dolphins (3 facilities) and shark/stingray encounters.

I don't get the attraction of Soana Island, you go from one beach with palm trees to another beach with palm trees. There is nothing on the island, or did I miss something?

In Punta Cana you are so trapped in the hotel for at least 7 days anything different is a relief. I did it once it was pretty good. Doubt I would go again.
 

MikeFisher

The Fisherman/Weather Mod
Feb 28, 2006
13,766
2,195
113
Punta Cana/DR
www.mikefisher.fun
not on all point very researched, on the described Sea conditions for offshore fishing it states it even completely wrong.
our long lasting Billfish Season runs thru the smoother Sea Conditions times of the year, Spring til fall.
it is completely wrong that the Sea would flten down in october, the opposite, Fall/Winter is when the Ocean around here starts to get wild/less calm, with stronger winds and stronger wave actions than the calmer spring/summer times.
that O'Keefe may have visited here, but he def did not experience a year in Punta Cana, he would have noticed the real conditions/chages compared to his wrong descriptions right away,

please do not visit/assist the Dolphin and Shark/Stingray spots/parks,
that stuff should get closed around the planet.

Mike
 

Julia31

New member
Jan 4, 2012
166
0
0
Not to mention Swimming with the Dolphins (3 facilities) and shark/stingray encounters.

I don't get the attraction of Soana Island, you go from one beach with palm trees to another beach with palm trees. There is nothing on the island, or did I miss something?

I think the beach in Saona is still a bit nicer than Punta Cana..besides I guess the speed boat ride, swimming in the middle of the ocean and the relaxed boat ride home with some drinking and dancing is worth the trip
 

Eleutheria

New member
Jun 23, 2015
268
0
0
I think the beach in Saona is still a bit nicer than Punta Cana..besides I guess the speed boat ride, swimming in the middle of the ocean and the relaxed boat ride home with some drinking and dancing is worth the trip

The piscina natural is very nice, but the island itself underwhelmed me.
 

MikeFisher

The Fisherman/Weather Mod
Feb 28, 2006
13,766
2,195
113
Punta Cana/DR
www.mikefisher.fun
what Lagoon??
the psicina natural, frequented by some thousand people on excursions between Saona and Bayahibe, is a shallow sandbar, sadly after all the tourism years in no shape to talk home about, the underwater wildlife around/near Saona Island is completely dead.
to give Mom Nature a chance to revover during the next decades, it would urgently be necessary to close down any Mass Tourism activities on and around Saona, but sadly with the big money earned by touroperators and cashed in the pockets of the official in charge institutions, such will most likely not happen any soon, or never.
todays it is hard to find in shape live coral stocks or such anywhere near Saona, it is all nuked down by daily spilled out oils and gasolines, trampled on by feet and flippers of swimmers and snorklers.
heck,
todays those tourguides bring dead SeaStars so their guests can take photos with, 15 years ago the same sandbar was full of alive SeaStars all around.

Mike
 

AnnaC

Gold
Jan 2, 2002
16,050
418
83
I don't get the attraction of Soana Island, you go from one beach with palm trees to another beach with palm trees. There is nothing on the island, or did I miss something?

It's a fantastic feeling that can't be explained but only if you do it with a very small group away from the hundreds of others. If you like to be around chaos this isn't for you. :)

Mike our star fish was alive
 

4*4*4

Bronze
May 4, 2015
566
0
0
It's a fantastic feeling that can't be explained but only if you do it with a very small group away from the hundreds of others. If you like to be around chaos this isn't for you. :)

Very true. A smaller group makes it more relaxing and you can enjoy the natural beauty.
 

AnnaC

Gold
Jan 2, 2002
16,050
418
83
Surfing in Macao and Uvero Alto, day trips to Boca de Yuma and Miches

Can you tell me more about Boca de Yuma? I heard a few people heading that way this past winter but they mostly talked about this great fish place where they had lunch. :)
 

AnnaC

Gold
Jan 2, 2002
16,050
418
83
Thanks guys, so besides eating what else can you tell me is worth the trip?