Is it possible to get some ideas about good day trips from Santo Domingo? By day trip I mean places that are interesting and/or scenic that can be reached in less than two hours from the capital so that going to them, spending some time and returning to Santo Domingo can be accomplished in one day during daylight hours. Many of the obvious ones have been covered before including Guayacanes, Boca Chica, Juan Dolio for the beach lovers. I would be interested in ones not on the beaten track. A few to start the list would be Palenque/Cocolandia beach with it's gentle uncrowded beach and good beachfront restaurants(1-1.5 hours),Juan Baron/Rio Nizao with food stands and swimming areas (1.5 hours), La Toma balanereos in San Cristobal for watersliding into man made river-fed pools (1 hour), Pomier Caves in San Cristobal with the Taino drawings (1 hour). I recently went in search of the Presa Valdesia (Valdesia Dam) in the mountains outside San Cristobal (1.5 hours). Though I never got to the dam I had a very enjoyable day. We found the smaller dam down river from Valdesia and had a picnic out on the dam and watched the local fishermen. Another beautiful place to visit out that way is Cambita-Garabito (1.5 hours). We followed a pretty good road up into the mountains to a really good restaurant up there, Aubergine, Home with outstanding views. After an excellent, though expensive, meal there we continued up the mountain to view the vista and the houses of the well healed that live in them thar hills. It was nice day trip with the tempature being a bit lower up in the mountains and we stocked up on some excellent and inexpensive fruit and vegetables from the roadside stands on the way back down. My times are approximate as we took our time and stopped as often as the mood struck us. How about north and east of Capital? Can anyone add to the list?
- Thread starter BPL888
- Start date
Day Trips from Santo Domingo
You might want to consider a trip to Playa Las Salinas in Bani - now that the highway from Santo Domingo to Bani has been completed it shouldn't take any more time than driving to Palenque.
You mentioned most of the beaches east of SD - but our favorite out that way is Playa Caribe/Embassy Beach. Small, lovely, great waves. Not touristy.
AE
You mentioned most of the beaches east of SD - but our favorite out that way is Playa Caribe/Embassy Beach. Small, lovely, great waves. Not touristy.
AE
you can go to bayaguana using the new Samana road. There you can go to Comate, comatillo, and Salto Alto. You can also go to Yamasa using the road from Villa Mella there you can visit the Guillen Brothers and do the cacao tour (you have to make an apt. ahead of time for both) Bonao and Jarabacoa are both great day trips. Salinas in Bani, or try one of the beaches in Azua.
It's after Boca Chica, before Guayacanes & Juan Dolio. Blink and you'll pass it. It used to be called Playa Candito in the old days. Now it's called Playa Caribe, but it's nicknamed Embassy Beach because all the embassy personnel used to go there.
AE
On the road from SD to San Cristobal are the ruins and well restored remains of two sugar mills. Hopefully someone else can give the name and directions as I have forgotten it!
We can only think of 2 - one on the highway between San Cristobal & Bani [called Caey - on the left side of the hwy] but that one is still operating. There's another in Ingenio Haina. Might also still be in operation.
AE
Thanks for trying but now found thanks to Google what I was thinking of.
Ingenio Palav?, Manoguayabo
Palav? is the most extensive of the four sites, with the original walls and beams that supported the split-level plantation mansion still largely intact. To get here, take Highway 1 (Autopista Duarte) west to the exit for the town of Manoguayabo. Take the first left after the exit sign until you come to the fork in the road just past town. Go right and follow the road to the shack selling a rose-colored liquid in plastic bottles (kerosene). Turn left here and follow the road a short way to the ruins.
Ingenio Engombe, Haina
Located on the R?o Haina, this was the leading area sugar plantation during the 16th-century sugar boom. Beyond the brush covering the former estate are the remains of a two-story mansion with walls, portals, and an enormous staircase still intact. The chapel next door features a beautiful Moorish-tiled roof. To get here, take Carretera S?nchez (Highway 2) west toward San Crist?bal. Just before the Haina River is a right-hand turnoff that leads to the ruins. But the route is tricky, so you may need to ask locals for help finding them.
Ingenio Nigua, Boca de Nigua
This plantation was the site of a major slave rebellion in 1796 that is commemorated the last weekend of October each year during the fiesta of Nigua?s patron saint. Here you can view the remains of the slave quarters and an enormous pot inside the boiling room where juice was extracted from cane. To get here, take Highway 2 west toward San Cristob?l. Make a right-hand turn toward Nigua along Calle Ingenios (again, it?s safest to ask a local to point out the direction for you). Once on Calle Ingenios, make a left turn. After about a five-minute drive you will come to Calle Lemba (and a single modest house on the corner). Turn left here and follow the road to the ruins.
Ingenio Diego Caballero, Boca de Nigua
If you managed to find Ingenio Nigua, backtrack toward Carretera Central (the main throughway in Boca de Nigua). From the church, drive west for about a mile to the ruins of the mill once owned by Diego Cabellero, former secretary of the Audiencia Real (and whose Santo Domingo home is noted on the walking tour of the Zona Colonial).
Its a nice beach but they destroyed the restaurant last year (leaving the rubble still there on the ground) and last time I passed it was still sparse.
Anyone know if its improved any recently?
We were there this past January - restaurant was leveled, but they were still serving food off to the other side of the beach. Tables and chairs/chaises were available for use. My husband talked to the guys working there, and they told him what was going to be built - but I can't remember what it was!
AE
great! i wanted to visit those when i was in santo domingo last year, since i did some research on carribean sugar and slave economy a couple of years back. nobody i asked knew what i was talking about though, so i have to keep this info for the future.