Things to Do in Dominican Republic (2026)

Dominican Republic · DO

Playa Los Corbanitos

Playa Los Corbanitos is a largely undeveloped, five-kilometer stretch of fine beige sand on the Dominican Republic's southern coast, tucked between the salt flats of Las Salinas and the green hills of Palmar de Ocoa. With calm, turquoise waters lapping against a shoreline backed by arid-zone vegetation and cacti, it offers a rare taste of untouched Caribbean coastline just 45 minutes from Santo Domingo. What makes this beach special is its combination of wild beauty and accessibility. Visitors come to swim in gentle, wave-sheltered waters, explore a landscape where mountains meet the sea, and experience the kind of solitude that organized resorts have long left behind. Yet the story here is one of transformation: the massive Puntarena resort complex being developed by Grupo Puntacana along this same coastline signals that Los Corbanitos is on the threshold of becoming a recognized destination.

Lake

Dominican Republic · DO

SAlto Alto

Salto Alto is a river balneario in the green hills around Bayaguana, in Monte Plata province, a day-trip drive northeast of Santo Domingo. Its name—"high leap"—comes from three cascades of the Río Bayaguana, each dropping more than ten metres, that plunge together into a clear, rock-rimmed natural pool wrapped in tropical forest. Unlike the country's busier beach resorts, Salto Alto stays authentic and laid-back, drawing mostly Dominican families who arrive to cool off, eat outdoors and listen to falling water between the boulders. It is run as a privately managed ecotourism site with its own staff, restaurant, parking and lifeguards, so the grounds feel orderly and clean despite the wild setting. The draw is simple: a refreshing swim beneath the cascades, an easy forest walk to reach them, and a whole leisurely day in cool mountain air—an ideal escape into the Dominican interior beyond the coast.

No photo available

Island

Dominican Republic · DO

Isla Cerro Gordo

Isla Cerro Gordo is a tiny uninhabited island sitting in a river rather than the sea. This quiet fluvial isle forms in the Arroyo La Arena, a watercourse that threads through the far north-west of the Dominican Republic, close to the village of Villa Vásquez and within a day's drive of the Haitian border. There are no resorts, trails or signage here—its appeal is the unusual idea of a named island made entirely by a river, ringed by the rural borderland of Monte Cristi province. For most travellers the Dominican coast near Pedernales or Samaná holds far more obvious attractions, and Cerro Gordo is best enjoyed as a geographic curiosity and a reason to slow down in one of the country's least-visited corners. It rewards the map-lover, the river-and-mangrove watcher and anyone already passing through the Monte Cristi–Dajabón border zone who wants a quiet place that isn't on the postcard.

Dominican Republic · DO

Mirador Senator Puerto Plata

Mirador Senator Puerto Plata is a coastal viewpoint perched on a rocky bluff near the Senator resort complex, just a short walk from the Amber Cove cruise terminal on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. With a gazebo set among tropical greenery and panoramic views over the Atlantic, it draws visitors seeking a peaceful stop for ocean scenery, sunset watching, or a moment away from the buzz of the nearby resort strip. Open around the clock and consistently rated highly by visitors, the mirador rewards those who make the walk along the shoreline path with sweeping views of calm blue seas, dark volcanic rocks, and the green mountain backdrop of the Puerto Plata coast.

Finding your next place…

A little more
of Dominican Republic.

Playa Los Corbanitos

SAlto Alto

Isla Cerro Gordo

Mirador Senator Puerto Plata

Finding your next place…

A little more
of Dominican Republic.

Playa Los Corbanitos

SAlto Alto

Isla Cerro Gordo

Mirador Senator Puerto Plata