Dominican Republic 7 Day Itinerary: Beach and History

Check-in is at 2pm, and the arrival afternoon, from 3pm, is for Macao Beach, a local favourite precisely because it sits outside the resort belt: wide sand, palm trees and waves good enough for beginner surfers, without the row of sunbeds that dominates Bávaro. There's no entry fee, and the beach shacks rent chairs and sell fresh fried fish.

Ten minutes' drive away, Bávaro Beach is the region's classic postcard: calm water protected by a reef 800 metres offshore, which is what made it the beach of the big all-inclusive resorts. Worth a half-hour stop at sunset even if you're not staying there, just to see the contrast with Macao.

The trip to Saona Island departs from the fishing village of Bayahibe, about an hour from Punta Cana, and arriving with thirty minutes to spare lets you walk through the village before the boat: colourful wooden houses, fishing boats anchored in the bay, and the Nuestra Señora de Bayahibe church, the smallest in Latin America. Bayahibe is also the country's top diving base, with shipwrecks just minutes away by boat.

Saona Island is part of Parque Nacional del Este and the best-selling excursion in the Dominican Republic, for good reason: near-deserted white sand beaches away from the landing point, turquoise water, and a stop at the natural pool, a shallow stretch of open sea where the boat anchors for a swim and starfish photos.

Tours leave from Bayahibe or directly from Punta Cana, cost from US$89 per person, and include boat or speedboat transfer, the natural pool stop, beach time and lunch with drinks. The full day runs 8 to 9 hours, so bring biodegradable sunscreen, required by the park.

Inside Scape Park, in Cap Cana, Hoyo Azul is a turquoise-blue cenote surrounded by vegetation, fed by underground springs that keep the temperature constant year-round. It's reached by a 20 minute trail through orchid gardens and wooden bridges, and depths of up to 4 metres allow real swimming, not just wading.

Entry to Scape Park, which includes Hoyo Azul, six ziplines, a dry cave and a guided forest trail, costs around US$89 per adult, bought on the official website. Set aside two to three hours for the full park.

Leaving Scape Park, a 15 minute detour leads to the Cap Cana marina, a luxury development of yachts and mansions that also holds some of the region's best-rated restaurants. Thirty minutes walking the marina, with the Cap Cana lighthouse in the background, close the afternoon before dinner.

Punta Cana to Santo Domingo is about a three hour drive, and the 2pm check-in leaves time to start the afternoon in the Colonial Zone, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990. The Cathedral Primada de América, completed in 1541, is the oldest cathedral still in use in the Americas, built in late Gothic style with Plateresque details on the main facade.

A local legend, now disputed by historians, held that Christopher Columbus's remains were kept there for centuries before moving to Seville. Entry is free, and half an hour covers the visit, respecting mass times.

Five minutes' walk away, the Alcázar de Colón was built between 1511 and 1515 for Diego Columbus, son of Christopher Columbus and first Viceroy of the Indies, and is the oldest surviving example of Renaissance civil architecture in the Americas. It now works as a museum, with period furniture, Flemish tapestries and the room where Vicereine María de Toledo, niece of King Ferdinand of Aragon, lived.

Entry costs between 100 and 200 Dominican pesos (about US$2 to US$4), and an hour covers both floors of the museum.

Calle Las Damas is the oldest street still in use in the Americas, paved in stone since the early 16th century and named because it's where the Viceroy's court ladies used to stroll at dusk. The National Pantheon, a former Jesuit church now the mausoleum of Dominican heroes, and the Museum of the Royal Houses sit along the street. Forty minutes on foot cover the two blocks.

At the end of Calle Las Damas, Ozama Fortress was built in 1502 to guard the mouth of the Ozama River, and is the oldest surviving European military structure in the Americas. The Tower of Homage, at the centre of the complex, served as a prison for centuries, including a brief stint for Christopher Columbus himself, jailed there in 1500 for mismanaging the colony. Entry costs around 100 pesos, and half an hour covers the courtyard and the tower.

Twenty minutes from the historic centre, on the road to Samaná, Los Tres Ojos is a limestone cave system with four freshwater underground lakes, the fourth reachable only by a manual raft pulled on a rope. The name comes from the first three "eyes," visible from stairs carved into the rock, which the Taíno, the island's original indigenous people, already used as a water source before the Spanish arrived.

The official ticket costs around US$2.50, and an hour covers the visit. From there, it's another two and a half hours' drive to Samaná, with check-in at 2pm.

From mid-January to mid-March, thousands of humpback whales migrate from the cold waters of the North Atlantic to Samaná Bay to mate and give birth, in one of the largest whale gatherings on the planet during that window. Watching tours leave Samaná every morning during the season, run two to three hours, and keep the distance set by the Ministry of the Environment, which also charges a conservation fee separate from the boat ticket.

The tour costs from US$55 to US$77 per person, and it's worth booking an operator licensed by the Ministry of Tourism, identifiable by the official sticker on the boat's hull.

Half an hour from Samaná, El Limón Waterfall drops 40 metres into a natural pool amid the forest, and the traditional access is on horseback or on foot along a 25 to 40 minute trail, depending on the starting point. The guided horseback tour, including lunch, costs around US$95, and the cheaper walking-only version runs about US$45.

The water stays cold year-round, and swimming right under the falls is the plan: bring shoes that can get wet, since the way back crosses shallow streams at several points.

By boat across San Lorenzo Bay, Los Haitises National Park holds over 200 limestone islets covered in tropical forest, caves with Taíno pictographs up to a thousand years old, and mangroves where pelicans and frigatebirds nest. It's the itinerary's last big nature experience before heading back to Punta Cana.

Tours leave from Samaná or Sabana de la Mar, run 8 to 11 hours including a beach lunch and a stop at natural pools, and cost from US$65 per person.

Heading back from Los Haitises, a 30 minute detour leads to Las Terrenas, a beach town founded by French and Italian fishermen that still keeps European restaurants alongside Dominican ones. The main beach, pale sand with leaning palm trees, is far less crowded than Bávaro. From here, it's about three and a half hours' drive back to Punta Cana for the departure flight.