Punta Cana Guide · 5 articles
Punta Cana by day
This is the daytime half of Punta Cana, the trips that fill the hours between two nights out. It covers Saona Island and the rules of its national park, the Hoyo Azul cenote in Cap Cana, the beaches beyond Bávaro, the stone village of Altos de Chavón and a long day in Santo Domingo's Colonial City. Each article gives the official figures we could check, such as park hours, ticket prices published by the venue itself, bus and taxi fares, and says plainly what no official source publishes. Prices from tour sellers are left out. When the day is over, the evening starts on our Bávaro nightlife page.
By day
Macao beach and the beaches beyond Bávaro: Juanillo, Cabeza de Toro, Uvero Alto
Bávaro gets the hotels and the photos, but the Punta Cana coast runs for more than 50 km of sand, and its other beaches each have a character of their own. Here are the four that come up most, what the Ministry of Tourism says about each, how far they are by taxi and what the law says about getting onto the sand.
By day
Hoyo Azul and Scape Park: Cap Cana's cenote, ticket and trail
Hoyo Azul is the blue pool at the foot of a limestone cliff that most Punta Cana photo feeds end up showing. It sits inside a private adventure park in Cap Cana, so the ticket, the hours and the way in are set by the park. This is what Scape Park and the Ministry of Tourism publish, figure by figure.
By day
Saona Island: the national-park day trip from Punta Cana
Saona is the day most visitors to Punta Cana spend at sea, and it is also a national park with rules of its own. Here is where it is, how you reach the boats, what the Ministry of Environment asks of visitors, and how to place the trip so it doesn't eat a night out.
By day
Altos de Chavón: the stone village, its amphitheater and the trip from Punta Cana
Altos de Chavón looks old and is not: a stone village built in the late 1970s and early 1980s on a cliff above the Chavón River, with an amphitheater that has hosted Frank Sinatra and Shakira. It lies inside a private resort in La Romana, so the first question from Punta Cana is not how to get there but whether you will be let in. Here is what the official sources say.
By day
Santo Domingo day trip from Punta Cana: the Colonial City by bus or taxi
Santo Domingo is the capital, and its Colonial City is where the first cathedral and the first university in the Americas went up. From Punta Cana it is a long day out, so the useful questions are practical: which bus, what it costs, how long it takes and what you can see once you arrive. Here are the answers from UNESCO, the Ministry of Tourism, the bus company and the airport's own fare sheet.