TOP 10 THINGS TO DO IN PUNTA CANA

Blessed with one of the Caribbean’s longest white sand coastlines–a whop­ping 48 kilo­me­ters (30 miles), punc­tu­at­ed with sky-reach­ing coconut palms–Punta Cana is the land of rest and relax­ation by the sea. Here, where the Atlantic meets the Caribbean, all-inclu­sive resorts and bou­tique hide­aways offer all the whims and com­forts of mod­ern beach­front liv­ing. Fam­i­lies enjoy fam­i­ly ori­ent­ed enter­tain­ment and water parks for chil­dren, while cou­ples-only enclaves offer seclud­ed beach­side lodg­ing for an ultra-roman­tic stay. But it’s not only about fun in the sun, soft sand brush­ing against your toes, and iri­des­cent, clear water to swim in, go horse­back rid­ing, or dive in and dis­cov­er an under­wa­ter par­adise. Below we’ve com­piled our favorite 10 things to do in Punt Cana (In no spe­cif­ic order).

1. Swim With Dolphins

Make friends with fas­ci­nat­ing marine mam­mals and learn about the Domini­can Repub­lic’s friend­ly dol­phin com­mu­ni­ty dur­ing a mag­i­cal dol­phin encounter. Get to know Pun­ta Cana’s pod of res­i­dent dol­phins, play­ing games and teach­ing them sim­ple tricks before your enchant­i­ng expe­ri­ence is through.

2. Mon­key Land Safari

Nes­tled in the moun­tains of Ana­muya, this expe­ri­ence offers a chance to inter­re­late and observe mon­keys in their nat­ur­al envi­ron­ment. Mean­while you’re enjoy­ing spec­tac­u­lar views of the coun­try­side. This is an unfor­get­table expe­ri­ence for all ages.

You begin your jour­ney by enter­ing the love­ly botan­i­cal gar­den, where you learn about the native plants and flow­ers of Ana­muya. The fol­low­ing 45 min­utes is catered to a guid­ed tour that allows you to inter­act in close prox­im­i­ty with beau­ti­ful and friend­ly squir­rel mon­keys. These love­ly and intel­li­gent mam­mals have been trained by a Cana­di­an cou­ple with 35 years of expe­ri­ence work­ing with ani­mals, includ­ing 12 years at the Toron­to Zoo teach­ing mon­keys to trust and enjoy the com­pa­ny of humans.

3. El Limón Waterfall

Pair your pas­sion for adven­ture with your love of nature dur­ing a guid­ed horse­back adven­ture to El Limón Water­fall. Embark on an idyl­lic ascent through coconut and palm trees toward the cas­cad­ing falls, where you can take the plunge and cool off in the sooth­ing waters beneath El Limón Waterfall.

Turn the trop­i­cal for­est into your play­ground. Mar­vel at the way the hors­es clam­ber up steep sec­tions of the track with a sense of prowess. Behold the stun­ning array of wildlife while you climb, and take time to admire the coconut and palm trees bear­ing blos­soms and low-hang­ing fruit.

Hear the crash­ing sound of water before you catch sight of El Limón. At the top, pause to drink in vis­tas of the awe-inspir­ing falls as you get ready to plunge into the refresh­ing pools for a swim.

4. Off Road Adventures

Join this ral­ly through the Domini­can coun­try­side for a fun and thrilling adven­ture behind the wheel of your own off-road vehi­cle. Cruise through local farm­land, pass by fresh­wa­ter springs, and take a swim in the refresh­ing waters of the Caribbean along the way.

5. Full Day Colo­nial San­to Domin­go City Tour

As one of the old­est cities of the Amer­i­c­as and a UNESCO World Her­itage Site, San­to Domin­go is a great choice for first-time vis­i­tors and his­to­ry buffs. You’ll vis­it some spec­tac­u­lar places of this rich colo­nial city includ­ing the caves at Three Eyes Nation­al Park, the Colum­bus Light­house, the walled Colo­nial Zone, and the Nation­al Pres­i­den­tial Palace.

6. Horse­back Rid­ing Experience

Live the expe­ri­ence of horse­back rid­ing on a Paso Higueyano horse as you trot along on the beau­ti­ful white sands of the Caribbean beach­es. See the stun­ning coast­line as well as the pic­turesque coun­try­side, stop­ping for a swim where the riv­er meets the ocean.

After a safe­ty brief­ing, be greet­ed by your friend­ly guide and by your new 4‑legged friend. Sad­dle up, and hop on for an unfor­get­table and mem­o­rable ride. The jour­ney takes you through both Caribbean beach­es and countryside.

You vis­it the Mai­mon Riv­er mouth, where the local fish­er­man are docked, and have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to take a dip in both fresh and salt water. Here, you can enjoy a deli­cious and refresh­ing coconut water.

7. Zipline Adventures

Get ready for a thrilling adven­ture that takes you over the wilder­ness just a few min­utes away from the pier of Samana Bay. A 10-zipline course lets you tear through the sky as you get a unique look at the idyl­lic for­est and sights that stretch all the way to the coast.

A safari-style truck car­ries you through a set­ting defined by forest­ed hill­sides and beau­ti­ful Caribbean beach­es. Admire the sweep­ing views of sites like Bac­ar­di Island and Los Hai­tis­es Nation­al Park from atop the zipline plat­forms as you pre­pare to step out into the air.

The zipline course takes you through an alter­nat­ing series of high-speed rides over the for­est, with panoram­ic views across the Samana Penin­su­la, and hikes through vivid stretch­es of shrub­bery. You’ll get a daz­zling com­bi­na­tion of trop­i­cal rain­for­est and unspoiled white-sand beach­es with this aer­i­al voyage.

8. Hoyo Azul

Tucked inside Scape Park, in the Cap Cana area, this “blue hole” cenote offers a refresh­ing swim in nat­ur­al, cool spring waters. Sur­round­ed in lush rain­for­est, Hoyo Azul, approx­i­mate­ly 14 meters (45 feet) in depth, sits at the foot of a 75-meter (246-foot) tall lime­stone cliff cov­ered in veg­e­ta­tion. You’ll have to cross a sus­pen­sion bridge and hike past a myr­i­ad of flo­ra and fau­na, includ­ing an orchid gar­den, to make your way to this hid­den oasis. Leap into the tempt­ing turquoise waters, or use the steps to enter this par­a­disi­a­cal, nat­ur­al pool.

9. Water Adventures

Get to know the won­ders of Pun­ta Cana and the Bay of Samana with a mix­ture of spec­tac­u­lar sight­see­ing along the shore and below the waves. With snor­kel­ing in the coral reefs, some great Domini­can food, and a show­case of local crafts, you get a full range of expe­ri­ences that lie along the coast.

These tours usu­al­ly have many options which include, A cata­ma­ran boat ride that car­ries you out for a voy­age across the water. A bus ride that takes you through beau­ti­ful land­scapes to reach the live­ly com­mu­ni­ty of Bavaro, a favorite for vis­i­tors through­out the Caribbean. Many end with a vis­it to a muse­um that show­cas­es local prod­ucts from hand­made cig­ars to choco­late and rum.

10. Rest & Relaxation

Let’s not for­get one of he most impor­tant activ­i­ties Pun­ta Cana is known for, Rest and Relax­ation. Take the time out to enjoy some time to do noth­ing but recharge and unwind. Take in one of the free night­ly shows, treat your palette to an assort­ment of dif­fer­ent cuisines and sim­ply live for the moment.

We would like to thank Pun­ta Cana Adven­tures for tak­ing us on some amaz­ing adven­tures dur­ing our amaz­ing stay in Pun­ta Cana. For more info on them vis­it PuntacanaAdventures.com

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