The Dominican Republic has always been a magnet for sun worshipers, partiers, and sports-minded tourists. This longtime favorite among Canadians has been wildly popular for many decades, but it hasn’t been without its ups and downs.
From the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, Santo Domingo was the place to go as beaches like Boca Chica began to develop hotels and infrastructure to accommodate the area’s growing popularity. Boca Chica quickly became the place to party, but the extensive nightlife and lively bars combined with easy access to tourists by locals sadly soured matters with large reports of prostitution and drug use that seemed increase over the years.
With the introduction of Jack Tar Village, the all-inclusive boom began to take off in Puerto Plata and, in particular, in an area that would soon become the Dominican destination of the 90s: Playa Dorada. Having seemed to have learned from the mistakes that had been made in Boca Chica, the Playa Dorada area is more of a beachside complex of numerous all-inclusive resorts accessible primarily by a tourist-only road. This is not to say that it was without flaws as the beach was for the most part a public area and vendors were frequently approached by tourists selling mainly local produce and jewelry and generally the vendors were friendly not aggressive and would take a simple “no thanks” for an answer and move on. In fact, the vendors were pretty tame compared to the real problem of having so many hotels crammed into one complex… the competition and, in particular, the dreaded timeshare. In fact, many clients who frequented Puerto Plata said that it was getting too much and decided to find another vacation spot. Having experienced this myself, I didn’t blame them and once again things started to take a turn for the worse in the Dominican Republic.
In movies, usually when it comes to a trilogy, they get progressively worse. As they say, “Practice makes perfect” and in the late 1990’s the Dominican Republic made it as perfect as it can be with Punta Cana. This resort area on the east coast of the island is along 50 miles of incredible coastline that boasts some of the best beaches in the Caribbean. White sand and turquoise waters greet guests who stay at one of the best all-inclusive resorts. It’s remote enough to keep the less-than-complimentary sides of the trip away, but central to incredible ecotourism, water sports, land adventures, and self-contained enough to have great nightlife and shopping. On top of that, Punta Cana is now one of the best places for a golf vacation not only in the Caribbean, but in the entire world. The area’s infrastructure is constantly being upgraded and improved, causing a “Boomtown” effect where the entire area continues to improve each year with larger resorts, better amenities, and greater satisfaction for you, the traveler.
I have always had a great time whenever I have been to the DR and have been to all three areas during their heyday. Actually I’ve only been to two during their prime…Punta Cana hasn’t gotten there yet as it’s still the fastest growing area in the Caribbean and the way things are going and while it’s hard to believe, it will only get better.