Dominican Republic 🇩🇴

Puerto Plata is a vibrant city located on the northern coast of the Dominican Republic. Situated along the Atlantic Ocean, this coastal paradise boasts stunning beaches with golden sand and crystal-clear waters. The city is surrounded by a backdrop of lush, green mountains, offering picturesque landscapes.

PlayaBachata Spa Resort

Puerto Plata offers an array of all-inclusive resorts and hotels catering to different budgets and preferences. Playa Bachata Resort is a popular all-inclusive beachfront resort offering direct access to a beautiful stretch of beach with golden sands and turquoise waters.

The hotel has restaurants, buffets, snack restaurants, as well as bars. Thanks to the All Inclusive system, you can enjoy meals, snacks and national drinks with and without alcohol in all of them.

We shared a beach with another resort called Senator. The cool thing was, with our wristbands we were able to go over to to use their beach and also go watch their nightly entertainment.

Amphitheater Senator

Amphitheater Senator

Mokka Coffee Shop

While exploring the premises, we walked over to this beautiful viewpoint. I think when people have weddings at the resort, this is probably where the ceremonies take place. It gives you a really nice view of the incoming cruise ships and the water!

Initials and names of tourists carved in the large leaves of Agave plants in the Dominican Republic

Downtown Puerto Plata

Parque Independencia–also known as Parque Central–is the centerpiece of Puerto Plata city, framed with royal palms and hugged on all four corners by pastel-colored Victorian-era architecture. The white Catedral del Apóstol San Felipe towers over the square, where Puerto Plateños relax throughout the day and night with friends and family.

This beautiful Victorian Gazebo was built in 1919 in Parque de la Independencia (Independence Town Square) in the heart of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.

St. Philip the Apostle Cathedral, Puerto Plata

Duarte is considered a folk hero and revolutionary visionary in the modern Dominican Republic. He helped organize and promote the Trinitario movement that eventually led to the Dominican revolt and independence from Haitian rule in 1844.

Umbrella Street

The Paseo de Doña Blanca or The Pink Street of Puerto Plata!

Its history dates back to 1898 when Isidoro Rainieri and Bianca Franceschini, natives of Italy, arrived in Puerto Plata and, realizing that a hotel was needed to serve travelers, they decided to establish the Hospedaje del Comercio, which they later changed the name to Hotel Europe.

The Paseo de Doña Blanca or The Pink Street of Puerto Plata!

Fortaleza San Felipe

A key piece of Puerto Plata’s history, Fortaleza San Felipe was built by the Spaniards in the 16th century to defend the north coast of the Dominican Republic from the British and Dutch, and from French pirates in search of the area’s abundant gold and silver. Considered one of the most important colonial military structures in the Caribbean, it was completed in 1577 and later served as a prison from the 19th century through the Trujillo years. Now a museum, touring the fort reveals the original canons facing the Atlantic, ancient weapons, and numerous hidden chambers. The panoramic views over the Puerto Plata coastline are impressive.

Equestrian Statue of Gregorio Luperón on the Malecón near the San Felipe fortress. Upon the inception of the Revolution of 1886, and from his post, Luperón engages in battle in Puerto Plata, contributing greatly to triumph of Ulises Heureaux and his Presidency in 1887.

Amber Museum

The Puerto Plata Amber Museum can be considered a time capsule, a window to our prehistoric past, for the past 40 million years.

Dominican Amber is considered among the most valuable in the world. This semi-precious gem formed during the Tertiary and Mesozoic periods, 25-40 millions of years ago. Ancient Conifer trees produced a sap that oozed out of its branches, in many cases trapping leaves, birds, insects and small animals like geckos. Once fossilized, it became a time capsule, preserving the trapped species for millions of years. This sticky resin hardened into a warm golden gem later to be known as amber. It has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times. There are five classes of amber, and when it contains animal or plants inside, it is called inclusions.

20 million year old gecko, completely preserved

The Amber museum has several display rooms, with an impressive collection of pieces of many sizes, containing plants, insects and other fossilized small animals.

Dominican amber became world famous in the mainstream when the film Jurassic Park (1993) opened in theaters, with an initial scene of amber mining in the Dominican Republic; they found a mosquito from which a DNA sample was taken, and a dinosaur sequenced back to life on a lab. The Puerto Plata Amber Museum has a display wall with newspaper and magazine clips, also a replica of the walking cane Dr. Richard Attenborough used in the movie, which has a fossilized rock with a trapped mosquito in it.

Local Flavor

Mama Juana (or Mamajuana) is a spiced alcoholic beverage made by infusing a mixture of rum, red wine, and honey with tree bark and herbs.

Mama Juana

The Dominican Flag drink: blue curacao, pina colada, and strawberry daiquiri...yummy!!!

mangu (mashed plantains)

Fresh fruits of the Dominican Republic