Day Trips from Santo Domingo

Overview

Santo Domingo sits in the middle of the south coast, which makes it a good base for short trips in two directions. East along the Autopista de Las Américas you reach the Tres Ojos sinkholes, the airport, the reef-sheltered lagoon at Boca Chica, the hotel strip at Juan Dolio, the old sugar and baseball town of San Pedro de Macorís and the Cueva de las Maravillas. West on the Autopista 6 de Noviembre and the Carretera Sánchez you reach San Cristóbal, Baní and the Médanos de Baní, a field of sand dunes beside the sea.

None of these places needs an overnight stay, and most can be paired. The classic combinations are Tres Ojos plus Boca Chica in a half day, Juan Dolio plus San Pedro or the Cueva de las Maravillas in a full day, and San Cristóbal plus Baní and the dunes in a long day heading west. If you want a lazier beach base for a few nights instead, read our page on Juan Dolio and Boca Chica.

For the city itself, start with Santo Domingo and the Zona Colonial. For trips that are too far for a day, such as Samaná or the southwest, see Samaná and Barahona and the southwest.

Choosing your trips

Drive times assume light traffic. Leaving Santo Domingo between 7 and 9:30 a.m. or coming back between 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. on a weekday can add 30 to 60 minutes, mostly on the bridges over the Ozama River heading east and on the western exits.

Los Tres Ojos

Los Tres Ojos (the Three Eyes) is a chain of open-roofed limestone sinkholes holding pools of clear, blue-green water, set in the Parque Mirador del Este on the east bank of the Ozama River. You walk down a long staircase cut into the rock, through overhangs dripping with stalactites, past three lakes in a row. A rope-pulled wooden raft then carries you across one of the pools to reach a fourth lake, Los Zaramagullones, which sits under open sky with jungle hanging over the rim. It is the most photogenic of the four.

The whole visit takes about an hour at a relaxed pace. It is shady and a few degrees cooler than the street, which makes it a good midday stop. Pair it with the Faro a Colón, the huge Columbus Lighthouse monument a few minutes away, or the Acuario Nacional on the waterfront, then continue east to the beach at Boca Chica.

Tickets and hours

Entry is cheap. Published rates in recent years have been around RD$100 (about $1.60) for foreign visitors, with a lower rate for Dominican residents, and a small separate charge for the raft crossing to the fourth lake. The site generally opens from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; some listings show it closed on Mondays, so check before going on a Monday or a public holiday. Pay in pesos and carry small bills.

Getting there

Uber is the easy option: it is a short ride from the Zona Colonial or Gazcue across the Ozama. When you leave, request your ride from inside the park entrance area and confirm the plate before getting in, since drivers touting rides gather outside. The Santo Domingo Metro does not stop at the gate. Tour companies sell Tres Ojos as a two-hour trip or as part of a city tour, but you do not need one for a place this simple.

Boca Chica

Boca Chica is the capital's beach. A coral reef sits a few hundred yards offshore and turns the bay into a wide, shallow lagoon where you can wade out a long way with the water barely past your waist. That makes it good for kids and weak swimmers, and it is the nearest real beach to the city, about 20 miles (32 km) east and close to Las Américas airport.

On weekdays it is easygoing: plastic chairs, umbrellas, vendors walking the sand with oysters, sunglasses and hair braiding, and beach shacks frying whole fish with tostones (twice-fried green plantain). On Sunday it fills with families from the capital, music from car speakers and long waits for a table. If you want the scene, go on a Sunday; if you want quiet, go Tuesday to Thursday.

The town behind the beach has a reputation for sex tourism, especially after dark along Calle Duarte. In daylight on the beach this is mostly invisible. Go for the water and the fish, and head back before evening if that side of town is not what you came for.

Getting there

Uber or a taxi takes 40 to 60 minutes from the Zona Colonial depending on traffic. Budget travelers can take a guagua (minibus) east from the stops around Parque Enriquillo, where buses for Boca Chica, San Pedro and La Romana load; tell the driver Boca Chica and he will drop you on the main road a few blocks from the sand. The fare is low, typically well under RD$150 (about $2.50), but confirm it before boarding. Boca Chica is also an easy first or last stop if you have a late flight from SDQ. For more on the beach and where to eat and sleep, see Juan Dolio and Boca Chica.

Juan Dolio

Juan Dolio is 15 minutes farther east, a long strip of condo towers, older hotels and beach clubs along a coast with more waves and less reef protection than Boca Chica. The water is clearer and the beach is less crowded, but the sand is coarser and some stretches are rocky underfoot. The Dominican middle class from the capital owns many of the apartments, so it gets busy on weekends and dead quiet midweek outside winter.

For a day trip, the simplest move is to buy a day pass at one of the all-inclusive hotels, which gives you a lounger, the pool, lunch and drinks. Ask at the front desk or check the hotel's site; prices and availability vary by day and season, and some hotels stop selling passes when they are full. The free public beach sections in the village of Guayacanes and near the middle of the strip have food shacks and locals' weekend crowds.

Juan Dolio pairs well with the Cueva de las Maravillas or an evening baseball game in San Pedro de Macorís, both within 30 to 45 minutes.

San Pedro de Macorís

San Pedro de Macorís, about 45 miles (70 km) east of the capital, grew rich on sugar in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and it still has the cast-iron and Victorian-style buildings of that era along its riverfront and around the cathedral of San Pedro Apóstol. Thousands of workers came from the English-speaking Caribbean to cut cane, and their descendants, called cocolos, brought the Guloya dance-drama tradition, which UNESCO lists as part of humanity's intangible heritage. You will see it at Carnival and on the feast of San Pedro in late June.

The town is best known to Americans as a baseball factory. A remarkable number of major leaguers were born here or nearby, and the Estrellas Orientales play home games at the Estadio Tetelo Vargas during the Dominican winter league season, which runs from October into January. An evening game is the most memorable way to see the town: cheap seats, a brass band in the stands and constant noise. See our baseball page for the schedule, tickets and how the league works.

By day, walk the Malecón along the Higuamo River mouth, look into the cathedral, and eat at a local comedor (a simple lunch restaurant serving the dish of the day). Allow two or three hours. San Pedro is a working town with few tourists, and few people speak English.

Getting there

By car it is about 1 hour 15 minutes from the Zona Colonial on the toll highway east. Guaguas toward La Romana pass through or stop on the edge of town; tell the driver San Pedro. After a night game, use Uber if it is working in the area or arrange a driver in advance rather than looking for a ride outside the stadium at 11 p.m.

Cueva de las Maravillas

The Cueva de las Maravillas (Cave of Wonders) lies just off the highway between San Pedro de Macorís and La Romana, near the Cumayasa River. It is the most visitor-friendly cave in the country: lit concrete paths, ramps and an elevator, so wheelchair users and people with limited mobility can see it. Guided groups walk about 800 feet (240 m) past stalagmite columns and hundreds of Taíno pictographs and petroglyphs, drawn by the island's original inhabitants centuries before Columbus.

Tours run in groups of up to about 25 and last roughly 25 to 45 minutes, with Spanish and often English-speaking guides. Photography has been restricted inside to protect the rock art, so ask at the ticket desk what is allowed on the day.

Tickets and hours

The last published rates were about RD$300 (about $5) for adult foreign visitors and RD$100 for children up to 12. The cave has kept Tuesday to Sunday hours, roughly 9 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m., and closes on Mondays. Both hours and fees may have changed, so confirm before driving out.

Getting there

Drive or hire a driver; it is about 1 hour 30 minutes from the capital. A La Romana guagua can drop you at the turnoff on the highway, but the walk in and the wait for a ride back on a fast road make this awkward without a car.

San Cristóbal

San Cristóbal, about 18 miles (30 km) west of the capital, is the birthplace of Rafael Trujillo, the dictator who ruled from 1930 until his assassination in 1961. The town carries his marks. The big church of San Cristóbal, which he commissioned, holds murals and was meant to be his tomb. On the hill above town, the Castillo del Cerro is a hulking mansion built for him that he reportedly never lived in, now worn but evocative. Visiting both gives you a feel for how one man reshaped the country, which helps make sense of the monuments in the capital.

The real draw for nature lovers is the Reserva Antropológica Cuevas del Pomier, a set of caves north of town with thousands of Taíno drawings, one of the largest concentrations of pre-Columbian rock art in the Caribbean. Access is with a local guide; arrangements change, so ask at your hotel or a local tour operator before going and expect a modest fee. Wear closed shoes and bring a flashlight.

South of town, the beaches at Najayo and Palenque have darker sand and are where San Cristóbal families go on Sundays. They are fine for a meal by the water but not worth the trip on their own.

Getting there

Uber or a driver takes 45 minutes to an hour. Guaguas west to San Cristóbal and Baní run frequently from the city's western bus stops; the loading points shift, so ask your hotel which one is current.

Baní and the Médanos de Baní

Baní, about 40 miles (65 km) west, is a prosperous small city famous across the country for its mangoes; the Expo Mango fair takes over the town in June, when the fruit is in season. It is the gateway to the most unusual landscape near the capital: the Médanos de Baní, officially the Monumento Natural Dunas de las Calderas. These are bare, golden sand dunes up to about 100 feet (30 m) high, between a salt lagoon and the Caribbean, on the Las Calderas peninsula.

The dunes sit next to a Dominican Navy base, and you enter through a checkpoint where you pay a small park fee to the Ministry of Environment; check this season's amount at the booth. A short boardwalk and trails lead up the dunes for views of the bay. There is almost no shade. Go early, bring at least a quart (1 liter) of water per person, a hat and shoes that can handle hot sand, and plan for an hour or two on site.

Nearby are the Salinas de Puerto Hermoso salt flats, where sea salt is still harvested in pans, and the windy fishing village of Las Salinas, a known spot for windsurfing and kitesurfing on the bay. Stop for lunch of fresh fish in Las Salinas or for a mango batido (milkshake) in Baní on the way back.

Getting there

Driving is far easier than public transport here. Allow 1 hour 15 minutes to Baní and another 30 to 45 minutes to the dunes. By guagua you can reach Baní cheaply, but from there you need a taxi to the dunes and back. Book a private driver if you do not want to rent a car; see driving for road rules and tolls.

How to get out of the city

Uber and taxis

Uber works throughout Santo Domingo and to the nearby beaches, and it shows you the price before you book, which takes the haggling out of it. For a round trip to somewhere with weak coverage, such as the dunes or the cave, many drivers will agree to wait and bring you back for a fixed price; agree on it in the app chat or in writing before you go, and pay at the end.

A hired driver for the day

For two or three stops in one day, a private driver is the best value for a family or a group of four. Hotels in the Zona Colonial can arrange one. Agree on the route, the stops, the waiting time, who pays tolls and fuel, and the total in pesos or dollars before you set off.

Guaguas and buses

Guaguas are the cheapest way out and run all day to Boca Chica, Juan Dolio, San Pedro, San Cristóbal and Baní. They are cramped, they stop anywhere, and the driver's assistant collects fares and calls out the destination. They stop running around dusk. Keep your phone and wallet in a front pocket. Our getting around page covers fares, stops and etiquette.

Driving yourself

Renting a car is reasonable for the western trips and for the cave. Expect fast, aggressive driving on the highways, motorcycles weaving everywhere and tolls in pesos at booths. Speed limits are posted in km/h: 80 km/h (50 mph) is common on main roads and up to 100–120 km/h (62–75 mph) on the best highways. Read driving first.

Organized tours

Tour operators sell many of these trips, usually as half days (Tres Ojos plus a city tour, or Tres Ojos plus Boca Chica) at prices in US dollars. A guided Tres Ojos tour alone typically costs in the $40s per person, and a combined caves-and-beach day around double that. That is far more than doing it yourself, but transport, entry fees and a Spanish-English guide are included. They make sense if you are a cruise passenger with a fixed return time or if you do not want to deal with transport. See excursions for how to book safely and cruises for the Santo Domingo port.

Sample days

1. Day 1

   Caves and the lagoon

   Leave the Zona Colonial at 9 a.m. for Los Tres Ojos and spend an hour underground. Continue to Boca Chica for a swim and a fried-fish lunch, and be back in the city by 4 p.m. before the rush.

2. Day 2

   Rock art and baseball

   Drive to the Cueva de las Maravillas for a late-morning tour, then spend the afternoon on a hotel day pass in Juan Dolio. In season, finish with a night game in San Pedro de Macorís and a prearranged driver back.

3. Day 3

   The west

   Start at 7:30 a.m. for the Médanos de Baní while it is cool, see the salt pans, have lunch in Las Salinas or Baní, and stop at the Castillo del Cerro in San Cristóbal on the way home.

Practical tips

• Carry pesos in small bills (RD$100, RD$200 and RD$500 notes) for entry fees, chairs, food stands and tolls; few of these places take cards.
• Do not drink tap water; buy bottled water at any colmado (corner store).
• Sunscreen and a hat matter even on cloudy days; the midday sun is far stronger than most of the US.
• Expect Spanish only outside tour desks. A few phrases go a long way; see Spanish.
• Avoid long weekends and Semana Santa (Holy Week) if you hate crowds; beaches and highways jam. See when to go.
• From June to November, check the hurricane forecast before a coastal day.
• Keep valuables out of sight on the beach and in cars. See safety.