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 Travel & Outdoors | January 2006 
More Americans 'Discovering' Punta Cana
 Bill Nelson - Journal Sentinel
| | The beaches of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic offer a warm winter getaway. | 
| If You Go
Getting there: Both Apple Vacations and Funjet fly direct to Punta Cana International Airport from Milwaukee and Chicago in the winter travel season.
Documents: A passport is needed or an original birth certificate and photo identification card, such as a driver's license. Also, a tourist card ($10 U.S.) is needed upon arrival, and a departure tax is charged ($20). These are often handled by the charter service.
Currency: Dominican peso. Last week, 34 pesos equaled $1 (U.S.)
What to wear: Casual attire is fine. Some resorts, however, require long pants and collared shirts for men at dinner and skirts or sundresses for women.
Advice: Sunscreen is a must. (The tropical sun is intense.) Good to bring an alarm clock, too, even if you won't need it all that often. Not all hotel rooms have clocks and some hotels aren't always diligent about wake-up calls. To be safe, it's probably best to use bottled water for drinking and brushing teeth. Winter vacationers miss the rainy season. Blackouts are common, but they seldom last more than a few minutes. Most resorts have their own generators.
More information: For more information, check with the Dominican Republic Tourism Board, (888) 374-6361 or www.dominicanrepublic.com/ |
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic - You've just strolled into an elevator at an all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic's Punta Cana.
You hear a tanned young couple chatting behind you. They're speaking in Italian. A second couple, a stocky middle-aged pair, discuss dinner, in German. A third elevator occupant (a South American mother, vacationing with her teenage daughter) says something in Spanish. As you step out of the elevator, you pick up a smattering of French phrases coming from a cluster of couples heading to the dining area. (French Canadians, perhaps? Or maybe Parisians?)
"Hey, we English-speaking folks seem to be in the minority," you say to two newfound U.K. friends, with whom you and your wife are dining this evening.
"You're jolly well right," your British friend replies, smiling. "And isn't that refreshing?"
The Brit is correct. A winter getaway in Punta Cana - on the sunrise side of the island - not only is a relaxing break from cold, dreary, snowy days in the north, it's a broadening experience.
Not only do you hear languages different from your own, you get an opportunity to savor a variety of cultures and customs.
That was evident our third day at the Natura Park Resort and Spa when the sun shone brightly, the temperatures rose into the high 80s and several European women chose to go topless as a way to savor the winter warmth.
(The resort doesn't encourage this kind of sunbathing, but, recognizing that it's de rigueur among many Europeans, didn't act to stop it. And it occurred on the sea beach, a distance from the hotel, not at poolside.)
If you choose to dine with, or chat with, non-Americans vacationing there, it can be engaging.
We befriended a second-night tablemate, a boyish-looking Swiss banker in his late 20s, which led to an exhilarating ride into the Caribbean the next afternoon in a catamaran.
Waterfront sports rank as prime attractions here, including sailing, canoeing, kayaking, paddle boats, banana boats and glass-bottom boats, as well as snorkeling, scuba diving, water polo, water volleyball - and swim-up bars.
"I've never sailed before," our Swiss friend confessed, and probably wished he had rethought our invitation after a gust filled the sails and almost lifted up the front end of the twin hulls.
The breeze shot us out to sea a hundred yards in a matter of seconds. It felt like a tire-burning drag race. I'm no experienced sailor, but I've never left a shoreline any faster.
Fortunately, the winds eased minutes later and we easily navigated the turquoise waters off the coastline for an hour, as our Swiss acquaintance took over the tiller and worked the sail, before we made our way back to the beach's golden sands.
"Thanks," he said, as we dragged the catamaran out of the water. "Now I know what I'll be doing tomorrow."
Punta Cana. Maybe you haven't yet tried out this fast-growing resort area at the far eastern tip of the Dominican Republic. An English-speaking clerk at our resort (Spanish is the Caribbean country's official language) told us that only 20% to 25% of Punta Cana's vacationers are Americans.
"We're dependent most on charter traffic from Europe," he said.
But, he added, the number of Americans "discovering" Punta Cana grows each year.
"My country has 3.5 million visitors a year," he said proudly. "And that total just keeps climbing, and we're seeing more and more Americans."
Tourism, he said, is a $2 billion a year-plus industry in the Dominican Republic. "And I've heard it said that the Dominican Republic has the largest all-inclusive resort industry anywhere. I would say we're the Caribbean's best all-inclusive value."
Tour books agree, calling the Dominican Republic one of the least expensive Caribbean destinations.
Today, Punta Cana and Bavaro resort areas - the "Coconut Coast" - feature three dozen all-inclusive beach resort hotels lining more than 25 miles of golden and white sand.
"Be prepared to spend much of your time at your resort," our travel adviser told us. "There's no great city there, full of shopping bargains and stunning sights. Punta Cana is simply a destination, a laid-back area that serves as a retreat for relaxation, not frenzied activity."
So, if a quiet, restful week or two is a winter dream, you won't do much better than this Caribbean hideaway, she said.
It boasts of about 300 days of sunshine yearly, relatively new hotels (the oldest was built in 1985 and 90% of the resorts went up after 1995) that by regulation are no taller than the highest palm tree - to retain a pristine look. Prices often are lower than many other competing destinations in the Caribbean.
No one complains about the winter-season warmth. The climate is tropical and temperatures vary little. The year-round average temperature: 77 degrees. And the daytime average: 82.
Apple Vacations travelers selected up-and-coming Punta Cana as "the best destination of 2002." In 2003, Carlson Wagonlit Travel - in its "Top 20 Vacation Destinations" - ranked Punta Cana as the No. 4 international destination.
Carlson's rating - based on a survey of several hundred Carlson agency owners, managers and agents - placed Punta Cana ahead of Jamaica, Puerto Vallarta and Cozumel.
One key reason is price. A $1,000 to $1,200 all-inclusive per week cost is not unusual - and that includes airfare, hotel, food and drink along with much of the recreation offered at the resorts.
Such diversions as parasailing, scuba-diving instruction and outings, snorkeling excursions, glass-bottom boats, deep-sea fishing, banana boat rides, ATV and Jeep outings, bus excursions, horseback riding, massages and the like cost extra.
Last-minute deals can come even cheaper, some as low as $900.
A word of caution: Some U.S. visitors are put off by the large number of Europeans and Latins here, complaining that they seem cool and distant toward Yankees. That seems more the exception than the rule. And sometimes the initial reserve results primarily from communication challenges. One New York grandmother, standing behind us at a meat-carving station the first day, whispered: "Thank goodness - someone else who speaks English!")
Just as dancing to merengue music is a national passion, the national sport is baseball.
The Dominican Republic has supplied its share of major league stars, including Sammy Sosa, Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez, Vladimir Guerrero, and the shortstop of the 2005 world champion Chicago White Sox, Juan Uribe.
If you chose to rent a car and try a little island travel, you'll see baseball being played in most every town.
The Dominican professional winter season stretches from November to early February, sometimes drawing 20,000 or more to a game.
Here's a handful of facts to consider as you ponder Punta Cana for a winter getaway.
• First, the name. As a tourism official explained, it means "point of the palm tree." There's a multitude of such trees here, and the area is at the far eastern point of the island.
• Last year's destructive hurricanes did not damage Punta Cana resorts.
• 60% to 70% of the Dominican Republic's vacationers are Europeans and Latin Americans.
• The Dominican Republic is the size of Scotland, or about the size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined. The country shares the island of Hispaniola (little Spain) with the smaller Haiti. It's about 600 miles southeast of Florida, lying between Puerto Rico and Jamaica/Cuba.
• From October through April, it's one hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time (or two hours ahead of Central Standard Time).
• Like other Caribbean islands, the Dominican Republic's origins are volcanic, and mountains and tropical forests cover much of the interior. It's not mountainous in the Punta Cana area, however.
• Electricity is 110 volts, same as in the United States.
• Visitors are advised to drink bottled water in their rooms. Ice is made with purified water and those in our group had no problems from the drinking water at resort restaurants.
• Golf courses are excellent. Two of the most popular are the Cocotal Golf and Country Club and the Punta Cana Golf Club. Expect to pay $100 or more for an 18-hole round.
• Punta Cana has placed a high priority on its ecological efforts. Along the Coconut Coast, many resorts feature walking paths past coconut palms, mangroves and mineral springs.
• Off-resort options are increasing, with opportunities such as a cigar factory tour, bus trips and sailing to Saona Island.
• Some Punta Cana resorts have casinos, featuring blackjack, roulette, baccarat and slots, but they're not big. Players must be over 18. Gambling is more of a sideline here, not a calling, as one travel writer pointed out. |
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