Day 1: Puerto Plata Airport – Puerto Plata hotel
Personal welcome at Puerto Plata airport (driver with name tag outside the terminal) and transfer to your hotel in Puerto Plata. The rest of the day is at your leisure to rest from your arrival. Why not end the day watching the sunset on the hotel beach? Optional transfer from Santo Domingo or Punta Cana to Puerto Plata possible at any time.
Day 2: Puerto Plata – Damajagua – Puerto Plata
After breakfast, your guide will pick you up at the hotel reception at 09:00. You will leave Puerto Plata via the highway and start the round trip actively and adrenaline-filled with a canyoning excursion. The destination are the 27 waterfalls of Damajagua. Upon arrival at the waterfall park, you will first receive an introduction to canyoning by a local guide, as well as a helmet and life jacket. Water shoes, which are mandatory for the hike, can be rented or purchased on site (approx. 2 USD or 14 USD, costs to be paid by the participants).
Then begins an uphill hike of about 45 minutes through the tropical jungle landscape. In the green and lush vegetation, you will encounter exotic birds on the way. After the ascent it gets wet and adventurous. You will follow the path of waterfalls that pour into natural pools, use the natural water slides or jump from rocky ledges from lofty heights into the cool water. In between the passages you will cross rapids leading to the next waterfall. Experience thrills, water fun and a deep connection with nature!
Afterwards, a rich Dominican buffet lunch awaits you at the park’s visitor center. Strengthened, you will continue on a buggy tour through the majestic mountain and river world of the region. After a short briefing, you will take a seat either at the wheel or as a passenger in a 4×4 buggy. During the rally you will drive through small villages, past pastures and plantations, uphill, downhill and even through riverbeds with rushing currents. You may well get hit by swirling mud along the way – but don’t worry, at the end of the ride you can shower and change at the visitor center. In the early afternoon your driver will take you back to the hotel.
Day 3 – Puerto Plata Santiago de los Caballeros
After breakfast, the drive continues along an impressive serpentine panoramic route to Santiago. Let your eyes wander and enjoy the spectacular views of palm-covered hills and green valleys. Once in Santiago, visit Los Pepines, one of the most emblematic neighbourhoods right in the historic center of the city. In 2016, the local government decided to paint the most deteriorated areas and beautify the area to revitalize the local economy.
Just two years later, Los Pepines became a tourist attraction thanks to its colourful and expressive murals. On a walking tour, unravel the stories behind the murals: Who are the people depicted in the murals? What is their connection to the local culture? You will find out! Street food is, of course, not to be missed on this walk. At the end of the tour you will stop at a local store to taste the typical empanadas, dumplings filled with cheese or meat, and fresh fruit juices – simply delicious!
Continue to Tamboril, the self-proclaimed cigar capital of the world. Here you will visit the most prestigious cigar manufacturer in the Dominican Republic, La Aurora. At the factory you will learn all about tobacco cultivation as well as its processing and cigar making. Be impressed by the skill with which the employees skillfully handcraft the coveted smokes. Of course, you can also taste a cigar.
The descendants of the company founder donated one of the most important museums in the country, the Centro León, on the occasion of its 100th anniversary. The modern building houses a collection of contemporary Dominican art, a show on the history of the country’s development, and an exhibition on the museum’s founding family. After the visit, the driver will take you to your hotel.
Day 4 – Santiago de los Caballeros – Cabarete
After breakfast, you will leave Santiago and head north to the coast. Upon arrival in Cabarete, you will visit the natural monument of the Cabarete and Goleta Lagoons. When visiting, please wear long-sleeved clothing or use insect repellent. At the entrance, you will receive a helmet and then embark on a discovery tour through the dense tropical forest with a local guide who will explain the flora, fauna and history of the place. The rich flora consists of cocoa and coffee trees, among others, as well as numerous medicinal plants.
There are 258 caves in the forest that are millions of years old, three of which you will visit during a 90-minute hike. First you will reach the Taína cave. Here a steep wooden staircase leads 25 meters into the depth, inside the cave is a freshwater pool, where the brave can also bathe. Afterwards, you will visit the Crystal Cave, a stalactite and stalagmite cave with formations that have been formed over millions of years. Finally, you will reach the Frog Cave with its six-meter-deep spring water pool. If you want to take a refreshing bath, you can either take a jump from the three-meter-high platform or descend into the pool via a staircase.
Afterwards, the driver will take you to your hotel in Cabarete. This small town is popular with surfers and has made a name for itself worldwide as a Caribbean water sports center. Enjoy the afternoon on the beach of Cabarete and watch the hustle and bustle of kite surfers and surfers.
Optionally, in the early afternoon, you can visit the estuary of Boca de Yásica, where the Río Yásica River, flowing down from the hilly hinterland, pours into the Atlantic Ocean. There is all kinds of driftwood on the beach, the sea is wild and has strong swells. You can cross to the other side of the river in a small boat and enjoy freshly caught fish, seafood, a cold beer or a fruity piña colada at the small restaurant Wilson la Boca (cost to be paid by the participants). After a few hours stay, your driver will take you back to the hotel.
Day 5 – Cabarete – Río San Juan – Cabrera – Cabarete
After breakfast, the journey continues along the coastal road to Rio San Juan. Today is dedicated to the varied water landscape of the north coast with its picturesque bays, rugged rock formations and grottos. You will first visit the small bay Laguna Gri Gri, from which a mangrove-lined channel leads to the open sea. The boat tour goes through the bay to the small beach La Piscina Natural, where you have a first short bathing stop (max. 15 minutes). Continue to the next beach and bathing stop (max. 15 minutes): Playa Caleton. On the way you will explore a small grotto by boat and pass a rock decorated with sculptures.
Back on land, continue through the town of Cabrera to Laguna Dudú. Laguna Dudú Park consists of the two cenotes Laguna Dudú and Pozo de los Caballos, the horse well, which are connected by an underground tunnel. Laguna Dudu
is 22 meters deep, has a deep blue color and is surrounded by lush vegetation. You can take a refreshing dip in the two freshwater pools. If you are looking for a thrill in addition to refreshment, you can glide over the lagoon at a dizzy height on the zip line and drop into the water from a height of about 15 meters – a feast for all adventure seekers. You can have lunch at the on-site restaurant if you wish (cost to be paid by the participants).
Day 6 – Cabarete – Sosúa – Puerto Plata – Punta Rucia
From Cabarete, today you will head back west along the coast. First destination is the small town of Sosúa, where you will visit one of the most bizarre museums in the world. Castillo Mundo King is a fantasy castle founded and built by German engineer and artist Rolf Schulz. On five floors, a wealth of painting and sculpture by Haitian and Dominican artists is on display here, including even three spaceships. Continue on to Puerto Plata, known for its pretty Victorian-style wooden houses, which are located around the central park and the 800-meter-high Mount Isabel de Torres.
You will reach the top of the latter after a cable car ride of about 10 minutes, during which you will enjoy spectacular views of the city, the sea and the beaches in the
distance. Once at the top, the first thing you will see is the region’s landmark, a smaller version of the statue of Christ as it is known from Rio de Janeiro. With your guide, take a walk through the beautifully idyllic botanical gardens.
Afterwards, you will be picked up by the driver, drive down to the city and stop at a trendy restaurant for lunch (cost to be paid by participants). Then visit the Fortaleza San Felipe fortification, one of the oldest surviving fortresses from the colonial era. The large, massive complex was built in 1577 to make attacks from the water more difficult.
Then continue to Punta Rucia, where you will arrive in the early evening. The small fishing village is located on a breathtaking sea bay at the tip of a small headland, where the water shimmers in the most beautiful shades of blue and turquoise in the sunshine.
Day 7 – Punta Rucia – Half day excursion: Cayo Arena
Today you will take an excursion to the sandbank Cayo Arena, also called Paradise Island, which only emerges from the sea during the day and disappears again into the sea at high tide. It is a jewel of the Dominican Republic and a highlight during your stay in Punta Rucia. Directly from the beach you will take a boat to Cayo Arena in about 25 minutes after breakfast at 08:00.
Here you can enjoy the tranquility in paradisiacal surroundings, take a refreshing swim or watch the shoals of tropical fish in the shallow turquoise waters while snorkelling. Not far from the sandbank there is a coral reef with a lot of colourful schools of fish – a natural spectacle you should not miss. After a few hours stay you will return to the hotel around noon. On the way back, another highlight awaits you, because this time the route leads along the mangroves close to the shore.
Day 8 – Punta Rucia –Puerto Plata airport
Transfer to Puerto Plata airport according to your flight details.
