Punta Cana Beyond the Resort: 10 Things to Do on Your DR Holiday

Punta Cana has earned its reputation. Fifty kilometres of coconut-palm beach, warm shallow water that stays turquoise until it meets the horizon, and some of the Caribbean's best all-inclusive resorts. For a lot of UK travellers, that's the whole holiday — buffet breakfast, pool bar by ten, beach by noon, repeat for a week. There's nothing wrong with that. But the Dominican Republic is a country, not a compound, and some of the best things about it are on the other side of the resort gates.

If you're spending a week or two in Punta Cana, even two or three days out of the resort will transform the trip. You don't need to be an adventure traveller. You just need a willingness to get into a minibus, a boat, or a pair of hiking shoes for a few hours. Here are ten ways to do it.

1. Saona Island by catamaran

This is the excursion that everyone does, and for good reason. Saona Island sits off the southeast coast in the Parque Nacional del Este, and it looks like the screensaver your computer came with — shallow sandbars, natural swimming pools, and starfish sitting in knee-deep water.

Most tours leave from Bayahibe, about 45 minutes from the Punta Cana resort strip. You'll board a catamaran or speedboat, stop at the famous natural pool (waist-deep, warm, and absurdly photogenic), then continue to Saona Island itself for a beach BBQ lunch with rum punch. The return trip usually takes the catamaran route, with music and drinks on deck.

Logistics: Full-day trip, usually 7am-5pm. Expect to pay US$70-100 per person through a tour operator, or around US$50 if you book through a local guide in Bayahibe. Park entrance fee of RD$200 (about £3) is normally included. Go midweek to dodge the weekend crowds.

2. Santo Domingo day trip

The capital is two and a half hours west of Punta Cana by road. That sounds like a lot, but it's a straight motorway and every tour company on the east coast runs the trip. Santo Domingo's Zona Colonial is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the oldest permanent European settlement in the Americas. The first cathedral, the first hospital, the first university in the New World are all within a few streets of each other.

Walk the cobblestone length of Calle Las Damas, the oldest paved street in the hemisphere. Visit the Alcazar de Colon, the palace built by Columbus's son. Have lunch on Plaza Espana, where the restaurants spill out under old stone arches. In the afternoon, catch the Malecon waterfront or the sprawling Mercado Modelo for souvenirs.

Logistics: Most guided tours run US$80-120 per person including transport, guide, and lunch. Self-drive is possible if you hire a car — the toll road (Autopista del Este) is modern and well-maintained. Budget a full day; leaving at 7am gives you five hours in the city before the drive back. For a deeper dive into DR history and culture, consider the Cultural Gateway holiday, which includes two nights in Santo Domingo.

3. Los Haitises National Park

Los Haitises is on the south shore of Samana Bay, about three hours from Punta Cana. It's one of the most biodiverse places in the Caribbean and feels genuinely wild — limestone karst formations rising out of mangrove forest, cave systems with Taino petroglyphs, and bird colonies that include pelicans, frigatebirds, and the endangered Ridgway's hawk.

The standard tour takes you by boat through the mangrove channels and into two or three caves. The cave paintings date back over 1,000 years. Kayak tours are available for smaller groups and get you deeper into the mangrove labyrinth.

Logistics: Full-day excursion, typically US$90-130 from Punta Cana. Some tours combine Los Haitises with a stop in the town of Samana or a short whale-watching trip (January to March only). The boat ride across the bay is part of the experience.

4. Bayahibe reef diving and snorkelling

Bayahibe is a small fishing village about 50 minutes from Punta Cana, and it's the dive capital of the southeast coast. The reef system here is healthy and accessible — even beginner snorkellers can see parrotfish, sergeant majors, and sea fans in shallow water.

For certified divers, the highlight is the wreck of the St. George, a cargo ship deliberately sunk in 1999 to create an artificial reef. It sits at 35 metres and is now covered in coral and sponge. The Catalina Wall is another good dive: a gradual slope that drops from 10 metres to 30, with eagle rays, moray eels, and the occasional nurse shark.

Logistics: Single-tank dives from US$50, two-tank from US$80. Snorkelling trips around US$30-40. PADI discover scuba courses (no certification needed) are available for about US$100. Most dive shops in Bayahibe are well-established operations with good safety records.

5. Scape Park at Cap Cana

Scape Park is the closest adventure option to the Punta Cana hotel zone — it's inside the Cap Cana development, about 20 minutes south of most resorts. It's a commercial operation, which means it's well-organised but not cheap.

The centrepiece is Hoyo Azul, a natural cenote at the base of a limestone cliff. The water is a ridiculous shade of blue. You descend a staircase through tropical vegetation, and then swim in crystal-clear freshwater surrounded by 75-metre cliff walls. Beyond the cenote, there's a zip-line circuit through the canopy, cave swimming at the Iguabonita cave, and a cultural trail with demonstrations of local chocolate and cigar making.

Logistics: Full-day passes run US$109-159 per person depending on the package. Individual experiences start at US$49. It's walkable from some Cap Cana hotels; otherwise, taxis from Bavaro take 20-30 minutes. Book directly through their website for better rates than hotel tour desks.

6. Casa de Campo and Altos de Chavon

Casa de Campo is one of the Caribbean's most famous resort complexes, about an hour west of Punta Cana near La Romana. Even if you're not staying there, it's worth a visit for two things.

First, Teeth of the Dog — the Pete Dye-designed golf course with seven holes along the Caribbean coast. It's regularly ranked in the world's top 50 and green fees reflect that (US$400 for resort guests, US$550 for outside visitors). Even non-golfers should see the course from the clubhouse terrace.

Second, Altos de Chavon — a recreation of a 16th-century Mediterranean village perched above the Chavon River gorge. It sounds like a theme park, but it works. There's a 5,000-seat amphitheatre (Frank Sinatra played the opening night in 1982), an archaeological museum, working artist studios, and restaurants with views down the gorge. Wander the stone alleyways in the late afternoon when the light is golden and the day-trippers have gone.

Logistics: Some tours combine Altos de Chavon with a Saona Island trip. Taxi from Punta Cana to La Romana costs around US$80-100 each way. Entry to Altos de Chavon is free.

7. Humpback whale watching in Samana

Every winter, thousands of humpback whales migrate to the warm waters of Samana Bay to breed and calve. The season runs from mid-January to mid-March, with February being peak month. If your Punta Cana trip falls in this window, do this one.

Boats leave from the town of Samana or from Las Galeras. You'll typically see mothers with calves, males competing with dramatic breaches and tail slaps, and occasionally a whale will surface so close to the boat that you can hear it breathe. The Dominican Republic was one of the first Caribbean nations to establish whale-watching regulations, so the boats keep a respectful distance.

Logistics: Full-day tours from Punta Cana cost US$130-180, including the three-hour drive each way. The whale-watching portion is about two hours. Some tours add a visit to Cayo Levantado (Bacardi Island) or Los Haitises. Bring motion-sickness tablets if you're prone — the bay can be choppy. Our Dominican Republic Travel Guide has more detail on the Samana Peninsula.

8. The 27 Waterfalls of Damajagua

Officially called the 27 Charcos de Damajagua, this is a chain of natural limestone pools connected by waterfalls in the hills south of Puerto Plata. The experience involves hiking uphill through tropical forest, then descending through the waterfalls — jumping, sliding, and swimming from one pool to the next. Guides lead you through each drop, some of which are genuine leaps of five or six metres into deep pools below.

Most visitors do 7 or 12 of the 27 waterfalls (the full 27 takes serious stamina and several hours). The 12-waterfall route is the sweet spot — about two hours of climbing and sliding with enough variety to feel like an adventure without being exhausting.

Logistics: The waterfalls are about four hours from Punta Cana, so this works best as an overnight trip combined with Puerto Plata or Cabarete. Entrance fees are US$11 for 7 waterfalls, US$16 for 12, and US$21 for all 27. Guides and life jackets are included. Wear water shoes.

9. Coffee and cacao plantation tour

The Dominican Republic produces around 70% of the world's organic cacao and grows good coffee in the central highlands. A plantation tour takes you out of the beach zone and into the agricultural interior, where the landscape shifts to rolling green hills, river valleys, and small farming communities.

Most tours from Punta Cana visit estates in the Cibao Valley or the hills around Hato Mayor, about 90 minutes away. You'll see the full process from tree to roasted bean — picking, fermenting, drying, and tasting. Dominican cacao is prized by European chocolatiers, and the coffee, while less famous than Colombian, is smooth and well-balanced. The Cigar Connoisseur holiday combines plantation visits with cigar factory tours for a proper deep-dive into Dominican agriculture.

Logistics: Half-day tours from US$50-80. Full-day tours that combine cacao, coffee, and a cigar factory visit run US$90-120. These tours also pass through countryside that most resort tourists never see — sugarcane fields, small villages, roadside fruit stalls.

10. Night out in Bavaro

Bavaro is the town that sits behind the Punta Cana resort strip, and it has a nightlife scene that's worlds apart from the hotel entertainment programme. Forget the in-house "Caribbean Night" — Bavaro has genuine Dominican bars where the merengue and bachata are played live, rum is poured generously, and the dance floors fill up after midnight.

Start at La Plaza Bavaro or one of the bars along the main strip for a pre-dinner drink. For live music, look for colmados (corner shops that double as impromptu bars with speakers the size of fridges) or ask a local taxi driver where the best live merengue is tonight. If cigars are your thing, several lounges in the area stock Dominican puros from Santiago and Tamboril.

Logistics: Taxis from resort hotels to Bavaro centre cost US$10-15. The main strip is walkable once you're there. Drinks in local bars cost a fraction of resort prices — expect RD$200-300 (£3-4) for a rum and coke. Go on a Friday or Saturday for the best atmosphere.

How to book excursions

You have three options, and the right one depends on how much hand-holding you want.

Through your hotel: Convenient, but you'll pay a 20-40% markup. The hotel tour desk books you onto the same group trips available elsewhere, just at resort prices. Quality varies — some hotels work with excellent operators, others prioritise commission over quality.

Through a local operator: Book online before you arrive or visit the tour offices in Bavaro. Companies like Outback Adventures, Runners Adventures, and Seapro Divers have been operating for years and have strong reviews. You'll save money and often get smaller group sizes.

Through a tailor-made holiday: If you want the excursions built into your trip from the start — with private transfers, handpicked guides, and a balance of beach time and exploration — that's what our DR holidays are designed for. The Merengue Circuit connects the north coast highlights, while the Cultural Gateway pairs Santo Domingo with the best of the east coast.