Dominican Republic: A Surfer's Paradise

By L. Paul Mann

The Dominican Republic is the most exciting country in the Caribbean. This is not just the idle boast of some generic travel brochure, it's a fact rooted in this island nation's geography and history.

The island of Hispaniola is by far the largest and most diverse land mass in the Caribbean. The dry western portion is known as Haiti, while the eastern portion that comprises the Dominican country varies from desert to lush tropical rainforest. In 1492, Christopher Columbus founded the first European settlement in the New World at La Isabela, on the Northwest coast. His brother, Bartolomeo, moved the settlement to Santo Domingo four years later and remnants of this settlement can still be found in this capital city today. The first house, street, church, hospital, university and hotel in the New World were all established here. The first hotel, Ovando, is still open for business.

The island was originally inhabited by over 1 million natives, but when Santo Domingo became the base for Spanish exploration of the Americas, they were virtually annihilated within the first century of the occupation. In 1586, Sir Frances Drake sacked and destroyed the city, claiming it for England. In the 1600s, France gained control of Haiti. The Dominican Republic remained in political turmoil until it achieved independence under Juan Pablo Duarte in 1844. United States marines occupied the country during World War I and again in 1965 until a democratic government was established. The Dominican Republic remains largely an agrarian society, with high unemployment, poverty, and erratic power supplies. Most tourist facilities have their own generators to guarantee uninterrupted service.

There is a wealth of world class ocean sports available to anyone visiting the Dominican Republic, including incredible windsurfing conditions, excellent surfing waves, deep-sea fishing and whale watching. Spectacular reefs for diving and snorkeling contain many historic shipwrecks dating as far back as the 15th Century.

The ride from the capital to the north shore can be quite an adventure. This six-hour journey across the country passes through magnificent mountainous terrain, small towns, and large cities. The winding narrow roads offer quite a surprise for those unacquainted with third world transportation systems. Trucks of every size lumber along carrying the rich bounties from the fertile mountains. The fortunate few race along in automobiles in the middle of the road, whizzing by slower traffic, and veering back into their lanes at the last minute to avoid the oncoming vehicles. The bulk of public transport is handled by motorcycles, with many acting as rickshaw-type taxis. Then there are the animals. In the middle of the road you’ll find donkey carts, cowboys on horses herding cows, goats, chickens, and family pets. Add to this a throng of public buses and pedestrians and you have complete vehicular chaos. A few words of advice: don’t drive at night. You’ll be dealing with all the aforementioned obstacles plus pitch black roads.

Heading in to Puerta Plata and continuing east just a few miles, you’ll arrive in the popular resort town of Sosua. This is a great base for exploring the north coast. Situated on a beautiful bay, Sosua is a party resort in every way. Small restaurants send the sweet smells of pollo frito (fried chicken) and fried bananas into the air through the night and into the early morning hours. Discos and bars blare techno and meringue, which is embraced passionately by all Dominicans. At the fancier resorts gourmet meals are served to the tunes of incredible local musicians. The are even a couple of casinos for the gamblers in the crowd.

A few miles further east is the most famous wave spot on the island, El Encuentro. The giant, white-sand beach is beautiful, with the reef only exposed offshore. The next oceanfront town to the east is Cabarete. This sleepy resort town is known as the windsurfing capital of the Caribbean. Small, mid-priced resorts and restaurants dot the town, and it is a popular destination for young couples. Large reefs surround the town’s beaches, about a half-mile from shore. The area is particularly sensitive to prevailing onshore winds, which create prime windsurfing conditions. These washing machine-like conditions, however, are not good for board surfing. Some brave souls do paddle out to board surf the outside reefs in the early morning hours, well before the wind picks up.

A few miles west of Cabarete is a small ocean resort called the Sea Oats Motel. The beautiful sandy beach in front of the resort offers an excellent place to swim and lounge on the beach. While laying on the beach waiting for my surfing companion, I was approached by a young entrepreneur, who offered me a coco frio, for $1 U.S. For this lofty sum, the boy climbed a large coconut palm tree, selected a prime coconut, and sliced it with his machete. After shuffling down the tree, he ran to the motel, acquired some ice, and returned shaking the coconut like a meringue instrument. After I sipped the delicious iced coconut milk through a straw, he then cut up the shell so that we could eat the scrumptious meat.

Heading further east, you come to the mid-size town of Rio San Juan. Tourists flock here for boat rides around the town’s lagoon. Some also venture out into the ocean through La Pasa, which is a natural opening in the otherwise lava rock-enclosed lagoon used as a natural harbor for fishing boats. It is also the sight of one of the best surfing spots on the island. The pass offers an opening for surfers to paddle through the vicious lava rocks. Although unseen from the road, the spot is very popular with the locals and is one of the few spots on the north shore that gets crowded with surfers.

Continuing east past many miles of inaccessible coastline, you’ll eventually reach Playa Grande, one of the most popular beaches on the north shore. This is ground-zero for partying locals, especially on Sunday afternoon. Vendors hawk all manner of food and refreshment while meringue blares from car radios and people engage in all manner of beach activities. This is a great place to kick back and enjoy the D.R., but remember it is a two-hour drive back to Sosua and you don't want to drive at night!

A little further east is my favorite spot in the D.R. You can see it from the highway through the palm trees as you drive by. For the best view, however, continue up the cliff, going east. Look for the military outpost on the right-hand side. From the edge of the cliff there’s an incredible vista of the aptly-named Playa Preciosa. Even further to the east there are many more beautiful spots like Las Terranous beach. If you have the time you can explore these places for the spectacular scenery, if nothing else.

Head deeper into the exterior of the country and you’ll witness the construction of the new cross-country highway. Hundreds of local residents follow along behind the earth moving vehicles, presumably looking for precious pieces of unearthed amber. The turn-off from the Autopista Duarte, for Constanza, is the beginning of a beautiful road winding up a magnificent mountain range. Near the top, there’s a view back toward the east of a series of manmade lakes in the Cibao valley below. Entering the central valley, the climate becomes dramatically cooler. The windy highway passes through a rich and varied agricultural zone -- rolling hills thick with coffee, cabbage plants, and various berries meander off into the horizon in every direction.

Constanza finally comes into view. This quiet little farming town gained national notoriety in the ‘50s when a small band of Cuban-trained Dominican leftists flew in to the remote airstrip and tried to spark a socialist rebellion. The attempt was thwarted, but the resulting legacy is a little military installation which looks more like a children's playhouse than an army fort. Accommodations in Constanza are easy to secure except in late summer, when many people from the capital come to escape the sweaty tropical coast.

The comfortable Mi Cabana is a good place to stay for about $8 U.S. An early morning start for the trip to nearby Aguas Blancas waterfall is advised. After a delicious cup of Dominican coffee, you head on the only road south through the Valle Nuevo nature reserve. The bumpy dirt road winds through valley after valley of beautiful farmland. When you reach the waterfall, you can take an exhilarating swim beneath the fantastic plume, and enjoy just another beautiful day in the Dominican Republic.