Forty kilometres of palm-backed beach at Punta Cana, and all-inclusive resorts at prices no other Caribbean island comes close to. The volume choice, and better than that suggests.
You get more resort for your money here than anywhere in the Caribbean. What you get less of is the island.
Punta Cana is a purpose-built resort strip — enormous all-inclusives on a genuinely beautiful stretch of coconut-backed sand, with everything laid on. It's excellent value and it's also self-contained; there's no town to walk into and comparatively little to see nearby. If you want a Caribbean island with somewhere to go, Barbados or Jamaica suit better. If you want a fortnight of beach, pool and food for a price nowhere else matches, this is it. Bayahibe and Samaná are the alternatives with more character.
Beach, and a few things worth leaving it for.
Forty kilometres of pale sand backed by coconut palms, and the reason Punta Cana exists. Calm, shallow and Blue Flag in places.
A catamaran day to a protected island with sandbars and starfish. Touristy, busy and still lovely — go on a smaller boat.
Humpbacks calving in the bay from mid-January to mid-March, one of the best whale-watching sites in the world. Three hours from Punta Cana.
A 50m fall in the Samaná hills, reached on horseback through the jungle. A full day and worth it.
The oldest European city in the Americas, founded 1496, with a UNESCO colonial zone. Three hours west and a different country entirely.
A working fishing village with a beach, two hours west. Smaller resorts, more character, and the boats to Saona leave from here.
One big resort strip, and three quieter alternatives.
The main strip. Enormous all-inclusives, superb beach, and nothing to walk to. Twenty to forty minutes from the airport.
Two hours west. Smaller resorts beside a real fishing village, and the launch point for Saona.
North-east peninsula. Whales in winter, waterfalls, and far fewer resorts.
Kitesurfing, a cable car, and a more Dominican feel. Its own airport, and cooler water.
December to April is the dry season, before the seaweed and outside hurricane season.
January to March is peak — dry, warm and busiest, with whales in Samaná. Late April to early June is the value window. June to November is hurricane season and hotter, with the sargassum window overlapping on the east coast. Prices fall a long way, and so does certainty.
9 hours direct to Punta Cana (PUJ). Puerto Plata (POP) and Santo Domingo (SDQ) serve other regions.
20–40 minutes in Punta Cana, two hours to Bayahibe, three to Samaná.
Dominican peso. US dollars widely accepted at resorts; pesos better value elsewhere.
Now normally included in the airfare. We'll confirm before you travel.
We'll price it against Mexico and Jamaica so you can compare, and write the payment plan out in full.
Different. The beach and the resorts are excellent and cost far less. Those islands have more to see beyond the hotel.
Saona, Samaná, Santo Domingo and the waterfalls, all as day trips or overnights. Within Punta Cana itself, not much beyond the resort.
April to August on the east coast, same pattern as Mexico. The north coast is much less affected — we'll steer you if your dates fall then.
Very. Shallow calm water, huge resorts with kids' clubs, and prices that make a family fortnight achievable.
Flights, accommodation and transfers as one package. Every one can be reshaped — different dates, different board, a different airport, or a stopover on the way.
Guide prices, per person, based on two sharing, including return flights, accommodation and transfers. They indicate what a holiday of this type has typically cost and are not an offer or a quotation. Your price depends on dates, party, board basis, departure airport and availability, and is confirmed in writing before any payment is taken.
Ready-built itineraries with flights, transfers and internal hops booked as one package, ATOL protected. Every one can be reshaped around your dates.
15 nights · Dec–Apr · from £2,399pp
13 nights · Nov–Apr · from £2,149pp
13 nights · Apr–May, Oct–Nov · from £2,299pp
12 nights · Apr–May, Sep–Oct · from £2,399pp
11 nights · Nov–Apr · from £2,199pp
