Things to Do in Punta Cana: Tours, Tickets & Day Trips

Ranked by traveller reviews: 1) the Santo Domingo Colonial Zone day trip, 2) a small-group catamaran cruise with reef snorkelling, 3) the booze cruise with a natural-pool sandbar stop, 4) horseback riding on the beach, 5) the parasailing and snorkelling cruise, 6) Saona Island by catamaran and speedboat, 7) Scape Park’s Hoyo Azul cenote, ziplines and lagoon, 8) a dune-buggy ride through the countryside to Macao Beach, 9) the Indigenous Eyes Ecological Park lagoons and 10) Coco Bongo’s show and party.

Plan five to seven days. Day one: Bávaro Beach and the pool. Day two: Saona Island — catamaran out, speedboat back through the starfish sandbar. Day three: Santo Domingo’s Colonial Zone, the first cathedral in the Americas and Columbus’s son’s palace. Day four: Scape Park or the Indigenous Eyes lagoons in the morning, horseback riding at sunset. Day five: buggies to Macao Beach, a catamaran booze cruise. Day six: a lazy beach day and Coco Bongo. In whale season, swap a day for Samaná.

Bávaro Beach’s 30 kilometres of sand, Macao Beach for surf-watching and fresh fish, Juanillo Beach in Cap Cana, Playa Blanca, sunrise walks along the shore, the Bávaro strip and Punta Cana Village, the kite-surfers at Cabeza de Toro, the Basilica of Higüey, the Los Corales weekend market and window-shopping at BlueMall and Palma Real. Most resorts also open their beach bars and shows to guests at no extra charge.

Saona Island and the natural pool in Cotubanamá National Park (90 minutes to Bayahibe plus the boat; about $70–99), Santo Domingo’s Colonial Zone (2.5 hours; $55–95), Scape Park in Cap Cana (30 minutes; $159 with the lagoon day), Isla Catalina and Altos de Chavón near La Romana (one hour), Macao Beach by buggy (30 minutes), the Basilica of Higüey (40 minutes), Samaná Bay’s humpback whales and El Limón waterfall (three hours; January to March), Los Haitises National Park’s mangroves and caves (2.5 hours) and the view from Montaña Redonda (90 minutes).

Coco Bongo’s acrobatic show and party, the Imagine cave nightclub, a sunset catamaran or party boat, the Hard Rock casino, the bars of the Bávaro strip and Los Corales, resort theatre shows and beach parties, a Dominican rum and cigar tasting, dinner in Punta Cana Village and, for something quieter, a night walk on the beach under the stars. Most resorts run shuttles to Coco Bongo; taxis are the alternative.

Winter is peak season — dry, 82°F days, the calmest seas and the least seaweed on the beaches — and from mid-January to March the humpback whales fill Samaná Bay, three hours away, for the Caribbean’s best whale watching. Every catamaran, Saona and Santo Domingo trip runs daily; Christmas, New Year and the February–March school holidays are the busiest and priciest weeks, so book excursions ahead.

The Saona Island catamaran with its calm, shallow natural pool, Dolphin Island and Dolphin Discovery, Monkeyland’s squirrel monkeys, Scape Park’s cenote and cave pools, the Indigenous Eyes lagoons, Manatí Park, the Marinarium reef snorkel with rays and nurse sharks, Bávaro Adventure Park’s ziplines and bubble balls, horseback riding on the beach, the family catamaran cruise and the shallow water of Bávaro Beach. Buggy rides suit children as passengers from about age five.

December to April — dry, sunny, calm seas and the humpback whales in Samaná from January to March, though prices peak over Christmas and in February and March. May, June and November are warm, quieter and cheaper. July to October is hot and humid with the hurricane season and heavier seaweed, offset by the lowest rates.

Yes — the palm-lined white sand and the waist-deep ‘natural pool’ full of starfish are the Dominican Republic’s most-booked day trip, and the standard catamaran-out, speedboat-back format (about $70–99 with lunch and drinks) works well for families and groups. It is a long day (12 hours with transfers from Punta Cana); choose a small-group or early-departure tour for quieter beach time before the big catamarans arrive.