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Dominican Republic
Paradisus
Punta Cana
The main
draw of
this area is the beaches that border the caribbean sea and the
Paradisus Punta
Cana beach resorts. The white sand
and the multi-shaded blue waters of the ocean create a lasting
impression, impression that make you want to return or even plan your
retirement in the majesty of the island.
The
resorts line the beach coast but you still have access to the beach
from outside roads and restaurants. With some exceptions,
there are
no restrictions on tourists walking along one hotel
beach to another, although there are frequent
patches of undeveloped land tracts between them.
These beaches can be reached by taxi or commuter
"guagua".
 Dominican
Republic Beach
Scuba
Diving, sportsfishing, surfing, snorkeling are some of the many
activities you can perform here.
Scuba
Diving
If
you are
spending a week at a Paradisus Punta Cana beach resort, consider
getting your
PADI
license,
which allows you to dive all
around the world.
The area boasts excellent
sites for learning or developing your
diving expertise.
Dive operations located
at resort hotels take divers out to the
shallow sites, and shipwrecks become
distinct attractions. |
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Located
on the
Atlantic
Coast, sea conditions are
rougher, and for this reason, Bavaro
is not your
typical Caribbean diving site. Bavaro has large tall
volcanic rock formations, on which a few hardy
species of coral exist. Brain coral, stag-horn and
elk-horn coral are more common. Sponges, on the
other hand, can't thrive in the constant rush of water,
and there is a smaller variety of fish.
There
are a
number of interesting wrecks to dive.
The Astron
is a 300-foot ship wrecked opposite the
Riu hotel chain, on the north side of the East Coast
hotel & beach strip. The site is very shallow, around
14 meters at its deepest. It is so close to the shore
that
tourists can canoe  out
to the site, and most of
the hotels offer boat trips to the wreck. The ship
was wrecked about 20 years ago, apparently in an
attempted insurance fraud. The wreck was only
semi-successful because half still protrudes out of
the water. In order to really see all the Astron has to offer in a
dive, conditions have to be very good,
because the ship is right in the breaker zone. However,
the ship is well preserved and is home to some
barracudas and other small fish.
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Scuba
Diving
Punta
cana beach has many ship wrecks that house a great variety of sea
species and make scuba diving a very pleasant activity. All of the
Punta Cana Hotels offer Scuba Diving.
Another
wreck,
the Monica,
offers an interesting
look at the past. Wrecked around the turn of the
century, the Monica was a wooden-hulled ship carrying
equipment for a sugar plantation. It was caught
in a storm, and subsequently sunk. The wooden
hull has rotted away, and what remains are some
interesting steel artefacts from the plantations; railway
ties, the propeller and other machines.
Smaller
reef fish live on the wreck, and barracudas can also
be spotted. The Monica
can be swum
through, and
provides an interesting experience for both beginners
and advanced divers.
Because
of its
volcanic rock formations, Bavaro
presents interesting opportunities for more technical
diving. Swim-throughs and caves provide more
challenging diving
for the experienced and appropriately
certified diver. There are a variety of caves,
featuring stalagmites and stalactites, as well as cathedral
ceilings and wide passages. Because these
locations are protected from the rough
Atlantic, the
water is warm and clear, and in somer, there are
opportunities to surface regularly.
Many
of the
dive
operations offer cave-diving training in this area because
of the varying degrees of complexity.
Batato
is another interesting dive site with a maximum
depth of around 12 meters, where large
blocks of rock provide swim-throughs. A family
of three manatees
has been seen at the site, and
can be observed by divers.
These
large,
underwater
mammals have long bodies that taper to a paddleshaped
tail. The average male is about three meters
long, and weighs over 350 kilograms.
The
closest
land relative is the elephant, and these herbivores
are slow-moving and spend much of their day feeding,
resting and travelling. Manatees surface every
three to five minutes for air. Their lifespan is comparable
to that of humans, and their reproductive cycle
is slow. Manatees should never be approached
to avoid distressing them, but can be watched
from a distance. They are social animals, and in
the Batato site, can be observed 'wearing'
tens
of
nurse sharks, seemingly attached to their bodies,
travelling with them wherever the manatees go.
SportsFishing
With
over
seven months of billfish season every
year, fishing off the Punta Cana shore on the East
Coast of the Dominican Republic is regarded as one
of the top five of the world's best billfish areas.
Likewise,
Punta Cana is hardly matched by any
other destination for its white marlin season when
the dashing creatures of the ocean come close to
the coast, just 2-10 nautical miles offshore and in
big numbers. White marlin season is from March to
July, blue marlin season is from July to September.
The East Coast waters switch from somewhat
rouge in summer to calm at the end of October,
when smaller vessels are used to fish light tackle
on dorados, wahoo, maybe sailfish or anything on
the fly too.
The
area's
main tournament is the Blue
Marlin
Cabeza de Toro International, when around 30
yachts travel over from Puerto Rico for a weekend
competition with Dominican sports fishermen.
May, June, July, August and September are the best
months for catching the marlins.
If
you decide
to
keep the catch, several beach restaurants will serve
it to you for dinner, for a fee.
To
read more
about the Punta Cana activities, go to the next page.
Golf
Punta Cana Golf
The
odds are packed in the golfer's favor in Punta Cana, where it
hardly rains, and
when it does it is usually in the early evening. Being able to play all
year round
is one of the pluses that make the East Coast of the Dominican Republic
one of the most popular
golf destinations in the Caribbean. Seven 18-hole courses already
invite golfers
of varying abilities to playing a few rounds of golf at a “resort golf
course,” or a
championship golf course, pride and joy of its international designer.
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