Juan Dolio

Juan Dolio sits on the southeast coast in San Pedro de Macoris province, about 34 kilometers and roughly a half-hour drive from Las Americas International Airport, and within easy reach of Santo Domingo and La Romana. It draws a different crowd than the all-inclusive megaresorts further east: weekenders from the capital, golfers, and travelers who want a beach town rather than a resort compound. The pace is unhurried, the hotels are mid-sized rather than sprawling, and the shoreline stays walkable end to end.

The coastline is one long run of sand between Juan Dolio Beach and Guayacanes Beach to the west. Juan Dolio proper is the built-up stretch, lined with hotels, condos, and beachfront restaurants; Guayacanes stays quieter and more local. Both share the same calm, shallow water that suits swimming and paddleboarding rather than surfing, since an offshore reef breaks up the swell before it reaches shore.

Golf is the other reason people build a trip around Juan Dolio. Guavaberry Golf & Country Club, designed by Gary Player's firm and opened in the early 2000s, runs 7,156 yards from the black tees through forest and coral-rock formations that rise from the fairways. Its signature 13th is a short par-3 with alternate greens split by a 15-foot waterfall that spills into a quarry lake. Los Marlins, the course at Metro Country Club, offers a more traditional layout, putting two distinct rounds within a short drive of the beach.

San Pedro de Macoris city, a short drive east, adds a layer most beachgoers skip. It grew up around 19th-century sugar mills founded during a wave of Cuban migration, including Ingenio Angelina, one of the mills that made this the country's sugar heartland. The same immigration helped bring baseball to the region, and the city has since sent an outsized number of players to Major League Baseball, earning the nickname the Cradle of Shortstops.

Juan Dolio works best as a base for two or three nights rather than a full week: enough for a round of golf, a beach day, and a side trip east to Cueva de las Maravillas, a national-park cave with hundreds of Taino pictographs and petroglyphs. Santo Domingo's colonial zone is close enough for a day trip, and La Romana's resort-and-golf scene is within reach for a longer itinerary. Check the beaches and restaurants sections before booking, and compare it against the country's other destinations.