Punta Cana

Punta Cana occupies the easternmost point of the Dominican Republic, in La Altagracia province, where the Caribbean Sea meets the Atlantic. What began as a 58 million square meter stretch of jungle and beach, bought in 1969 by Dominican entrepreneur Frank Rainieri and New York attorney Theodore Kheel, is now the country's largest resort economy, named for the fan-shaped Cana palm that grows across the area. Hotel Puntacana opened in 1979, and in December 1983 the area got the world's first privately owned international airport.

That airport, Punta Cana International Airport, closed 2025 with a record of more than 11 million passenger movements, arrivals and departures combined, making it the busiest in the Dominican Republic and one of the busiest in the Caribbean. It puts nearly every resort within a 20 to 45 minute transfer, which is a large part of why Punta Cana absorbs most of the country's tourism. The strip runs almost entirely all-inclusive, with beach access at Bavaro Beach, Macao Beach, Arena Gorda Beach and Uvero Alto Beach varying by hotel. Macao, further from the resort core, keeps a rougher Atlantic swell and draws surfers rather than swimmers.

Golf is a genuine draw here, not a footnote. Tom Fazio's Corales course at Puntacana Resort & Club has hosted the PGA Tour's Corales Puntacana Championship since 2018, and Jack Nicklaus's Punta Espada at Cap Cana is regularly ranked among the top courses in the Caribbean, both routing several holes along the coast. To the south, Cap Cana has built out its own marina, villa communities and Juanillo Beach, a calmer, less commercial stretch than central Bavaro.

The signature day trip is Saona Island, inside Cotubanamá National Park (long known as Parque Nacional del Este), a roughly 810 square kilometer protected area at the country's southeastern tip. Saona itself covers about 110 square kilometers and is reached most directly from the fishing village of Bayahibe; excursions typically pair a catamaran or speedboat crossing with a stop at a sandbar for shallow-water swimming. It is the most-visited protected area in the Dominican Republic by a wide margin.

Plan around two realities. Atlantic-facing beaches from Uvero Alto through Bavaro see seasonal sargassum influxes, heaviest roughly May through August; resorts run daily cleanup crews, but conditions vary, so check current reports before a beach-specific stay. And Punta Cana is a resort base, not a touring hub, so day trips to Saona or a round at Corales are worth building into an itinerary. For dinner off the all-inclusive plan, the area has a real restaurant scene, including La Yola at the marina and Citrus Restaurant.