Bavaro
Bavaro
Bavaro was where I first stayed when visiting the Dominican Republic.
I was seduced by the intoxicating photo`s of white sands, palm trees, turquoise sea, warm weather and blue skies.
Quite honestly I remain as `seduced` as I was when I first looked at those photo`s in the tourist literature.
I had of course heard that the Dominican Republic was referred to by some as the `poor man`s Caribbean.
Above: Bavaro in relation to the Dominican Republic
History
Punta Cana was `discovered` in 1969 by a group of North American`s who flew over the area whilst search for a location
to set up a Marine and Merchant school.
They subsequently invested in about a hundred thousand hectares of land, and then built a small number of tourist bungalows and a landing strip.
The International Airport of Punta Cana followed in 1984 which really opened up the area to tourists.
Above: Punta Cana Airport
That is probably coined by those who have not actually been to the DR, and particularly to this area.
Having been to St Lucia, and the Bahamas, these beaches and climate compete with the very best.
Coming from a cold country like England, quite simply it looked like the Caribbean paradise that I dreamed of when watching the old Robinson Crusoe movies!
Location
Bavaro is part of the the general Punta Cana area.
If you check out the map above, you can can see that it is on the eastern tip of the country.
Playa de Bavaro lies to the north of Punta Cana airport. Here, the Caribbean meets the Atlantic and many Dominicans refer to it as the `coast of the coconuts` due to the hundreds of coconut palms along 30 miles of beautiful white sand.
Fundamentally Punta Cana comprises a large number of resorts each edging coral-reef protected waters.
[cont right]
Key focus of a holiday in Bavaro
This area is made up of mainly large all-inclusive resorts and mainly caters for couples or families.
The key focus is really that of a beach holiday although there are excursions available,
The photo to the right is my step-son on the beach with a friend at the Catalonia Bavaro. He is very fair skinned but with factor 50 sun block he played in the sun for 2 weeks with no problems whatsoever! I was amazed! [cont left]
Above: The public beach at Playa Cortecito
Nightlife
If you are looking for lots of nightlife this isn`t really the place for you. The one exception is the
Beach Resort disco which is the the main dance bar among the five large Barcelo hotels.
The disco opens at 11pm and usually becomes packed after midnight.
Entertainment for most people not staying there is within the confines of their resort although some adventurous people desperate to sample the local nightlife will need to get to Higuey,
a drive of about 40 miles.
Beaches
Many people holidaying here will probably be staying in an all-inclusive and will be happy staying on the hotel beach.
Afterall, you need to be fairly close to the beach bar to get your refreshing Caribbean cocktail!
If you are not lucky enough to be at an all-inclusive there are public beaches which you can enjoy.
Click here for more on Bavaro and the surrounding public beaches.
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