Dominican Republic

You have already chosen the Dominican Republic, and now the practical questions remain. You need to decide which coast suits your trip, which season to go in and which hotel to pick from many similar ones. The country's resort areas differ noticeably, and the choice of coast changes the whole vacation. We have gathered guides that help you make each of these decisions in order.

Most of the guides are about hotels. We compare the country's four-star and five-star hotels that operate on an "all-inclusive" basis, and look separately at where to stay in Punta Cana. The selections are built around different kinds of vacation. There are adults-only hotels, and there are options for couples, families and groups. In the adults-only selection we name the drawbacks of each option directly. That makes comparing easier.

A separate group of texts is written for those traveling with children. It covers hotels with water parks and kids' clubs, plus a breakdown of the resort areas: where the sea is calm, how to choose a coast and when to go. For a family, calm water often matters more than the hotel's star rating. That is why we return to this topic in several guides and look at it from different angles.

The third part of the section describes places and seasons. The beach overview shows where the water is quiet and where there are waves. The guide to Cap Cana covers beaches, golf and the airport transfer. The text on Macao Beach is devoted to surfing, the open Atlantic and the road from Bávaro. The Puerto Plata guide explains where to stay and what to see on the north coast. Two weather guides answer when to go and which resort area to choose in winter. These texts help you picture a resort before you start looking at hotels.

Every guide opens with a short verdict: who the place or hotel suits and what to watch for. Then come practical sections on location, beach, getting there and accommodation conditions. We give prices and other figures with a source and the date they were checked. We verify hotel details against their official websites and check locations on the map. We write about shortcomings in as much detail as about strengths. If we could not verify something, we say so.

The section is useful for anyone planning a beach vacation at a hotel: families, couples, groups of friends. It also helps those torn between two resorts or two seasons. If you need a detailed route across the whole country by rental car, there are no such guides yet. The section does not yet cover mobile service, money or public transportation either. We are telling you this up front.

It is easiest to read in this order. First open the guide to the seasons and settle on the timing of your trip. Then compare resorts and beaches to understand which coast you need. After that, move on to the hotel selections for the resort you have chosen. Families with children should start with the text on resorts with calm sea and then look at hotels with water parks. That way the list of options shrinks faster.

The section belongs to "North America", which is part of the larger "Destinations" section. Next to it are "Cuba" and "Mexico": they come in handy if you are still comparing countries for a beach vacation. You will also find "Canada" and "USA" there. These sections will help if the Dominican Republic becomes part of a longer trip around the region.

We update the guides and check them against official sources: the websites of hotels, airports and tourism authorities. We revise the hotel selections when conditions change. The date of the last check is stated in each guide. Entry rules and insurance requirements depend on your citizenship and may change. Check them on official government websites before your trip. The choice of coast, season and hotel, though, you can make right now, using the guides in this section.