From trunk speakers blaring merengue to marketers hawking fresh mofongo, Dominicans have many talents – one thing they’re not known for is being quiet. However, when you ask them about their secret beaches, a silence spreads over their vocal cords like algae on their shores. They quickly find their words and wax freely about Punta Cana, La Romana, and Puerto Plata, the tourist traps that make Drake and Jake Gyllenhaal sunburnt.<\/p>\n
Then there’s something the locals only dare to murmur about: the Dominican Republic’s seven hidden beaches that are only accessible on foot. Their names are meaningful if you passed Spanish I: Playa del Amor, Playa el Ermita\u00f1o, Playas Colorada 1, Colorada 2, Playa Escondida, Playa Calet\u00f3n, and La Playita. <\/p>\n
To reach these beaches, you’ll need to check in at headquarters, the Ocama Retreat, which overlooks Rinc\u00f3n Bay on the tranquil northeastern Saman\u00e1 Peninsula. The staff organizes the trip, and with the help of a freshly tailored hiking pole and a guide like Joel Nicol\u00e1s Paredes of Exotic Saman\u00e1, you’ll be able to navigate the twisted coastline. Along the way, keep an eye out for the mysterious \u201cblue house,\u201d where the owners offer coffee, tea, and jewelry for minimal coins.<\/p>\n
When your energy starts to wane, there’s literally a light at the end of a tunnel: a natural skylight deep in the Cuevo de Duarte, a cave named after the Dominican Republic’s founding father, Juan Pablo Duarte. Be careful of the stalactites and enjoy the cooling darkness. You might even hear the squeaking of bats fluttering overhead.<\/p>\n
Once you reach La Playita, you can treat yourself to a pi\u00f1a colada before continuing on to Ca\u00f1o Fr\u00edo, a sodium-free river with vast mangrove forests, fed by fresh underwater springs and bordering the saline Caribbean Sea. Expect to see kids mingling here with inflatable pelican floats and shooting lots of dembow through the trees.<\/p>\n
Ocama has brought chef Fierro P\u00e9rez Castillo on board as surf and turf master, serving dishes with a little French, a little Asian, and a whole lot of Dominican flair. Chef Castillo is happy to serve his shrimp and nachos in your room or in the thatched common area called the Kai Pavilion.<\/p>\n
By law, all DR beaches are public, but Ocama’s hidden little part of Rinc\u00f3n Bay, Playa del Amor, is de facto all yours. The staff has dug in the sargassum, which is good news for everyone, and a permanent beach bar is opening soon this year.<\/p>\n
Ocama’s multi-story villas with kitchens come in one-, two-, and three-bedroom styles, all with private plunge pools. Just remember the steep and railless marble stairs, which allow for a free climb worthy of a Netflix special\u2014especially if you’re visiting a few Barcel\u00f3s (from $970 per night).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introduction to the Dominican Republic’s Hidden Beaches From trunk speakers blaring merengue to marketers hawking fresh mofongo, Dominicans have many talents – one thing they’re not known for is being quiet. However, when you ask them about their secret beaches, a silence spreads over their vocal cords like algae on their shores. They quickly find<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31491,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[25340,5349,25363,25352,300,20895,25353,25359,309,25346,25345,25355,25347,25362,25360,25344,25354,25342,25356,25338,25339,15087,489,25351,25358,25343,25341,25348,25357,25349,25361,15547,21261,15079,17367,25350,5385],"class_list":{"0":"post-31490","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-lifestyle","8":"tag-algae","9":"tag-asian-americans","10":"tag-barcelos-portugal","11":"tag-blue-house","12":"tag-caribbean","13":"tag-caribbean-sea","14":"tag-cuevo","15":"tag-dembow","16":"tag-dominican-republic","17":"tag-dry-lake","18":"tag-el-ermitano","19":"tag-escape-the-pina-colada-song","20":"tag-escondida","21":"tag-free-climbing","22":"tag-in-your-room-depeche-mode-song","23":"tag-jake-gyllenhaal","24":"tag-juan-pablo-duarte","25":"tag-la-romana-dominican-republic","26":"tag-mangrove","27":"tag-merengue-music","28":"tag-mofongo","29":"tag-nachos","30":"tag-netflix","31":"tag-nicolas-paredes","32":"tag-pelican","33":"tag-puerto-plata-dominican-republic","34":"tag-punta-cana","35":"tag-rincon-bay","36":"tag-saline-water","37":"tag-samana-peninsula","38":"tag-sargassum","39":"tag-shrimp","40":"tag-skylight","41":"tag-sodium","42":"tag-surf-and-turf","43":"tag-trekking-pole","44":"tag-vocal-cords"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31490"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31492,"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31490\/revisions\/31492"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nanamedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}