Punta Cana is the most visited destination in the Caribbean. Located east of the Dominican Republic, bathed by the Atlantic Ocean and with a temperature ranging from 20ºC in winter to 32ºC in the summer is the perfect place to spend a great vacation.
Punta Cana is made up of areas (from south to north) of Cap Cana (Juanillo), Punta Cana, Cabeza de Toro, Bavaro, El Cortecito, Arena Gorda, Macao and Uvero Alto. Today, Punta Cana has become one of the best options for those seeking the perfect beaches, rest and relaxation.
Punta Cana Map
The entire coast of Punta Cana is full of all inclusive hotels aimed primarily at family holidays. Most hotels offer within their complexes activities, but most activities are focused on meeting the needs of a family vacation. The exception is that in spring time in the hotels are filled mostly by groups of university students flying from Canada, USA and Europe. In this case the best hotels for tamily oriented vacations are the larger hotel complexes where there are more evening activities.
If you want to spend some time outside of the all inclusive program, Punta Cana also offers magnificent activities for all. You can rent a 4x4 and venture outside the resorts to discover a magnificent world of caves, mangroves, deserted beaches with coconut palms on the nearby provinces of Hato Mayor & Seibo. You can also visit Altos de Chavon, Isla Saona near La Romana. Why not pre-book a day out with the Jeep Safari Adventure crew via our Punta Cana Excursion Store, who will take you out on a fun filled, action packed and informative tour of this beautiful countryside.
The Punta Cana area is ideal for those who prefer a holiday that has everything included in the hotel and need not leave the confines of the resort should you not wish to, but why travel all this way and not explore some of this amazing paradise! - The nearest town, Higuey, is about 40 minutes away. Cortecito is located between Punta Cana-Bavaro and Macao, Manati Park with fauna and flora of the Dominican Republic and the house of Ponce de Leon near Boca de Yuma. You can eat fresh cooked fish on the beach and aftewards take a stroll to walk it off along some of the vast stretches of beach the area has to offer. You can practise your bargaining skills by visiting the souvenir shops located on the beach or you can just simply chill and relax with an ice cold beer or pina colada!!
History of Punta Cana
In 1969, a group of American investors bought some land with an approximate area of 48 square miles of pure jungle at the east end of the Dominican Republic. This portion of land is almost rectangular, of which approximately 10 miles bordering the coast, with numerous exotic beaches of white sand and thousands of coconut trees, although without any means of access.
Shortly after they joined the Dominican businessman Frank R. Ranieri, who had the idea to develop the area for tourism. Under the direction of Frank R. Dominican Rainieri and American Théodred W. Kheel, the Tourism Development Company, residential and industrial, SA (CODDETREISA), currently PUNTACANA GROUP SA, began development of the vast expanse of land in 1971 to open a small hotel known as Punta Cana Club, which consisted of 10 cabins with 2 rooms, a clubhouse, a small living quarters for the employees , a generator and a rough landing strip for small planes. At full capacity, this small hotel could accommodate 40 people, but never reached the maximum, and was not profitable enough. But it did show that the property had great potential, which resulted that in 1978 building began on the first hotel of 350 rooms - Mediterrané by the Club of Paris, France. It should be noted that until 1981 when the Dominican government completed construction of the first road to connect to Punta Cana with the country's road network, it took some 6 hou/p>
This, among other things, streamlined the steps to build the Punta Cana International Airport After a battle of 8 years and 3 different governments, it won permission to build what would become the first private international airport in the world. Construction began in 1982 and it was inaugurated in 1984 with its first international flight, a twin-engine turbo propeller from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
After the PUNTACANA GROUP, came to the area, other businesses also started to arrive, such Newco, they purchased a portion of land to make a PUNTACANA GROUP Mediterrané Club - which opened its doors in 1981. A few years later the brothers arrived at the Barcelo Bavaro area, located towards the north of Punta Cana, where they bought land and began building hotels. As soon as the Punta Cana International Airport opened in 1984 the area of the airport began a rapid ascent to become what is now the top destination in the Caribbean.
Due to its isolated location and lack of public services provided by the Dominican government, PUNTACANA GROUP SA had to fix and maintain itself all kinds of services needed for operations such as access roads, security, water, electricity, garbage collection, sewage disposal, schools etc.., by creating projects and subsidiaries. Since 1997, the group owners are Théodred PUNTACANA W. Kheel, Frank R. Ranieri, Julio Iglesias and Oscar de la Renta.
Origin of the name of Punta Cana
According to sea maps of the time, the property acquired by Grupo Punta Cana in 1969 in the eastern area of the country was called Punta Borrachon (Closely translated Punta Drunks!). Frank Ranieri immediately realized that this was not an attractive name for tourism and trade. With this in mind he choose to use Punta Cana, named after a nearby area located further south of the property, as the name of the first hotel built, Punta Cana Club.
With the opening of the Punta Cana International Airport, tourists arriving in the area understood that they were coming to Punta Cana. What they did not know was that once they landed, they were transported to hotels located in the areas of Bavaro, Macao, Arena Gorda, El Cortecito, Cabeza de Toro and Uvero Alto. Thus, many hotels now use the name Punta Cana with their names and descriptions without being geographically located in Punta Cana
In an attempt to preserve the name of Punta Cana, in late 2004 the Board of Directors of the Punta Cana Group, decided to make a distinction, making the word PUNTACANA as a single word only ever written in capital letters. Only the airport decided not to use the mark to avoid further confusion between it and the destination.
Things to do in Punta Cana
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Where to eat in Punta Cana
In the Punta Cana area there are many upon many all inclusice based resorts so you don´t really need to travel outside the hotel to eat. This has resulted in fewer restaurants in the area. Nonetheless, there are more and more tourists spending their holidays in villas and apartments in Punta Cana (which are not all inclusive) so thanks to them there are some very good restaurants. Please bear in mind that being in an exclusively tourist area prices are generally high.
* Restaurant Captain Cook - Located in Cortecito - Lunch or Dinner, tel 809-552-0645. The restaurant specializes in seafood dishes cooked in an outdoor kitchen. While waiting for your main dish you will be served free snacks, the amount of which could be considered your main dish!!. It is the most famous restaurant in Punta Cana and has a free collection service in the hotels in the area by boat.
* Mamma Luisa - Located in the Plaza Bolera - serving lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday. Tel 809-959-2013. Located in the only mall in Punta Cana their specialties are Italian dishes. Oddly enough the pizza dough is not the best dish they serve so please ask for the freshet fish cooked in Mediterranean style or a pasta dish.
* Caribbean Coffee - Located in Bavaro shopping center - Serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The perfect place if you want to eat something light such as sandwiches, salads and crepes. The coffee they serve is fresh and is available to go.
* Rincon de Pepe - Also located in the Bavaro Shopping Center - Serves lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday, tel 809-552-0603. Located on the ground floor of the shopping center plaza - The specialties are typically Spanish themed. It is noteworthy that also prepares paella with seafood or Valencian style, with rabbit, pork and chicken.
* Jalapeno - Located in Plaza Las Brisas - Breakfast lunch and dinner, tel 809-552-1033. Mexican food restaurent where you can enjoy burritos, enchiladas, fajitas, tacos and chimichangas.
* The Dolphin Restaurant - Located in the Plaza Punta Cana - Serves breakfast lunch and dinner. Their specialties are fish dishes, chicken or beef with rice and beans typically accompanied by an ice cold Dominican Presidente beer. A more Dominican-style restaurant.
* Hard Rock Cafe - Located in the Palma Real Shopping Village, a new high-end mall in Bavaro offers customers the true American rock and a variety of rates that has made the Hard Rock brand known worldwide.
Supermarkets in Punta Cana - If you wish to make your own purchases, there are a couple of recommended supermarkets, one in El Cortecito and one in Riviera Plaza Estrella.
