Cities - Puerto Plata

Puerto Plata

Coordinates: 19°27′N 70°42′W / 19.45, -70.7Dominican RepublicPuerto Plata ProvinceSan Felipe de Puerto Plata1492Area1.839 km² (Province) km² (Expression error: Unrecognised word "km" sq mi)Population (2006)350,000 (approx.)Website: [http:www.one.gob.do]San Felipe de Puerto Plata, often referred to as simply Puerto Plata, is the capital of the Dominican province Puerto Plata. It has a population of 130,000.

The city is famous for resorts such as Playa Dorada and Costa Dorada, located east of San Filipe de Puerto Plata. There are a total of 100,000 hotel beds in the city.In April 1563 the Spanish settlement became notorious when the English privateer Sir John Hawkins brought 400 people he had abducted from Sierra Leone and enslaved. Hawkins traded his victims with the Spanish for pearls, hides and sugars, some gold. This was the start of British involvement in the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, in which 20 million people were forced into slavery.

Puerto Plata is served by Gregorio Luperón International Airport, which lies about 15 km east of the city near the town La Unión.Puerto Plata City is the center of regional commerce, a port city and the capital of the Province of Puerto Plata (pop. +/- 150,000). The city is characterized by busy, narrow streets, quaint colonial gingerbread architecture and a wide oceanfront boulevard ending at a historical Spanish fortress.What to see, what to do?

Go to…The only aerial tramway in the Caribbean is located in Puerto Plata. With it, one can ride up to Pico Isabel de Torres, a 793 meter high mountain within the city. The top of the mountain features a botanical garden and a replica of Christ the Redeemer, the famous statue in Rio de Janeiro.The fortification Fortaleza San Felipe, which was built in the 16th century and served as a prison under Rafael Trujillo's dictatorship, lies close to the port of Puerta Plata. The amber museum is also a well-known attraction in this city. La Isabela, a settlement built by Christopher Columbus, is located near Puerto Plata.

Ocean World, the world's first fully interactive marine park, located between Cofresi and Costambar that are adjacent communities occupying two of the nicest beaches just west of the City of Puerto Plata. They are popular with retired expatriates, and you can find private villas and condos available for short, medium and long term rental.Ocean World is really two parts.

The Adventure Park is the main one, It has 5 main areas; dolphins, sharks, sea lions, birds, and tigers. Everything has an "encounter" that you can purchase. An encounter means you can interact directly with the animals (except the tigers of course). Depending on how much you pay their will be anywhere from 8 to 30 people in your group. The encounter is basically aimed at getting nice photos they can sell you later.The dolphins & the sharks are probably the highlights of ocean world. Ocean world has the only tame sharks in the world.

The second part is the casino & 'Magical Nights Show'.. The casino is nothing special. The "magical nights" is billed as a Las-Vegas style show.. its not! the light show is very modern, but the dancers lip-sync all the songs.



Encuentro Beach

Surfing in the Dominican Republic can be done on both the south and north coast. One of the best places to stay if you want to surfing some North coast spots is the wind and kite surf town of Cabarete. The best season is the wintertime when North swells hit the coast.

The place for surf the most is a spot called Encuentro, a mellow (in summertime) reef break. The reef is flat and forgiving, the sea urchins aren't, so if you are a beginner and are walking in the white water it's definitely wise to bring some booties, or rent them at one of the local surf schools at the beach.Encuentro start breaking at 2' and is a mostly right hander although the shorts lefts can be fun as well it can hold waves of up to 10' .Left of Encuentro is another wave, a short and sucky lefthander that breaks in very shallow water, short boards and expert surfers only. And a bit further left is a spot called Destroyer, which has the same characteristics.

Cabarete

Cabarete´s nightlife.

¨Cabarete is a small, laid-back Caribbean beach village located only 20 minutes away from the Puerto Plata International Airport on the northern shore of the Dominican Republic. It's a perfect tropical vacation spot, especially for the young traveler seeking fun, new friends and sporting adventures. With its charming, hip ambience and a combination of relaxed and adventurous lifestyles, most visitors can barely resist the spontaneous temptation of extending their stay and just hang around the place for another while.
The village of Cabarete is spread out across the center of a gorgeous, semi-circular beach of golden, sun-soaked, sand. Just behind, limiting its size lies a tranquil lagoon, backed up by richly verdant hills overflowing with luxurious tropical vegetation.
The perfect blend of the surrounding physical elements of nature such as the location of the offshore reef at the entrance of the bay, the direction from which the trade winds usually blow, and the low-lying hills behind the village, which cause a unique thermal effect, form a beautiful layout. They create an unusual synthesis of outstanding wind and wave conditions. These make Cabarete's bay an exceptional location not only for water-sports such as kiteboarding and windsurfing, but for regular surfing at El Encuentro beach as well.
Cabarete is also the perfect place to just lay back to work on that perfect tan. It's the best thing to do when you're not out gliding over warm Caribbean waters, or participating in some other fun adventure sport such as mountain-biking, scuba-diving, wakeboarding, cave exploring or canyoning.
And Cabarete's nightlife (restaurants, bars, discos and casino) is legendary. If you are not having fun in Cabarete, you must be dead.¨