La Romana is the second-largest city in the Dominican Republic — 280,000 people on the southeastern coast of Hispaniola, 130km east of Santo Domingo, on the Chavón River near its mouth at the Caribbean Sea. La Romana was founded in 1502 as a Spanish colonial settlement and grew through the sugarcane industry (the Central Romana sugar mill, operated by Gulf+Western Industries from 1967, now by the Fanjul family's Casa de Campo resort group, is still one of the largest sugar mills in the Caribbean). The city is best known internationally for two very different things: Casa de Campo (one of the most exclusive resort developments in the Caribbean, covering 7,000 acres with a private airport, three golf courses, polo fields, a marina, and a shooting centre) and Altos de Chavón (a stunning recreation of a 16th-century Italian Mediterranean village built in the 1970s by Dominican craftsmen and designer Roberto Copa on a cliff above the Chavón River gorge — now an arts school, gallery complex, and amphitheatre where Frank Sinatra performed the inaugural concert in 1982). The Isla Catalina (a small uninhabited coral island 2km offshore, with some of the finest snorkelling and swimming water in the Caribbean) and the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia (the most visited religious site in the Dominican Republic, 20km west in Higüey) are the primary day trip destinations. Best months: December–April.
Altos de Chavón (Altos de Chavón — 'The Heights Above the Chavón'; a purpose-built recreation of a 16th-century Italian Mediterranean village on a cliff above the Río Chavón, within the Casa de Campo resort (6km from La Romana city centre; accessible by taxi (DOP 200–300) or a Casa de Campo shuttle for resort guests)); designed by Italian stage designer Roberto Copa for Gulf+Western Industries president Álvaro Carta in 1975 (Copa spent 3 years researching Italian medieval stone villages (particularly the hilltop villages of Calabria and Tuscany) and then directed 1,000 Dominican craftsmen who learned to cut and dress stone using traditional tools to build the village); the result: a remarkably convincing recreation of a 16th-century Italian village on a Caribbean clifftop, with: the Amphitheatre (5,000 seats, open-air; the inaugural concert: Frank Sinatra, August 1982; subsequent performers include Elton John, Shakira, and the Backstreet Boys), the Church of St. Stanislaus (a Dominican church built in the style of a Tuscan country church; Pope John Paul II donated the relic of St. Stanislaus that is kept in the church), the Regional Museum of Archaeology (the Taíno art and artifacts from the southeastern Dominican Republic), and the Escuela de Diseño (the La Romana School of Design, affiliated with Parsons School of Design). DOP 400 entry (non-Casa de Campo guests).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideRío Chavón (the river that inspired the name of Altos de Chavón; a 25km river that flows from the interior mountains to the Caribbean, cutting a spectacular 45m-deep canyon through the limestone plateau in its final section before the sea); the Chavón River is known to international visitors primarily as the filming location for the riverine sequences of 'Apocalypse Now' (1979, though most of the film was shot in the Philippines; certain establishing shots were filmed here); boat tours from the La Romana marina (the marina at the river mouth — a large private marina with 350 berths for yachts and the departure point for Isla Catalina excursions): the 2-hour river tour (motorboat or catamaran) goes 8km upriver to the point where the canyon walls are most dramatic (the white limestone cliffs 40m above the water, with tropical vegetation overhanging the river), then returns. DOP 1,500 per person.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideLa Romana city centre (Parque Central (Central Park) — the palm-shaded central square of La Romana, surrounded by: the San Pedro Apóstol Church (the main Catholic church of La Romana, built 1922 in a simplified Baroque style); the Ayuntamiento (the city hall building, 1930s colonial architecture); and the local colmados (the Dominican corner stores — more than just shops, the colmado is the social hub of each Dominican neighbourhood, with a small seating area, a television showing baseball, and a cooler of cold Presidente beer)); the Mercado Central (the covered food market, 3 blocks from Parque Central, with the Dominican market food (mangú (mashed green plantain), yuca (cassava), chicharon (pork crackling), and the local vegetables of the Hispaniola interior)); the sugar mill vista (the Central Romana sugar mill — the largest sugar mill in the Caribbean (processing approximately 500,000 tonnes of sugar per year) — is visible from the city as an industrial skyline of chimneys and conveyors on the western edge of the city). Free.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideDominican cuisine (la comida dominicana): La Bandera ('The Flag' — the daily Dominican lunch ('la bandera dominicana'): white rice + red kidney beans (habichuelas guisadas — slow-cooked kidney beans with sofrito (the Dominican sofrito base: recao (culantro (Eryngium foetidum — the Andean coriander, stronger than regular coriander)), tomato, garlic, pepper, and sazón (the prepared spice blend of cumin, coriander, annatto, and garlic that is the backbone of Dominican seasoning)) + protein (pollo guisado (stewed chicken) or chivo guisado (braised goat) or bistec (thin pan-fried beef)) + salad and tostones (fried green plantain slices; the tostones are made by slicing, frying briefly, smashing flat, and frying again until crisp)). Presidente (Cerveza Presidente — the national beer of the Dominican Republic: a 5% ABV pilsner lager; founded 1935 by the Rafael Trujillo dictatorship (the beer was named in tribute to the dictator's presidential title); now owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev; the most consumed beverage in the Dominican Republic after water). Parque Central restaurants: DOP 300–500 for a full Dominican meal.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideMerengue (meringüe — the national music and dance of the Dominican Republic; a fast-tempo music (160–180 BPM) with a distinctive 2/4 rhythm driven by the tambora (a double-headed drum played with a stick and a hand), the güira (a metal scraper played with a metal brush, producing the characteristic metallic scraping sound), and the accordion (button accordion, introduced to the Dominican Republic by German immigrants in the 19th century; the diatonic button accordion gave merengue its characteristic major-key melodies)). The merengue dance (a partner dance in which the couple moves their hips in a side-to-side motion (the 'peso' — 'weight') while the feet make small steps; the formal merengue (the salón merengue) is erect and stately; the folk merengue (the perico ripiao or 'ripped parrot') is more exuberant and improvisational)). La Romana merengue venues: the outdoor colmados of the Parque Central area play live merengue music on weekend evenings (Friday–Saturday); the Presidente flows freely.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideIsla Catalina (an uninhabited coral island (9 km²) 2km offshore from La Romana, in the Caribbean Sea; accessible by boat from the La Romana marina or Casa de Campo marina (30 min return journey; excursion packages from DOP 2,500–4,500 including boat, guide, snorkelling equipment, and lunch on the island)): the island has some of the finest snorkelling water in the Dominican Republic: the coral reef on the western side of the island (the fringing reef of the Isla Catalina) has: queen angelfish (Holacanthus ciliaris — a large, vivid blue-and-yellow reef fish; one of the most beautiful species in the Caribbean); elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata — the largest and most structurally important coral species in the Caribbean; severely reduced by coral bleaching (due to ocean warming from climate change) since the 1970s; Isla Catalina retains some of the best remaining elkhorn coral stands); sea turtles (the hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) nests on Isla Catalina's beaches; sightings in the water are common). The beach (the northern beach of Isla Catalina is consistently listed among the finest beaches in the Dominican Republic: white sand, crystal-clear turquoise water, no facilities (the caterer for the day excursions provides a beach barbecue)).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideCasa de Campo ('Country House' — the 7,000-acre luxury resort on the southwestern edge of La Romana; one of the most famous resort developments in the Caribbean, developed by Gulf+Western Industries from 1974; now operated by the Fanjul family (the billionaire Cuban-American sugar dynasty that also operates the Central Romana sugar mill)): even for non-guests, two activities are accessible as day visitors: (1) Golf: the Teeth of the Dog (the most famous golf course in the Caribbean (designed by Pete Dye, opened 1971; named for the jagged coral rock formations along the coastline that resembles teeth; 7 of the 18 holes are directly on the Caribbean coast with sea views); ranked consistently among the top 30 golf courses in the world; green fee for non-guests approximately USD 250); (2) Polo: the Casa de Campo Polo Club (the largest polo complex in the Caribbean — 7 polo fields, 250 horses; the polo season is January–April; matches are played on weekends (admission DOP 600–1,200 for non-resort guests; the world-class polo matches draw top players from Argentina and the US)). Polo: DOP 600 non-guests.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideMinitas Beach (La Minitas — Casa de Campo's private Caribbean beach, accessible to non-guests with a day pass (DOP 1,500) or to resort guests); the beach restaurant at Minitas: a casual open-air seafood restaurant on the sand; the menu: lobster (langosta — the Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus), different from the North Atlantic clawed lobster; the spiny lobster has no claws (the front legs are spinous) and a sweeter, firmer tail meat; the Dominican Republic is a major spiny lobster producer; the standard preparation: split tail, brushed with garlic butter, grilled on a charcoal grill and served with white rice and tostones); grilled fish (mahi-mahi (dorado — Coryphaena hippurus; one of the finest eating fish in the tropics; caught offshore by the La Romana fishing fleet in the Caribbean and Atlantic)). Alternatively: the Grill La Yola (the La Romana Marina restaurant — an excellent fish restaurant accessible to all visitors, with a view of the boat traffic on the Chavón River (DOP 800–1,500 for a seafood dinner)).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideBachata (bachatá — the second Dominican national music genre, which originated in the rural and working-class communities of La Romana and the southeastern Dominican Republic in the 1960s–1970s; a slower, more melancholic music than merengue (120–145 BPM), with a distinctive guitar-driven sound (the 'requinto' rhythm guitar with its characteristic ascending-descending scale runs), the bongo drums, the bass guitar, and the 'clave' (a pair of wooden sticks hit together providing the rhythmic grid)). Bachata was stigmatised in the Dominican Republic as 'the music of the poor' and the rural bordello from its origins until the 1990s (when Juan Luis Guerra's Grammy Award-winning 'Bachata Rosa' (1990) transformed the image of the genre); Romeo Santos (born 1981 in The Bronx, parents from La Romana and La Vega) is the most famous bachata artist alive. The bachata dance (a romantic couple dance with small steps and hip movements; the formal 'bachata de salon' and the sensual 'bachaata moderna'). Live bachata venues in La Romana: the Club Tropicana (downtown La Romana, open from 22:00).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideBasílica Catedral Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia (Higüey — 30km west of La Romana by car (DOP 150 by guagua (shared minibus)); the most important religious site in the Dominican Republic and one of the most architecturally remarkable churches in the Caribbean: the new basilica (built 1954–1971; designed by the French architects André-Jacques Dunoyer de Segonzac and Pierre Dupré in a modernist idiom that references both Gothic cathedral form (the soaring single nave, rising to 80m) and the Dominican rural vernacular (the rough concrete exterior recalls the adobe walls of the Dominican countryside))); the object of veneration: the image of Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia (the Virgin of Altagracia — a small medieval painting (approximately 1496–1502, of uncertain Spanish origin) showing the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus and a Spanish nobleman; the image has been venerated in Higüey since the 16th century and is the patron of the Dominican Republic (the Feast of the Virgin of Altagracia, January 21, is the most important religious pilgrimage in the country (200,000+ pilgrims attend)). Free.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideSan Pedro de Macorís (50km west of La Romana on the south coast; the city that has produced more major league baseball players per capita than any other city in the world ('The Sultan of Swatreys' — the nickname given to the city for its extraordinary baseball production; hundreds of Dominican baseball players who reached the US Major Leagues were born or grew up in San Pedro de Macorís; the most famous: Sammy Sosa (born San Pedro de Macorís 1968 — the Chicago Cubs outfielder who hit 609 career home runs, including the famous 1998 home run race with Mark McGwire that revitalised American interest in baseball after the 1994 strike)); the sugar mill heritage (San Pedro de Macorís was the centre of the 19th-century sugar boom in the Dominican Republic: the sugar mills of the Consuelo, Quisqueya, and Santa Fe estates (built with US capital after the American occupation (1916–1924) transformed the sugar industry) still stand on the outskirts of the city as industrial heritage)); the Malecon (the waterfront promenade on the Caribbean) and the San Pedro Cathedral (a 19th-century gothic revival church).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideReturn to La Romana (DOP 100 by guagua). Caribbean sunset at the Chavón River mouth (the marina at the river mouth gives an unobstructed view of the Caribbean horizon; the sun sets to the northwest over the turquoise water, and the canyon walls of the Chavón above the marina glow orange in the alpenglow; local fishing boats returning with the day's catch (mahi-mahi, tuna, and the occasional wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri — a large, fast pelagic fish prized by sport fishermen and restaurants alike)) pass the marina entrance at sunset). The La Romana Marina (the largest private marina in the Caribbean, with 350 slips; the walking path along the marina's concrete pier gives the best sunset view of the Chavón canyon wall and the Altos de Chavón silhouette on the clifftop above).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideSancocho (the national stew of the Dominican Republic: a thick, complex stew of 7 meats (the 'sancocho de siete carnes' (seven-meat stew): beef, pork, chicken, lamb (or goat), pork ribs, salt pork, and longaniza (the Dominican sausage (a fresh pork sausage heavily seasoned with garlic, oregano, and achiote (the bright orange seed of the annatto plant, Bixa orellana, used throughout Latin America as a colouring agent and mild flavouring)))) with root vegetables (yuca (cassava), yautía (taro root), ñame (white yam), and plantain), corn on the cob sections, and the flavouring of oregano, garlic, and lime; served with white rice and avocado. Mamajuana (a Dominican herbal liqueur: a mixture of rum, red wine, and honey soaked over tree bark and herbs (the specific combination varies by recipe; the most common ingredients: palo de brasil (brazilwood bark), jengibre (dried ginger root), and canela (cinnamon stick); the claimed aphrodisiac and health properties of mamajuana are culturally important (the Dominicans call it 'liquid Viagra')). DOP 100–200 per glass. Final dinner cost: DOP 500–800.
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