Visit Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

It is the main city on the Atlantic coast, 225 km from the capital of the country, at the other end of the island.

In recent years it has become one of the main centers for the promotion of tourism in the country, as numerous hotel complexes have been built in and around the city in an attempt to exploit the beauty of the excellent beaches that extend along the coastline from the edges of the city.

But its importance has not been conditioned exclusively by the “boom” of tourism that has spread across the island in recent decades.

Its influence is also derived from the historical weight of this town and all this part of the coast where Christopher Columbus arrived on January 11, 1493.

Admirers of this country and its autochthonous population say that, amazed by the brightness of its waters, he named them Puerto Plata.

The coast of the entire province has been called the “Amber Coast” because of the abundance of this fossil resin that has become one of the symbols of the entire country.

The region is rich in agriculture and livestock: while touring the area you will see fields where sugar cane, introduced by Columbus in 1493 in this part of the island, cocoa, coffee and corn are grown.

The importance of livestock farming in the region is measured by the fact that it is among the ten provinces in the country with the highest livestock production.

In Puerto Plata, liquor, dairy products, pasta, leather and hides are industrialized. But the truth is that at present the city and the entire region are focused on tourism because they have the luxury of offering eleven kilometers of beaches from Cofresí to Sosúa.

Legends about this coast have been incessantly spread over the centuries and stories about the Spanish galleons sunk off the coast, in the Banco de la Plata, which could hold important treasures, have been passed from mouth to mouth.

In recent years, several expeditions have been organized to rescue these ships. In the museum of the Atarazanas of the capital, some pieces found in the archaeological salvages are exhibited.

Puerto Plata currently has a tourist port from which numerous cruise ships depart.

🟢 What to do in Puerto Plata

Here are the best things to do in Puerto Plata:

San Felipe Fortress

The fortress of San Felipe can be visited at the end of the boardwalk, on a small promontory next to the port.

It was built in 1575 to prevent pirate attacks from the north and has a square plan with towers at the corners and a moat where soldiers placed traps with stakes to prevent the passage of attackers.

In the interior have been conditioned during its restoration: cannonballs, musket and arquebus, rusty remains of rifles and horse shoes, Spanish coins of the eighteenth and fourteenth centuries, buttons of warriors.

We can also visit the lighthouse that is next to the castle. There is a metal turret that was built in 1916 by the Americans at a time when they occupied the island. The adjoining ruins belonged to a hospital.

Puerto Plata Cable Car

One of the main attractions of Puerto Plata that you cannot miss is its cable car.

Amber Museum

Calle Duarte # 61, internet: www.ambermuseum.com hours: 9:00 to 18:00. Closed on Sundays

This museum, inaugurated in 1982, is the result of the collection gathered since 1970 by don Aldo Costa and doña Ada Bellini, who had obtained a considerable number of pieces. The collection was housed in a two-story Victorian-style house. The museum received the final accolade when S. Spielberg filmed the opening sequence of the movie “Jurassic Park” in one of its rooms.

The visit allowed to learn more about these stones that have become a symbol of the country due to the numerous deposits found in its geography and especially in the northern part of the island.

This abundance is due to the fact that in the Miocene era there was a fossil resin of pine trees that imprisons millenary fossils.

Since this is an area with the largest deposits of this substance on the planet, it was decided to name the coast the Amber Coast.

The exhibited stones have been divided by themes in different rooms: origin and formation; fossils enclosed in amber (ants, flies, a tiny lizard, a feather -one of the rarest pieces-, and various insects); amber mine; the room dedicated to Jurassic Park; etc.

The visit concludes on the first floor where there is a store where you can buy different objects made with amber (bracelets, necklaces, pendants), including specimens with insects or pollen. There is also a wide range of larimar jewelry and handicrafts in general.

Data from the amber museum in Puerto Plata:

• Address: Calle Duarte # 61,
• Web: www.ambermuseum.com
• Hours: Monday to Saturday from 9:00 to 18:00.

🏖️ Playas de Puerto Plata

And undoubtedly, one of the tourist attractions of Puerto Plata are its wonderful beaches. You can not miss one of the most famous: Playa Dorada.

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📖 See our directory of businesses and services of Puerto Plata

• Travel agencies in Puerto Plata
• Equipos médicos y de hospitales en Puerto Plata

☎️ Useful telephone numbers for tourists in Las Terrenas

• National Police: 809-586-2331
• Tourist Information Center: 809-320-2222
• Ricardo Limardo Hospital: 809-586-2311
• Fire Department: 809-586-2312
• Gregorio Luperón International Airport: 809-586-0102
• North Coast Tourism Office: 809-586-4202
• Puerto Plata Tourism Office: 809-320-4012
• Immigration Office: 809-586-2515
• Customs Office: 809-586-2631
• Embassy of the United States: 809-586-4204