“10 Amazing Things to Do in Santo Domingo” will walk you down the cobble-stoned streets of the oldest city in the Americas. You’ll explore 16th century fortresses, watch a lively baseball game, jump in the sea from a white-sand beach, then enjoy pumping nightlife.
10 Amazing Things to Do in Santo Domingo:
#1 Stroll The Zona Colonial
Santo Domingo is full of history. The entire colonial city of Santo Domingo is a cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site. Explore the oldest European city in the Americas with a Zona Colonial Santo Domingo city tour. Your guide will take you down the cobblestone streets of the Calle de Las Damas, the home of the most historic houses in the city, and to the lovely Parque Colon. You can also take a 45-Minute Colonial City Road Train Tour for just $12, or do a three-hour audio guide walking tour for $20. Or, for more adventure, do an hour-long Trikke Tour for $45.
#2 Visit the Alcazar de Colon
Visit the most well-preserved colonial building, dating to 1509. Hernan Cortés, Ponce de León, and Balboa walked through here. Open 9-5. Entry $2
#3 Jump in the Caribbean at Boca Chica Beach
Go for a swim and then hang out on the beach at Boca Chica. You can get there in 40 minutes by bus for $2.
#4 Watch a Beisbol Game – Dominican Style
Get tickets behind home plate at a baseball game and see the best players in the world at Quisqueya stadium. Just $5 for tickets.
#5 Visit Columbus’ Lighthouse and Tomb
Gaze upon the 676 foot tall Faro a Colon, a massive lighthouse and purportedly the mausoleum of Christopher Columbus. $2 entry
#6 Climb on a 16th Century Fort
Hike on top of the Fortaleza Ozama built in 1507. Only $1.50 for entry
#7 Go Spelunking in a Cave
Make a day trip to Los Tres Ojos National Park. This natural wonder of caves and lakes is open 830am to 530pm. A 15 minute drive from the Zona Colonial Santo Domingo. $4 entry
#8 Be Awed by a Big Old Church
Go inside the Catedral Primada de America, the first cathedral in the New World. Free entry.
#9 Stop to Smell the Roses in the National Botanical Garden
The largest public garden in the Caribbean, this lovely park is open daily from 9 to 5.
#10 Party all Night Long at a Club
Santo Domingo has amazing nightlife. It’s full of beautiful people, who can all dance better than you, but don’t be shy, get out and enjoy it. Dancing bachata with your partner can be one of the most romantic things to do in Santo Domingo.
Our experience in Santo Domingo:
The Dominican Republic is not a rich country, at a little more than a tenth of US income. However in the rankings of world’s happiest countries, the DR is always near the top. People are well dressed and entrepreneurial. As in many poor countries, they see white tourists as a walking ATM. On our first day my parents agreed to a $28 taxi ride that should have cost $4, and my mom accepted the services of an “official tour guide” who then showed her all the places she could buy Dominican jewelry for five times the normal cost.
Faro a Colon
Our first stop was at the Faro a Colon, a massive lighthouse monument built in celebration of the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus voyage to the DR. This place is the size of an Egyptian pyramid. It is built in the shape of a cross, and has a powerful searchlight that supposedly can be seen from Puerto Rico. Columbus’ lighthouse is seldom turned on though, as it causes blackouts in the surrounding neighborhoods.
Christopher Columbus’ Tomb
Columbus’ tomb is a site of controversy. Columbus’ remains were first buried in Valladolid, Spain upon his death in 1506, and then moved to a monastery in Seville. In 1542, his remains were transferred to Santo Domingo, DR. In 1795, the French took over Hispaniola, and his remains were evacuated to Havana, Cuba. After Cuba became independent in 1898, his remains were moved back to the Cathedral of Seville in Spain. However, a lead box bearing an inscription identifying “Don Christopher Columbus” and containing fragments of bone and a bullet was discovered at Santo Domingo in 1877.
To prove that Spain has the real Columbus, DNA samples were taken in June 2003, but the results are not conclusive. Only a few limited fragments of mitochondrial DNA could be isolated, but these do appear that the body may be that of Columbus. The authorities in Santo Domingo have not allowed the remains here to be exhumed, so it is unknown if any of these remains could be from Columbus’s body. So, is this really Columbus’ grave or not? I really don’t care, because I’ve been to the Cathedral in Seville as well, so I’m pretty sure I’ve got him one way or the other!
Parque Colon
Later, while sitting on a bench in Parque Colon writing, I was approached by all manner of hustlers and con men. Apparently sitting down and reading Lonely Planet is a flashing red light that says “I’m a lost tourist, come try to rip me off!” The same tour guide sat down and told me all the great deals he could get my “Mama”. Later an attractive couple sat by me, the woman a little to close for comfort. The man struck up a conversation with me about growing up in Queens, cheering for the Yankees, and liking Ronald Reagan. Oh and by the way, his “cousin” really liked American guys if I was interested. Umm. No thanks. Next a homeless man asked me if I was an actor, and then told me that I looked just like Clint Eastwood. Is that a compliment? I mean, Clint Eastwood is like 100 years old. He then announced that he had AIDS, and could he have some money for his meds?
Lights Out
Others would wander by trying to sell me coffee from a jug, Meringue CD’s, rosary beads, newspapers in Spanish. Although, at no time did I feel unsafe in Santo Domingo, even while walking some very dark streets. And by dark, I mean Santo Domingo has a serious electricity problem. There is not enough juice to support the whole grid of two million people. Rolling blackouts are the norm. The main tourist center would go completely dark every evening for a few hours. The major hotels, restaurants, and stores all have private generators in the basements. The streetlights go out, but life goes on.
Our hotel, the Conde de Penalba, is a gracefully aged building with al fresco dining overlooking the Plaza Colon in SD’s colonial district. We enjoyed several Presidente beers on our private second-floor balcony watching ebullient Dominicans and reserved tourists amble by.
The Malecon
In the mornings I ran along the Malecon, the long waterfront avenue that hosts the city’s high-rise hotels and nightlife. I had hoped for a beautiful run along the azure Caribbean Sea, but it was not to be. Unlike the well cared for Zona Colonial, I found the Malecon littered with mountains of garbage. Homeless sleep on concrete benches surrounded by a blanket of trash. The rocky shore is occasionally interrupted by a small beach with every inch of sand covered in plastic. A ring of waste encircles the coastline. Any fresh breeze of Caribbean air is drowned by exhaust fumes of passing motorbikes. The sound of the surf breaking on the rocks is overpowered by the blasts of truck horns. At this moment I have much appreciation for the spotless beaches of Maui and the relative calm of South Kihei Road. In the DR’s defense, the following day, I found the majority of the trash picked up, apparently Monday morning is the low point for the Malecon. However, it would take an army of trash pickers to clear the whole coastline.
A Brief History of The Oldest City in the Americas
Returning to the Park Colon, I find Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus in English) omnipresent in Santo Domingo. The Great Admiral’s brother, Bartholomew, founded the city in 1498, making it the oldest European city in the New World. Across from our hotel is the oldest church in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere, built in 1521.
Columbus landed on the north shore of the island of Hispaniola on December 5th 1492, on his first voyage to the New World. Eighteen days later he ran the Santa Maria aground, and was forced to abandon it, tearing it apart to build a fort called “La Navidad” for 39 men he left behind.
At this time Hispaniola was inhabited by approximately 400,000 Taino indians. At first the Spanish had peaceful relations with the Taino, but soon took to raping and murdering them. This may have been a bad decision, being outnumbered 10,000 to 1. Columbus returned to La Navidad on November 27, 1493 to discover eleven Spanish corpses lining the beach and that the Taino had killed all 39 Spanish settlers. Columbus sailed 70 miles further east and founded another settlement called “La Isabella”. I would think it must have been hard to get volunteers to stay behind this time around. However, this settlement survived, and in 1496 Bart Columbus packed everyone up and sailed to the south side of the island to relocate to what is today the east side of Santo Domingo. The city was completely wiped out by a hurricane in 1502, and they chose to rebuild on the west side of the Ozama river.
Things did not turn out so well for the Taino indians. The Spanish killed thousands through warfare, disease, and slavery. By the mid 1600’s the Tainos had been practically wiped out and the Spanish began importing African slaves to work their plantations. The last Taino native was seen in 1864. Dominicans today are a mixture of Spanish and African blood, no native Taino blood remains.
Baseball – Dominican Style
One of the unique things to do in Santo Domingo is a trip to the ballpark. Dominicans don’t care about soccer, they love BEISBOL. In the evening we caught a cab to Estadio Quisqueya for a beisbol game between the Escogido Leones and Estrellas. Our friendly cabbie played “Name that Tune” with me as he blasted Celine Dion and Whitney Houston while swerving wildly through the blacked-out back streets of SD. We arrived at the sparkling clean stadium, and got 15th row seats behind first base for just 275 pesos ($8), about one fiftieth of what similar seats would cost at Fenway.
Dominicans are the best baseball players in the world, far better than Americans on a per-capita measurement of major leaguers. Unfortunately, we had picked a game between the two worst teams in the Dominican Winter League, and the crowd numbered less than a thousand. But as the game got underway, it was a loud and enthusiastic thousand. We rooted for the home team Escogido, and they capitalized on some Estrellas errors to win easily 8-3. Several current and former MLB players were in the game including Reggie Willits and Tony Batista.
The Dominican game is more of an entertainment production than in America. The had a man on eight foot stilts walking through the stands. A lion mascot taunted the opposing players throughout the game. Perhaps best of all, the seventh inning stretch consisted of a half-dozen cheerleaders dressed in hot pants, half shirts and baseball caps doing ridiculous booty shaking dances on the dugout roof, and using the Lion mascot as a stripper pole. It was absolutely outrageous, and I tried to picture curmudgeon sportswriter Dan Shaugnessy of the Boston Globe watching this from a Fenway box seat. We had a blast at Quisqueya stadium, beautiful ballpark, cheap seats, cold beer, and quality play.
Boca Chica Beach
The next day Mom and I took on the challenge of navigating the DR’s public transport system to try out some beaches in Santo Domingo. After a longer then expected uphill walk under a hot sun, we were finally directed to a bus labelled “Boca Chica”. This private transport was thankfully chilled inside, with plush leather seats. As in most poor countries, the bus didn’t leave until every seat was full; but we didn’t have to wait long, and for just $1.70 we got a 20 mile ride.
Strangely I was the only male passenger on the bus. Maybe Dominican men don’t like the beach? The bus driver blaster meringue the whole way, and the lady seated behind us softly sang along with a sweet voice. We passed tall palm trees and low limestone cliffs along the Caribbean coast. On arrival in Boca Chica, we were almost immediately chased under cover by rain sprinkles. Within a few minutes a virtual wall of water hit us. With about ten seconds of warning, people ran for cover before the deluge. It rained briefly every afternoon during our stay, a pleasant break from the hot sun and high humidity.
Santo Domingo beaches are a bit of a chafe to get to, but Boca Chica has a wide, white powder sand beach. The majority of which is covered by chairs and umbrellas from the Bachata cranking bars and restaurants that line it. And as in SD, as you walk the beach you are approached by people selling CD’s, sunglasses, towels, inflatable rafts, marijuana, massage, manicures, sex, boat rides, mariachi-style meringue serenades, and Chiclet gum. If you are looking for a quiet, isolated place to read a book, Boca Chica is not the place for you. If you are looking for a Spanish-speaking Spring Break, you’ve come to the right place.
Dominicans are some of the most expressive people I’ve met. Always talking, shouting, whistling, singing, beeping car horns. It is not a quiet country. Dominicans are an attractive, well dressed lot. Men in suit pants, Italian leather loafers, and Cuban styled collared dress shirts unashamedly ogle high-heeled women in skin-tight jeans as they pass by. It is a society where machismo and femininity have not yet been replaced by workplace harassment sensitivity training.
10 Amazing Things to Do in Santo Domingo – Know Before You Go:
Backpacker Daily Budget:
$30. It is pretty cheap in the D.R. by Caribbean standards. You can stay in a hostel for $5, get three meals for $15, three beers for $6, ride the metro all day for $1.60, and get into any of the main historical sites for $2.
Cheap Beer Index:
$2 for a 12oz Presidente beer in a bar or restaurant.
Best time to travel to Santo Domingo:
Anytime is a good time to visit the DR. It stays hot all year round, with average highs ranging from 84 to 88. The only big change is in rainfall. The best time to visit is the winter dry season, November through April. May through October brings big rain storms, and the possibility of hurricanes.
What languages are spoken?
Spanish. Most folks in the tourist industry speak English. The average person does not.
Do you need a Dominican visa?
Visas are not required for nationals of USA, UK, AUS, and CAN for stays of up to 30 days.
Where is Santo Domingo located?
Santo Domingo is on the south shore of the Dominican half of the island of Hispaniola. Haiti borders it to the West. Puerto Rico is just offshore to the East. The Turks and Caicos islands are to the North. Cuba and Jamaica are not too far away to the West as well.
How to get there:
- The Santo Domingo Airport “Las Americas International Airport” (SDQ) is a 30 minute drive from the city center. Learn how to fly to Santo Domingo for free on my page: Nine Steps to Free Flights Worldwide The top destinations to/from SDQ are as follows:
- New York JFK
- Miami
- Panama City
- Newark
- San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Madrid, Spain
- Orlando
- Fort Lauderdale
- Caracas, Venezuela
- You can get into the city by taxi for $15-20.
- My choice would be a Coco Tours airport transfer for $12. They have shuttle vans with a/c and you can even have a six-pack of beer waiting for you onboard!
- or go up to the second floor at Arrivals, where a minivan will accommodate up to 8 passengers to the Zona Colonial for $2.
- Santo Domingo airport car rental is available.
Cruise ships arrive at Sansouci Terminal. From there you can get a taxi or a tour.
If you are visiting Punta Cana, you can do a Full Day Sightseeing Tour from there for $95.
Getting around Santo Domingo:
The fastest, cheapest, and safest way to get around this big city is the Metro de Santo Domingo. It has two lines, Line 1 operates North to South, and Line 2 extends East to West. A single ride is just DR$15 (30 cents) and a 24 hour day pass is $1.60. It is open from 6am to 10:30pm every day. The signage is only in Spanish, but it is well staffed both with police and Metro staff. You can download an app on your phone to help you plan your Metro de Santo Domingo trip. Colonel Fernandez Station is the closest to the Zona Colonial.
Uber and the similar app-based Cabify are operating in Santo Domingo. For any trip that the metro can’t accommodate, this is the way to go. No rip-offs, no language barriers.
There is also a cable car system called the Teleférico Santo Domingo. Connected to the metro system, it is inexpensive and provides some impressive river and skyline views.
Taxis can take you around, but be sure to negotiate the fare before you get in. Apolo Taxi and Aero Taxi are two major companies. No good reason to choose a taxi over Uber or Cabify.
Motorbike taxi “Motoconchos” are the fastest options as they can weave through traffic, and consequently also have the highest fatality rate. Fares are only $1 to $2. Try to get one with a helmet for the passenger, and a driver who looks like he has a reason to live.
White minivan “guaguas” stop to pick up or drop off anyone along a designated route, and are the slowest and cheapest form of getting around. You’ll get crammed into half a seat, and the van stops every 100 feet. Have small change, and tell the driver where you want to get off.
Dominican Currency and how to get it:
Dominican Pesos (50 DOP=$1) are available at ATMs. Cash is king in the DR. With frequent power cuts, credit card machines aren’t always available or working. For more info on your cash-versus-credit card options when travelling, check out my post on How to Access your Money in Foreign Countries.
Stay Connected:
There are two major telecom providers in the DR:
- Claro is the market leader in the DR with the best coverage and 55% of the national subscribers. SIM cards for the standard voice plan with registration of ID are given out for free or up to RD$ 150 in their shops. You will be given RD$ 60 for a start as bonus and RD$ 150 for the first top-up. Standard plan is Prepago Regular. Top-ups done by PIN code scratch cards are available all over the country. Reloads of up to RD$ 75 give you 1 week, up to RD$ 100 3 weeks, up to RD$ 150 1 month and from RD$ 250 2 months of validity. Be aware that the whole SIM card will be terminated when expired, including the running data package.
- Altice Dominicana (formerly Orange and Tricom) has a market share of 43%. Prepaid SIM cards are sold in their stores; SIMO Prepago Data: RD$ 250 (tax icl.) with RD$ 30 credit preloaded valid for 7 days and 250 MB for 30 days Recharges with Altice cards or e-vouchers available everywhere in the country give you credit and extra validity: top-ups up to RD$ 50 give 3 days, to RD 75 for 6 days, to RD$ 100 for 12 days, to RD$ 150 for 18 days, to RD$ 250 for 24 days and above for 30 days. Altice top-up cards worth RD$ 30, 60, 100, 200 and 300 are sold. The prepaid SIM doesn’t come with default data, only access to a restricted Orange site. For internet, you have to add packages they call “paqueticos“.
- For more info on your telecom options, check out my post on How to Get Cheap Mobile Phone Service Worldwide.
Hotels in Santo Domingo:
- The Hostal Casa Osiris is just $5 a night for a dorm bed with breakfast. It’s right in the Zona Colonial.
- Tau Casa Santome is $9 a night for a bunk bed. Also well located in the Zona Colonial, it has a terrace, a shared lounge and a bar, as well as free WiFi.
- Island Life Hostel gets top-notch reviews at $16 a night for a dorm bed. Includes breakfast, a swimming pool and free WiFi.
Santo Domingo Restaurants:
Santo Domingo has lots of street vendors cooking up great cheap food. Bar-b-que is popular. Also look for juice vendors.
- Try Barra Payán on 30 de Marzo St. Its a sandwich cafeteria, open seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
- Pizzarelli is a popular fast-food pizza chain.
Santo Domingo Nightlife Guide:
One of the best things to do in Santo Domingo is take in the rocking nightlife! Dominicans like LOUD bachata and reggaeton, and they like to DANCE. And they almost certainly dance much better than you. But that’s ok, just do your thing and they won’t judge. You might not recognize many of the tunes they play, but there is always some Enrique Iglesias, Shakira, maybe even Ricky Martin thrown in there. Certainly some Pitbull, the original Mr. Worldwide. If you just want to venture out near the Zona Colonial, these are the places to look for:
- Onno’s – a great place for happy hour drinks and food, and DJs in the evenings. Open Wed to Sun 5pm to 3am
- Bar Parada 77 – This is the place to go to meet locals and dance to Dominican music. Unpretentious, college vibe with graffiti on walls. Open 7pm to 3am.
- Sabina Bar – a cozy bar in the Zona Colonial playing the hits of Joaquin Sabina. Popular among older men with suits and fake watches. Open 7pm to 3am.
- Arturo Fuente Cigar Club – An exclusive posh cigar sampling bar. Perfect for the over-50 MAGA crowd.
- Late in the night you can always bet the farm at a Santo Domingo Casino. There are several in town, with the Hispaniola Hotel among the most popular. Open Noon to 5am.
- There are many big discos further out in the city for the brave night owls. Try the Jet Set Club.
Get a guidebook:
If this Santo Domingo travel guide isn’t enough data for you, I recommend Lonely Planet Dominican Republic 
What to Pack:
Pack light colors and thin material for the heat. Dominicans do not wear shorts around town, so you probably shouldn’t either. To learn how to pack light and be prepared for anything, check out my post The Worldwide Travel Packing List.
Is Santo Domingo safe?
Mmmm kinda. Dominican Republic has a high crime rate, with the 10th highest murder rate in the world at 30 per 100,000. Drive-by robbers on motorcycles or scooters snatch valuables from unsuspecting tourists and ride off into the sunset. Thieves also operate in hotel restaurants and other public areas, looking to steal purses or briefcases. Pools and beaches also are prime locations for such crimes, so never leave valuables unguarded. Keep your valuables hidden, stay in populated streets, take taxis at night, and you should be fine.
Credit and debit card thieves may attempt to steal your password when you are using a cash withdrawal machine or ATM. Some gangs have been known to kidnap people and force them to visit an ATM and drain their accounts of cash. Try to avoid using public ATMs as much as possible, and use credit cards rather than debit cards to ensure the protection of your money should a theft occur.
Avoid walking in public parks or areas that are isolated at night.
Bring and use insect repellent. There have been ZIKA cases in the DR.
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