Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Punta Cana & the Southeast Highlights
Tucking yourself away on an all-inclusive binge of beaches and buffets around
Bávaro
and
Punta
Cana
(
Click here
)
Ogling the mangrove-infested forests of
Parque Nacional Los Haitises
(
Click here
) on a tranquil
kayak excursion
Dunking into crystal-clear waters on a snorkeling or diving trip around
Parque Nacional del Este
(
Click here
)
Journeying through colorful Caribbean
colonias
and lush mountains to wild
Playa Limón
(
Click
here
)
Plunging yourself into the fascinating illuminated underworld at
Cueva de las Maravillas
(
Click
here
)
Hiding out for a few days on the tranquil sands of
Juan Dolio
(
Click here
), the best beach near
Santo Domingo
Taking in the 7th inning stretch at
Estadio Tetelo Vargas
(
Click here
) in San Pedro de Macorís, the
DR's baseball capital
Gorging on fresh lobster in
Dominicus Americanus
(
Click here
)
History
Before sugar, it was cattle ranching and the cutting and exporting of hardwoods that drove
the region's economy. But Cuban planters, fleeing war in their country, began to arrive in
the southeast in the 1870s and established sugar mills with the Dominican government's as-
sistance (this migration also explains baseball's popularity and importance in the region).
Rail lines were built and La Romana and San Pedro de Macorís, formerly sleepy backwa-
ters, began to prosper as busy ports almost immediately when world sugar prices soared.
Hundreds of families from the interior migrated to the area in search of jobs. In 1920, after
peasants were dispossessed of their land during the US occupation, many fought a guerrilla
war against the marines in the area around Hato Mayor and El Seibo. Until the 1960s, the
economy in the southeast was still strictly driven by sugar, despite fluctuations in the world
market and agriculture in general. However, when the US company Gulf & Western Indus-
tries bought La Romana's sugar mill, invested heavily in the cattle and cement industries
and, perhaps most importantly, built the Casa de Campo resort, tourism became the finan-
cial engine of the southeast, and remains so today.
Getting There & Around
