Barahona

Barahona is the right spot to start off a grand tour around the region and its many sightseeing locations. This city, 190 km away from Santo Domingo, features a breathtaking vegetation like any other southern town. It also embraces the most beautiful coastal areas in the entire nation and the only place where beaches, mountains and rivers blend together into a perfect combination that'll make you live unforgettable moments. You can't forget to pay a visit to the precious and solitary beaches surrounding the peninsula, like La Saladilla, some 16 km away from Barahona, a place teeming with legends on hidden treasures. Not far from there, hotels and restaurants hem the zone in. San Rafael, a beautiful nearby village of hospitable people, is named after its warm and gorgeous beach and river that, by the way, it's the only one in the entire country whose watercourse has remained unaltered for the last 100 years on its way down breathtaking mountains. The Los Patos (The Ducks) is a rough beach with excellent conditions for windsurfing. El Quemaito (The Little Burned One) was nicknamed after its warm waters and smooth sand is just 10 km away from the city and stretches out for a couple of kilometers. From Barahona, travelers can trek down to the Rincón Lagoon Scientific Reserve, or to El Cabral in the Neyba Valley, the country's second-most important pond.