The Dominican Republic ...

It’s still possible to imagine this land 500 years earlier, when Christopher Columbus stepped ashore to build the New World’s First Settlement. You need only look around you, to lush green mountains reaching breathtaking heights, to golden and pearl ribbons of secluded shore, to fruitful farmlands, to riotous rain forests, to cacti-speckled deserts, to tranquil and thunderous waters.

The Dominican Republic now simply Dominicana, covers 48,442 km of the island of Hispaniola with such remarkable diversity, its no wonder Columbus proclaimed it "a miracle". Ours is a country of achievements, including the America’s oldest city: Santo Domingo; the Caribbean’s highest peak: Pico Duarte and the largest saltwater lake inhabited by crocodiles: Lake Enriquillo. It’s also a country blessed with resources from sugarcane to shortstops, coffee to rum, and cocoa to tobacco.

But of all our resources, there is none greater than the Dominicans themselves, a claim believable only once you have a chance to meet these charming, hospitable people. When you do, chances are they’ll be discussing baseball, their love of ball playing predating even Columbus’s arrival. Dominicana is a sports enthusiast’s dream, claiming championship-caliber golf, tennis, deep-sea fishing, scuba diving, water sports, polo, horseback riding, hiking and just about anything else you could work up a sweat over. And that includes dancing to the contagious merengue that floats in the air in nearly every Town Square and nightclub. If it’s city life you want, you’ll find even our oldest town brimming with modern museums, restaurants, art galleries, discotheques, casinos, boutiques and resorts. Or, if you prefer quaintness and quiet, there are seaside villages where both are plentiful. Wherever your travels take you in Dominicana, expect to pay less than you thought you would. A favorable exchange rate and travel bargains galore make us the Caribbean’s best value. All this and more explains why those who’ve visited us come back -as you might- again and again, hoping to catch the colors and feel the beat found only in Dominicana.