BOCA CHICA
Area: Dominican Republic
Country: Dominican Republic


Location:
On the island's Caribbean S coast. 25 miles E of Santo Domingo, 10 miles E of its international airport.

Telephone code from UK:
1 809

Website:
http://www.bocachicabeach.net

Position:
On a nondescript flat coastal shelf of coral, indented to form a bay facing 2 small islands. Sandwiched between the seafront and the busy Santo Domingo_La Romana coast road.

Description:
A bustling but shabby seafront town of narrow and sometimes steep potholed roads, colourful, faded Caribbean-style houses and a motley collection of concrete hotels and pensions sandwiched between the main coastal highway and sea. Being the closest resort to the capital and the principal international airport, it is always busy and often overcrowded by locals at weekends and holidays.

Suitability:
Budget to middlemarket younger couples and groups wanting a short transfer from the airport and close proximity to city facilities.

Accommodation:
Full range of budget guesthouses and an increasing number of older all-inclusive properties of average quality. Nothing in luxury bracket.

Shopping:
Unsophisticated tourist paraphernalia, including carved stone figures; Haitian trinkets and local art. Bigger choice in Santo Domingo.

Beach:
A pretty bay of fine white sand, backed by some tropical vegetation and palms, protected by a pair of small islands not far offshore. Choice of water sports: windsurfing; PADI diving, glass-bottomed boat tours; sailing.

Entertainments:
Daytime: beach, water sports and all-inclusive hotel programmes. Nightlife: lively to raucous atmosphere due to generally younger clientele and nightly influx of local residents from the "big city". Numerous unsophisticated discos, music bars and some rather seedy-looking local drinking joints. Home-grown live shows and bands at bigger hotels.

Eating:
Plethora of small restaurants with generally cosmopolitan cuisine in addition to locally caught seafood. Don't drink the tap water (brush your teeth with bottled water). It's advisable to avoid salads or cold meats that are displayed without the benefit of chilling devices, especially at local stalls.

Public-transport:
Poorly organised main bus service to Santo Domingo as well as to San Pedro de Macoris and La Romana along the coast to the E.