La Romana

Why La Romana Surprised Me

I came to La Romana expecting a smaller, quieter version of Punta Cana — resort beaches, all-inclusive buffets, maybe a boat trip. What I found was something genuinely different. This stretch of the Dominican southeast coast has a personality all its own, shaped by a remarkable artists’ village perched above a river gorge, a luxury resort that operates like a small country, two of the Caribbean’s most beautiful islands just offshore, and a local fishing village that feels untouched by the tourism machine next door.

La Romana the city is a working Dominican town of about 130,000 people, centred on the sugar industry that has defined this region for generations. The massive Central Romana sugar mill still operates at the edge of town, and the surrounding cane fields stretch to the horizon. This is not a place that was built for tourists. Tourism arrived because of one visionary project — Casa de Campo — and the attractions that grew around it. That origin gives La Romana an interesting tension between extreme luxury and everyday Dominican reality that I found more compelling than either would be on its own.

Altos de Chavon: The Hilltop Village

Altos de Chavon is the most improbable attraction in the Dominican Republic, and possibly the most beautiful. Perched on a cliff 90 metres above the Chavon River, this recreated 16th-century Mediterranean village was built between 1976 and 1982 by the Casa de Campo resort’s original developer, Charles Bluhdorn, as a cultural and artistic centre. Dominican craftsmen, working with Italian architect Roberto Copa, hand-carved every stone, laid every cobblestone, and fitted every tile to create a village that looks like it has been standing for centuries.

The result is either magnificently eccentric or magnificently beautiful, and I think it is both. The cobblestone streets wind between coral stone buildings housing art galleries, artisan workshops, a design school affiliated with the Parsons School of Design in New York, the Archaeological Regional Museum, and the Church of St. Stanislaus, which contains the ashes of the patron saint of Poland (donated by the Vatican — another detail that seems improbable until you are standing in the church looking at the altar).

The Amphitheatre

The crown jewel of Altos de Chavon is its 5,000-seat Grecian-style amphitheatre, carved into the hillside overlooking the Chavon River gorge. Frank Sinatra inaugurated it with a concert in 1982. Since then, everyone from Sting to Juan Luis Guerra to Andrea Bocelli has performed here. Even empty, the amphitheatre is spectacular — the acoustics are superb, the views of the river and jungle below are dramatic, and the sense of scale is impressive for something so remote.

I visited Altos de Chavon in the late afternoon, and the light at that hour was extraordinary. The coral stone turned golden, the shadows lengthened across the cobblestones, and the Chavon River below caught the last of the sun. I walked through the galleries, watched a ceramics artist at work in one of the workshops, and stood at the edge of the cliff watching the river turn from green to silver as the light faded. Que lugar tan increible — what an incredible place. Even the locals who work there seem to feel it.

The Archaeological Museum

The Museo Arqueologico Regional, housed in one of the village buildings, contains a significant collection of Taino artefacts recovered from sites across the southeastern Dominican Republic. Ceremonial objects, ceramic vessels, stone tools, and cemis (carved spiritual figures) are displayed with clear explanations. The collection provides essential context for understanding the indigenous people who inhabited this land for thousands of years before European contact. Entry is included with Altos de Chavon admission.

Casa de Campo: A Resort Like No Other

I need to address Casa de Campo directly because it dominates the La Romana tourism conversation. This is not a typical resort. It is a 7,000-acre private resort and residential community with three Pete Dye golf courses (including the famous Teeth of the Dog, routinely ranked the number one course in the Caribbean), a 350-acre shooting centre, a polo field with a full season of matches, an equestrian centre, a marina, and its own private airport.

Staying at Casa de Campo is an extreme luxury experience with prices to match. Rooms start at approximately RD$24,000 ($400 USD) per night and climb rapidly from there. Villas with private pools and golf course views can run RD$120,000+ ($2,000+ USD) per night. The Teeth of the Dog green fee alone is about RD$24,000 (~$400 USD) for resort guests.

Can You Visit Without Staying?

Yes, and I recommend it for those not staying at the resort. Altos de Chavon is open to visitors and is reason enough to come. The marina village has several restaurants open to the public. The golf courses and other facilities require resort guest status or membership, but the cultural and dining experiences are accessible. A taxi from La Romana town to the main gate costs RD$600-900 (~$10-15 USD).

Isla Saona: The Postcard Paradise

Isla Saona is a protected island within the Parque Nacional del Este (now Cotubanama National Park), and it is the most visited natural attraction in the Dominican Republic. The island sits about 15 kilometres off the southeast coast, and reaching it involves a boat ride from the fishing village of Bayahibe through some of the clearest water in the Caribbean.

The standard day trip is an institution. You board a catamaran or speedboat in Bayahibe, motor through turquoise water past mangrove islands, stop at the piscina natural (natural pool) — a waist-deep sandbar in the middle of the sea where vendors wade out with trays of rum and fresh fruit — and then continue to the island itself. The beach at Isla Saona is everything the photographs promise: white sand, coconut palms, warm shallow water extending far from shore, and that particular shade of Caribbean blue that seems like it should not exist in nature.

I will be candid: the day trip to Isla Saona is touristy. The catamarans are packed, the music is loud, the rum is bottomless, and the beach fills up at peak hours. But the natural beauty is real and undeniable. If you time your beach time to arrive with the first boats and position yourself toward the quieter eastern end of the beach, you can find stretches of sand that approach solitude.

The Piscina Natural

The natural pool stop deserves its own mention because it is one of those experiences that sounds absurd until you are standing in it. You are literally standing waist-deep in the Caribbean Sea, a kilometre from any land, on a sandbar surrounded by every shade of blue. Starfish dot the sandy bottom (do not pick them up — they are protected and touching them can cause harm). A vendor appears with a tray of rum and coconut. Bachata plays from a waterproof speaker on one of the boats. It is surreal, it is touristy, and it is genuinely wonderful.