Barahona & Pedernales

The south-west is the Dominican Republic's least visited beach region and its most dramatic. South of the city of Barahona, about 3 to 3.5 hours from Santo Domingo, a coast road runs between the Sierra de Bahoruco and the Caribbean past pebble beaches and river mouths: El Quemaito, San Rafael with its stepped freshwater pools, Paraíso and Los Patos, where one of the world's shortest rivers meets the sea. The water is a deep, clear blue, but the beaches are stone rather than sand and the sea is often rough, so the rivers are where most people swim.

Further west, Pedernales, on the Haitian border, is the base for Bahía de las Águilas, 8 km of white sand inside Parque Nacional Jaragua reached by a short boat ride from La Cueva, along with the red cliffs of Cabo Rojo, the flamingos of Laguna de Oviedo and the mountain viewpoint at Hoyo de Pelempito. Inland, Lago Enriquillo sits below sea level with crocodiles and iguanas. Cabo Rojo now has a cruise port (opened in 2024), and its first large resorts and a new international airport are expected in 2027, so for now this is still a road-trip region of small hotels, cash and empty beaches.