Puerto Plata & the North Coast
In the lush hills behind the north coast near Puerto Plata, a mountain river has carved a staircase of 27 waterfalls and turquoise pools through smooth limestone canyons, and exploring them is the Dominican Republic's most exhilarating adventure.
With a guide, helmet and life jacket, you hike up through the jungle and then come back down by jumping off ledges and sliding down natural water chutes from one crystal pool to the next; it is pure, joyful fun for the reasonably active.
The north coast around Puerto Plata adds more: the cable car up Mount Isabel de Torres, the Victorian-era town with its amber museum, and the breezy beaches of Cabarete and Sosua, a kitesurfing and adventure hub very different from the all-inclusive east.
