Ocean Blue and Sand, Punta Cana and Bavaro

Punta Cana and Bavaro share the Dominican Republic’s longest coral reef system, offering a score of easily accessible dive sites. Strewn with underwater swim-throughs, this 30-kilometre stretch of coastline is also densely decorated with corals, whips, and sea fans. Most of the highlights here are located just a short distance from shore and often lie within 18-metres from the surface, making them suitable for beginners.

Popular sites include Chorizo, Park Reef, Paradisus Reef, and Manolo Cave. Amongst these sites, divers can spot a range of typical Caribbean marine life, such as sea turtles, snapper, angelfish and grunts, stingrays and eagles rays, and even nurse sharks hiding underneath the rocky outcroppings. For a slightly different experience, the Igneri Caribe Taino Underwater Museum features 22 sculptures by award-winning Dominican artist Thimo Pimentel. These statues sit at around three-metres deep, making them accessible to beginner divers and snorkelers.

As with many Caribbean dive spots, Punta Cana and Bavaro also offer a few worthwhile shipwrecks scattered along the coast. The most northerly of these is the Astron, a 127-metre freighter which sank in 1978. Today, the vessel actually lies in two parts, with the bow protruding from the water while the stern lies below, at a depth of around 15-metres. The Enriquillo RM-22 is an ex-navy vessel which was scuttled in 2006 and now lies at a depth of 18-metres off the coast of Playa Blanca. In contrast, the Monica Wreck is that of a far older vessel and, while the wooden structure has largely disappeared, a variety of industrial tools and machinery can still be discovered.