If Boca Chica is too busy for your relaxing holiday, then head a few kilometers east to Guayacanes and Juan Dolio. These two small beach communities are considerably less touristy than Boca Chica and are smack-dab in the middle of the eastern south-central coastal region, making both Santo Domingo and La Romana good day-trip destinations.

Solitude is the number one reason that visitors return to these beach towns. This area is for the quiet vacationer, the independent traveler, who doesn’t need too many choices but maybe wants to get in some golf, beach time, and even a little dancing and also wants great food choices, without the long lines of the more popular resort areas of Punta Cana and Bávaro. There are all-inclusives here, but they aren’t as heavily marketed as the ones in Punta Cana and Bávaro.

Getting to Guayacanes and Juan Dolio

A taxi ride from Las Américas international airport takes you along Highway 3 and past Boca Chica. It will cost about US$30, and the ride to the Guayacanes/Juan Dolio area is about 30 minutes. From Santo Domingo, catch a bus from Parque Independencia (around US$2) and in about an hour you will arrive in the area. A taxi to Juan Dolio will run you about US$25 from Boca Chica.

There is no bus company serving the Juan Dolio and Guayacanes area, but if you are in a neighboring town, all you have to do is go out to Highway 3, stand on the side of the road with traffic going in the direction you want to travel, and flag down a guagua. They pass by about every 20 minutes. Before you get in, confirm the price (which is never very much—just be sure to have small bills), hop in, and enjoy traveling the way the locals do. It’ll cost you around US$1 to go west to Boca Chica and US$2 to Santo Domingo. It is around US$1 to go east to San Pedro de Macorís.

If you are driving, as you travel from Boca Chica on Highway 3 you will come upon Guayacanes first and then Juan Dolio.