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The Zona Colonial (Colonial Zone) of Santo Domingo is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1990) covering approximately 1 km² on the west bank of the Ozama River, where the original 1498 European settlement was established by Bartholomew Columbus. It contains the first of many Americas firsts: the first cathedral (Catedral Primada de América, 1512–1541), the first European university in the Western Hemisphere (Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, founded 1538), the first European hospital in the Americas (San Nicolás de Bari, founded 1503), the first paved street (Calle Las Damas, 1502), and the first permanent European city grid in the New World. The colonial buildings are largely intact — the 16th-century stone architecture has been continuously inhabited, giving the Zona Colonial an unusual quality compared to purely archaeological colonial sites.

The North Atlantic humpback whale population (Megaptera novaeangliae) migrates from its North Atlantic and Arctic feeding grounds to Samaná Bay and the adjacent Banco de la Plata (Silver Bank) marine sanctuary every year from mid-January through mid-March for breeding. This represents the most concentrated humpback whale breeding aggregation accessible to whale-watching tourists anywhere in the world — approximately 2,000–3,000 whales in the bay simultaneously at peak season (mid-February). The most reliable surface activity occurs between January 20 and March 10. Departures from Santa Bárbara de Samaná port (multiple operators, best known is Kim Beddall's Whale Samaná, USD 60–80). The trip takes 45 minutes to reach the primary whale area; tours last 3–4 hours total with 5–8 whale encounters expected. Outside January–March, the whales are in North Atlantic waters and not visible from the Dominican Republic.

Punta Cana (the 50-km Bávaro/Punta Cana resort strip on the northeast coast) is the Dominican Republic's all-inclusive resort zone, with 50,000+ hotel rooms in resorts ranging from budget to ultra-luxury. It receives 60% of all Dominican tourist arrivals. The beaches (Playa Bávaro, Playa El Cortecito, Playa Juanillo) have fine white sand and clear turquoise water — genuinely excellent Caribbean beaches. The all-inclusive format works well for beach holidays. What Punta Cana is not: it is not an authentic Dominican cultural experience, it has no colonial history, and the resort zones are self-contained worlds where you may not interact with Dominican life beyond hotel staff. For visitors seeking the authentic DR (Zona Colonial, Samaná, the Cibao Valley culture, the mountain towns), Punta Cana's ease of access and airport infrastructure (Punta Cana International Airport, PUJ, the busiest in the country) makes it a useful arrival point before travelling to more culturally specific destinations.

Dominican cuisine is based on rice, beans, and meat — the 'La Bandera' (the flag): white rice, red kidney beans (habichuelas), and stewed chicken or meat, served daily for lunch. Mangú (mashed plantains with pickled onions and fried cheese, the breakfast staple), tostones (fried and twice-smashed green plantains), pernil (slow-roasted pork), and sancocho (the seven-meat stew for special occasions) are the core dishes. The street food: chimichurri (the Dominican hamburger — ground beef with cabbage slaw, ketchup, mayonnaise, and sauces on a soft bun, USD 2–3), yaniqueque (fried dough disc, USD 1, from the beach vendors, the name from 'Johnny cake'). Drinks: Presidente beer (the Dominican national beer), morir soñando (orange juice and milk blend, the name means 'to die dreaming'), and mamajuana (a bottle of red wine and rum soaked with bark and herbs, the traditional Dominican tonic drink).

Los Haitises ('the highlands' in the Taíno language) is a 1,600-km² national park on the southern coast of Samaná Bay, accessible only by boat from Samaná or Sabana de la Mar (USD 60–80 guided day tour). The park is characterised by mogotes — limestone karst haystack hills rising 25–40 m above the bay surface, covered in tropical forest. The mogotes contain cave systems with Taíno rock art (800+ year-old petroglyphs and pictographs — human faces, animals, and geometric symbols painted in red and black) and are home to nesting frigatebirds, pelicans, and herons. The mangrove channels (boat-navigable, tidal lagoons between the mogotes) have West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) populations — sightings are possible in the channels. The park has no roads — all access is by boat, which keeps visitor numbers low.