Can you say Punta Cana?
Dominican Beach resorts offer the best of everything for families
By Janet Groene
South Florida Parenting
A point of beach-rimmed land in the Dominican Republic is such a small blip on tourism's radar, our stewardess kept stumbling over the name. Yet a fortunate 1.5 million visitors a year, many from Europe, know about this family-friendly, affordable vacation paradise. Whether you're traveling as a two-parent family, several generations or a group of family and friends, Punta Cana (PUHN-ta CAH-na) has a vacation solution for you.
It begins with a big, modern airport and nonstop jet service from Miami. Only five minutes from the runway are a Club Med, the family-friendly Punta Cana Resort & Club and the ultra-exclusive Tortuga Bay Hotel. Additional resorts are 30 minutes away, but there's no need to venture far when these choices are right at the airport on a miles-long beach made from spun sugar and lime lollipops.
Board the free shuttle that your resort will send to meet your flight, and minutes later you're peeling into your swim suit. For the ultimate in super-inclusive vacationing, nonstop fun and a children's program for all ages from infants to teens, go the Club Med way. You'll be a G.M. ( genteel member) served by a merry crew of G.O.'s (genteel organizers).
For a family gathering, book a three-bedroom beach villa at the Punta Cana Resort & Club. Each bed-bath suite is private but the family shares a spacious gathering room and kitchenette. When they're not at the beach or pool, children enjoy supervised play in a spectacular playground complete with mini-cars. Friendships here come in all colors and tongues -- not just English and Spanish but Swedish, German, Dutch, Norwegian and French.
Sign up for nature programs, a trip to the petting zoo or horseback rides. For parents there are exotic Thai treatments in the serene Six Senses Spa, tennis, and golf at championship courses designed by P.B. Dye and Robert Trent Jones.
The third and most luxurious resort near the airport is Tortuga Bay Hotel, where 15 exclusive beachfront villas are decorated by Punta Cana resident Oscar de la Renta. Each has private bed-bath suites that can be booked separately. Or bring friends and family and rent the entire mansion to have three or four enormous, bed-bath suites plus a large gathering room with flat-screen TV and high-tech music system. Each suite has its own whirlpool tub, wrap-around balcony, and kitchenette with microwave, coffee maker, icemaker and stocked mini-refrigerator.
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Tortuga Bay has its own pool bar, gourmet restaurant, swimming pool and outdoor hot tub. Guests are given their own golf carts so they can buzz over to the nearby Punta Cana Resort & Club for restaurants and the spa or to the marina to dine under the grass roof at the La Yola.
Janet Groene is a freelance travel writer and author.