The Dominican Republic boasts countless spectacular beaches – you could probably visit anywhere along the nearly 1300 km (~810 miles) coastline and not be disappointed. However, the area around Las Terrenas features some of the most beautiful beaches that might even surpass the “average” stunning Caribbean coast. While I’m not usually a beach enthusiast, there were a few I specifically wanted to explore, and I managed to convince Andrea to join me on this adventure.
Since our base was in Las Terrenas, we searched for options and found the perfect solution with Flora Tours’ 3 Beaches tour day trip, which cost 5,800 DOP (~$96.7 USD) per person at the time. The three beaches were Frontón, Madama, and Rincón, with a small bonus at the end. The excursion runs every Monday and Thursday, starting around 8 AM, and we returned to town around 5 PM in front of their office. Don’t be too intimidated by the early start – fortunately, the minibus picks you up at your accommodation (or nearby), and then you’re off.
Besides us, there were about 10 other people on the minibus, all French, primarily older couples. We approached the beaches by boat, which departed from Las Galeras. You should be prepared that this small fishing village is located at the northeastern tip of the Samaná Peninsula, meaning it’s relatively far from Las Terrenas: the approximately 70 km (~43 miles) journey takes a solid hour and a half in practice. During the bus ride, there’s no guide yet – you’ll only meet them in Las Galeras.
Francois took care of us throughout the day, and as you can guess from his name, he primarily spoke French. As we mentioned in our Las Terrenas guide article, this isn’t surprising since many French visitors come to this part of the Dominican Republic. However, we would have appreciated if he had explained everything in English with the same level of detail as in French – we felt a bit left out. After the bus arrived, there was a quick bathroom break, those who wanted could grab their snorkel gear (included in the price), and we were already walking to the shore to begin our adventure to the first beach.
Bring a waterproof phone case with a lanyard. The boat ride can get very wet, and you’ll want to protect your electronics while still being able to capture memories.
Playa Frontón: Death-Defying Boat Ride to Paradise
The word “adventure” is absolutely no exaggeration – this was far from a gentle boat cruise. I started getting suspicious when Francois mentioned for the third time that the sea was “a bit choppy today, but no worse than usual, nothing to worry about.” I told Andrea that if this was the setup, we should probably be worried, because I only hear such reassurances when particularly rough conditions are expected.
Well, I wasn’t wrong. These beaches are typically accessed by small, 10-15 person fiberglass motorboats, and that’s exactly what we boarded. After putting on life jackets, we headed out to sea. Near the shore, the situation wasn’t too alarming, but this changed quickly as we reached open water after a few minutes: thus began the worst boat ride of my life.
I’ll be completely honest – I was genuinely afraid for my life. In fact, I’d never felt so realistically that “we’re actually going to die here.” On the open water, massive waves greeted us, tossing the boat around, often launching us into the air only to crash down with a loud bang several feet away. I held on for dear life to whatever I could grab. We sat in the second row of the boat, which meant I had an excellent view forward – though I wish I hadn’t. Multiple times, a large wave would fill my entire field of vision, meaning I could only see a wall of water, no longer even the sky. This wasn’t particularly reassuring.
Sitting in the “premium seats” also meant that water crashed in from every direction (though I don’t think the back was any better), so we and all our belongings became completely soaked within moments. The worst feeling about the whole experience was that you really couldn’t say, “Okay, thanks, I’ve had enough, let me off,” because you’re in the middle of open water, and where you can see shore, there are rocks being pounded by waves, so the boat can’t dock anywhere. One advantage of the situation: I was so terrified that I didn’t have time to get seasick.
To be fair, not everyone was as affected by the journey as we were, since some French retirees behind us were whooping with joy after each big drop (at least it sounded like joy to me), while I was trying to dodge the steel plate flying backward from the front of the boat. The captain, however, was a complete professional, steering the boat as smoothly as possible under the circumstances. You could tell he made this trip every day and caught the waves exactly as they should be caught, but the poor guy couldn’t do much more with the situation.
After a solid half hour of tossing and a heart rate of 140, we finally arrived at Playa Frontón, which is supposedly one of the country’s most beautiful hidden beaches, accessible either by such a boat trip or about a two-hour hike that, according to some reports, isn’t necessarily the safest option. As we approached the shore, the sea immediately became very calm, and the sun even came out to illuminate the black basalt rocks, white sand, and vibrant green palm trees.
I immediately cheered up once we docked, but at this point Andrea was cursing me out (“this whole beach tour was your stupid idea!”), so for the sake of peace, I wandered off alone to explore the few-hundred-meter stretch of beach.
I can confidently say this is truly the most beautiful beach I encountered in the Dominican Republic. Picture a narrow strip of white sand under massive rocks, dotted with some palm trees, and beautiful clear water. There isn’t much else – a few swings hung from suitable palm trees, a small bar (which is really just a shack), and enterprising locals selling food or, if you’re lucky, grilling fresh catches from the sea. Snorkeling isn’t ideal here; we didn’t see much, and it was quite choppy, which wasn’t very practical from that perspective either.
However, don’t believe for a second that you’re arriving at a truly “hidden” or “virgin” beach. Just as you heard about it, so has pretty much everyone else. Among the three beaches, Frontón was by far the most popular when we visited. Fortunately, there still weren’t massive crowds, but besides us, 5-6 other boats brought people, and more continued arriving throughout the day. The only real problem with this is that unfortunately, where there are many people, there’s also a lot of trash. Fortunately, the beach wasn’t terribly dirty, but you do encounter scattered litter here and there, so if you visit: please take everything with you that you brought.
Pack light and bring only essentials. The boat ride can be rough, and you’ll want to secure everything properly. Consider a dry bag for valuables.
Playa Madama: Crystal Waters and Hidden Cave Adventures
We spent just over an hour at Playa Frontón, then had to get back on the boat to head to our second beach of the day, Playa Madama. This trip was much shorter (about 15 minutes) and fortunately, the sea had calmed down somewhat, so only about half of the earlier death fear remained, and sometimes I could even see the sky above the waves.
Madama has a noticeably different character than Frontón: there aren’t such large rocks here, the sandy strip is also somewhat narrower, but there’s much more space toward the mainland, and lush green undergrowth covers everything. The water is crystal clear, and since there were far fewer people here (2-3 boats besides us), we didn’t really encounter any trash either.
The real attraction here, however, might not be the beach itself but the nearby stalactite cave, which was an optional excursion in our case, but I think everyone in our group participated. The cave is barely more than a 5-minute walk from the beach, but I wouldn’t recommend anyone go barefoot, and flip-flops aren’t the most ideal choice either – it’s worth wearing sports shoes.
For the mini “spelunking,” Francois gave the team some flashlights, and those who didn’t get one used their phones for light, then we ventured into the darkness. We have relatively many stalactite caves back home, so this didn’t seem like a particularly big deal, but it’s still a stalactite cave, so it’s not bad – it’s a shame that most of the formations are already “dead” because previous visitors handled them too much. In the deepest chamber, we even encountered a gigantic spider, which made me think that if there’s one such spider, there are probably more. Fortunately, the beneficial darkness concealed them.
After the few-minute cave tour, we returned to the beach, where again you could take a dip or snorkel (the seabed isn’t very exciting here either, unfortunately), and Francois and team distributed water/soft drinks to the group. We spent about three-quarters of an hour here in total, then found ourselves on the boat for the third time that day.
Playa Rincón: The Largest Beach with Lunch
Fortunately, this trip took place on essentially calm water, with tiny waves compared to earlier, and took about a quarter hour until we arrived at the third – and final – beach of the day, Playa Rincón.
This is by far the largest of all three with its endless sandy shore, and also the most developed, with (rentable) sun loungers, tourist-oriented souvenir shops, and this is where they served the lunch that came with our day trip. As usual, this wasn’t anything extraordinary – there was a choice of crab or chicken, with the typical Dominican fried plantains (tostones), rice and beans, and some salad. So we got a simple but tasty meal.
After lunch came free time; those who wanted could buy various items from the souvenir vendors, and we almost bought coconut bread from an incredibly cute old lady. We did some beach lounging, swimming, and took the classic leaning-palm-tree photos, while three large tour buses arrived, so the initial tranquility began to be somewhat disrupted. We left here at 3:00 PM, though Francois forgot to tell us this in English, so we had to hastily pack up, and we couldn’t even change clothes, so we had to sit on the bus in wet swimwear.
Bring a quick-dry towel and a change of clothes in a waterproof bag. Tour schedules can be tight, and you might not have time to properly dry off before the return journey.
Caño Frío: The Shockingly Cold Freshwater
Fortunately, the next stop was only a few minutes away, which was the freshwater mangrove lagoon called Caño Frío. It’s really not a big deal; those who want can try to take a dip in it, but the name is no deception – the water is incredibly cold. We didn’t spend much time here (fortunately we managed to change clothes), and finally, after getting on the bus, we headed back to Las Terrenas.
Summary: The Reality Behind ‘Hidden’ Caribbean Beaches
Overall, I think we had a wonderful day, and in retrospect, even the first boat ride sounds more like a funny story than a terrible experience. Frontón truly is one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve seen – if you love Caribbean-tropical landscapes, you won’t be disappointed.
However, it’s worth being aware that despite these beaches being advertised as if they were pristine secret places, just as you go there on such a day trip, dozens of other people go there in exactly the same way. If you really want to see these places without crowds, it’s worth organizing privately or paying for a private tour that takes you to these coastal areas outside the busiest times.
In our case, what slightly detracted from the overall picture was that the guide really only said the bare minimum in English, so we missed important information (like when we were moving on), and who knows what else we still don’t know about. If snorkeling interests you, this probably isn’t the best tour, since we didn’t see anything exciting in the water (but it’s positive that snorkel equipment is included in the price).
For a more authentic experience, consider visiting these beaches during the week when tour groups are smaller, or inquire about private boat charters from local fishermen in Las Galeras.
Essential Packing List for Beach Day Trips
I think the following items are definitely worth considering – they’ll make your life easier:
- Sunscreen: needless to say, the sun beats down hard
- Swimwear: obviously…
- Flip-flops: sufficient for most locations
- Shoes that can get wet (water shoes?): I think it’s worth wearing shoes to the cave
- Some water (though they also provide it during the trip)
- Towel, possibly a simple foldable blanket (I lost my Matador Pocket Blanket here)
- Waterproof phone case with lanyard: we didn’t have one, but we envied the French – maybe then I would have dared to capture the boat ride
- Possibly a dry bag or highly water-repellent backpack: if you encounter similar rough seas as we did
