Punta Cana
The eastern tip of Hispaniola, where a privately built airport lands you ten minutes from the gated villas and golf of Cap Cana.
- Arrival
- Punta Cana International · PUJ
- To Cap Cana
- About 10 minutes by car
- Private jets
- Handled by the airport's own team at PUJ
- Best time
- January to April
The city
Where the island meets the Atlantic.
Punta Cana grew up around its own airport, opened in 1983 by Grupo Puntacana and still in private hands. South of the runway lies Cap Cana, a 30,000-acre enclave of beaches, a marina and a Jack Nicklaus course at Punta Espada; to the north, the Puntacana Resort & Club, where Oscar de la Renta designed the villas of Tortuga Bay.
The sea stays at 26 °C or more all year. January to April are the drier months, with highs around 28 to 30 °C; from May the rain picks up, and October is the wettest month, with about 140 mm.
Arriving
A private airport, ten minutes from the sand.
At Punta Cana International there is no closing time, the runway measures about 3,100 m, and customs are on the field. Slots are required, and every traveller files the country's E-Ticket form at least 24 hours before departure.
- Barbados 1 h 50
- Miami 2 h 15
- Palm Beach 2 h 20
- Los Angeles 7 h 05 long-range jet
- Nice 9 h 55 long-range jet
When to go
January to April.
Every month has highs of 28 to 32 °C and a sea of 26 to 29 °C. January to April bring the least rain, about 50 to 75 mm a month; from May to November most months pass 100 mm, with the peak in October.
- 28° J 67 26°
- 28° F 55 26°
- 29° M 53 26°
- 30° A 73 26°
- 30° M 131 27°
- 31° J 112 28°
- 32° J 92 28°
- 32° A 101 28°
- 32° S 109 29°
- 31° O 142 29°
- 30° N 119 28°
- 29° D 89 27°
What to see and do
Days in and around Punta Cana.
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Landmark
Punta Espada
Jack Nicklaus's course in Cap Cana, played along the shore.
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Landmark
Hoyo Azul
A turquoise cenote at the foot of a limestone cliff in Scape Park, Cap Cana.
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Landmark
Saona Island
Palm-lined beaches inside the Parque Nacional del Este, best reached by boat.
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Nature
Indigenous Eyes Ecological Park
Run by the Puntacana Ecological Foundation, the 1,500 acre reserve links twelve freshwater lagoons by trails, and Guamá, the deepest, has a diving platform.
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Golf
Corales Golf Club
Tom Fazio laid out this 18 hole course with six holes on the ocean, finishing with the stretch known as the Devil's Elbow.
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Golf
La Cana Golf & Beach Club
Paul Burke Dye designed the 27 holes here as three loops of nine, twelve of them beside the ocean.
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Culture
Basílica Catedral Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia
Completed in 1970, the basilica in Higüey holds the image of the Virgin of Altagracia, on show since 1571 and visited by over 800,000 people a year.
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On the water
Marina Cap Cana
Sport fishing boats leave this marina of some 150 berths for blue marlin offshore, while mahi bite all year.
Where to stay
Cap Cana, Bávaro and Uvero Alto.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- Eden Roc Cap Cana Stand-alone pool suites in tropical gardens, a beach club with an infinity pool, and the only Relais & Châteaux address in the country.
- The St. Regis Cap Cana Resort Opened in 2025 with 200 rooms, 36 of them suites, and named in the MICHELIN selection.
- Sanctuary Cap Cana, a Luxury Collection Resort Adults only, with 324 suites in buildings laid out like a Spanish colonial town on a cliff above the sea.
- Paradisus Palma Real Golf & Spa Resort Guests play a 27-hole, par-72 course, and The Reserve within the resort admits adults only.
- Barceló Bávaro Palace Four pools on Bávaro Beach, one of them semi-Olympic.
- Barceló Bávaro Beach, Adults Only Next door to the Bávaro Palace, 589 rooms for adults, most with a view of the sea.
- JOIA Bávaro by Iberostar All suites and adults only, beside an eighteen-hole course laid out by P. B. Dye.
- Iberostar Selection Bávaro Suites An all-suite Iberostar on the beach, with a spa and a concierge desk.
- Iberostar Waves Dominicana Set on the beachfront, with spa treatments and an evening programme of shows.
- Grand Palladium Select Bávaro The family hotel of the Palladium complex, which it shares with TRS Turquesa.
- Grand Palladium Punta Cana Resort & Spa Behind a white sand beach, 582 rooms and El Dorado, a steakhouse on the shore.
- Lopesan Costa Bávaro Resort, Spa & Casino Seven freshwater pools, one an infinity pool on two levels, and a casino.
- Live Aqua Punta Cana For adults only, with about 9,000 square metres of pools.
- Grand Sirenis Punta Cana Resort Its Sirenis Aquagames water park covers 12,000 square metres.
- Tortuga Bay, Puntacana Resort & Club Thirteen villas designed by Oscar de la Renta, each with a golf cart, looking over the resort's courses to the sea.
Where to dine
By the marina and in Cap Cana.
No MICHELIN Guide covers the Dominican Republic. La Yola is a Fodor’s Choice; the other two are the signature restaurants of Eden Roc and The St. Regis in Cap Cana, both confirmed open on their own pages in 2026.
- La Yola Fodor’s Choice Seafood $$$ Puntacana Resort & Club marina
- Mediterraneo Signature restaurant, Eden Roc Cap Cana Mediterranean Eden Roc, Cap Cana
- NINA Signature restaurant, The St. Regis Cap Cana Seafood The St. Regis, Cap Cana
Elsewhere in Dominican Republic
More reasons to come.
- Casa de Campo Golf, a marina and polo, with La Romana airport next door.
- Santo Domingo The first European city of the Americas, its colonial zone listed by UNESCO.
- Samaná A green peninsula and its bay, where humpback whales calve in winter.
- Puerto Plata The north coast, and a cable car up Mount Isabel de Torres.
Flying to Punta Cana?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.