4 Best Sights in Samana Peninsula, Dominican Republic

La Playita, or Little Beach, is a stunner that's a 15-minute walk from the main Las Galeras beach. Here you'll find a small shack serving fresh fish and a newer, two-story stucco restaurant with a variety of seafood offerings and a full bar. Coconut trees lean far out over the water, and the virgin stretch of Cabo Cabrón extends far along one side, providing incredible views and a sense of privacy and solitude. Amenities: food and drink; parking; toilets. Best for: partiers; solitude; sunset; swimming; walking.

A highlight of any visit to the Samaná Peninsula is Los Haitises National Park (pronounced high-TEE-sis), which is across Samaná Bay. The park is famous for its karst limestone formations, caves, and grottoes filled with pictographs and petroglyphs left by the indigenous Taínos. The park is accessible only by boat, and a professionally guided kayak tour is highly recommended (a licensed guide from a tour company or the government is mandatory for any visitor). You'll paddle around dozens of dramatic rock islands and spectacular cliff faces, while beautiful coastal birds—magnificent frigate birds, brown pelicans, brown booby, egrets, and herons—swirl around overhead. A good tour will also include the caverns, where your flashlight will illuminate Taíno petroglyphs. It's a continual sensory experience, and you'll feel tiny, like a human speck surrounded by geological grandeur. Dominican Shuttles can arrange a park tour and a stay at the adjacent and rustic Paraíso Caño Hondo Ecolodge, which has authentic Creole cuisine and multiple waterfalls.

Only accessible on foot or by boat, this beach is undeveloped save for a hotel at the far end, and it offers solitude on most days. Have your hotel arrange for a small boat to take you there, either privately or with a group. Intrepid travelers who choose to go by foot will enjoy an intermediate, one-hour hike worth every second of the slight climb--especially for the incredible views. To hike here, ask for directions to Casa Dorado and stay on that path until you reach the beach. Bring water and snacks as there are no facilities. In the low season, expect to be among the only visitors. Amenities: None. Best for: sunbathing; swimming; hiking; solitude.

This is a long, wonderful stretch of nearly white sand and the best beach close to the town of Las Terrenas. Previously undeveloped, it's now reachable by a new highway, Carretera Cosón, and there are a number of condo developments under construction (so the current sense of solitude probably won't last). One excellent restaurant, called The Beach, serves the entire 15-mile (24-km) shore, and there's the European-owned boutique hotel Casa Cosón and its restaurant and bar. If beachgoers buy lunch and/or drinks at either, then they can use the restrooms. Amenities: food and drink; parking; toilets. Best for: sunset; swimming; walking; kitesurfing.