A beach of white coral sand slightly covered with coconut palms and a backdrop of lush tropical vegetation. It’s not a postcard, it’s reality at the beaches of Cabarete, Puerto Plata. If you prefer a secluded romantic hideaway or or an action filled beach where meeting new friends everyday quickly gets a routine, it’s all here.
Kite Beach, Cabarete, Dominican Republic
Kite Beach might be the most known beach in Cabarete for obvious reasons. It’s “the” beach for the kitesurfers. For that particular reason, if you plan to enjoy a relaxing day at the beach, stay away from the southern area of Kite Beach. The area in front of Kite Club Cabarete and the many schools in the same area, is where students launch and crash their kites.
Further north, Kite Beach, turns into a much more idyllic place. There’s no condos on the beach, and you might be alone here for hundreds and of meters, while enjoying the sight of the colorful kites further down kite beach only interrupted by some lonely kiter failing to stay upwind, having to do the “walk of shame” with his feet in the sand to get back to where he launched his kite. Parts of this beach have some rocky areas beneath the waves. To get to this last more idyllic part of Cabarete Beach, just drive north from the center past kite beach. And when there are no more buildings or beach condos, there’s a small dirt road off the main road and you can basically park anywhere here along that road or in between the dunes.
Beaches in the center of Cabarete and Cabarete bay
You don’t need to walk far from your hotel to get to the perfect beach. Cabarete bay, where most of the hotels are located, is blessed with the perfect caribbean sandy beach. It’s wide, clean and in many locations you can catch the shade of the coconut palm. This main beach start up at “Punta Goleta” at the end of Kite Beach . This northern part of Cabarete Bay is called Bozo Beach and this part of the beach is where you also find many of Cabaretes kitesurfers. This would also be the lesser crowded part of the beach as it’s slightly away from the center, still it’s there are hotels all along the beach . Further south, where the center of town is located, the beach get’s more busy with restaurants and bars where you can enjoy your meal at your table in the sand. Sunbeds for rent are available here. And there are lifeguards at the beach.
Looking for info on kite spots in Cabarete?
La Punta
Cabarete bay and the center of Cabarete ends at La Punta (the point). There is a beach here, and for sure it won’t be crowded. Large parts of the year the swell of the waves can make the water a bit “lively” here and you have the coral reef just in front of the beach here with it’s hazards. Or bring your snorkel and fins and enjoy the view of the corals the waves.
The Robinson Crusoe beach experience
Cabarete can also provide you with that real Robinson Crusoe feeling of being stranded on a tropical island with all the beach to yourself. You have to head a bit south of town, it’s a 30 minutes drive more or less down to La Boca. Bare in mind you should head south of the rivermouth (La Boca means the mouth in Spanish) where the kiters go and drive all the way around the river, you’re NOT heading for for the kitespot. On the other hand if you feel adventurous you might join the kiters at la boca, simply wade across the river and as you reach the other side, you’ll find yourself pretty much alone among the coconut palms. A few hundreds of meters further down there’s a few villas. Apart from that, it’s your private beach for the day so enjoy!
Encuentro Beach, Cabarete, Dominican Republic
Playa Encuentro probably has the prettiest beaches around Cabarete. As there is hardly any construction right on the beach here pretty as any postcard and theres a more “wild” feeling to the place. There’s a very simple looking restaurant here offering breakfast and lot’s of super-fresh seafood, but that’s it in terms of construction. There are several beaches here within each their little “bay” as the coast at Encuentro has a sligth “S” shape adding to the beauty of these beaches.
It’s about 6km from the center of Cabarete to Encuentro, but it’s a quick ride to get here. And well worth it if you want to spend a day at the beach. Encuentro is the #1 spot in Cabarete for surf. As the waves here make this a world class locations. The “Coco Pipe” is famous among surfers heading to the Dominican Republic.
