This week’s dream: The secret swimming holes of the Dominican Republic
“If sandy beaches are the face of the Dominican Republic, its streams, rivers, and cenotes are its veins, arteries, and heart,” said Mya Guarnieri in The New York Times. The Caribbean nation is “laced with waterways,” beginning with three rivers that frame its capital, Santo Domingo. On a recent trip, I headed inland, seeking out the pools and springs that lie hidden just a few miles from the all-inclusive beach resorts. Because the country’s interior “has a reputation for being a little rough,” two Dominican friends joined me, in borrowed or rented cars, and we soon discovered that the swimming holes on our maps often aren’t well marked. Fortunately, “finding them is a great way to sample Dominican warmth and hospitality,” because “invariably, you’ll have to pull over and ask for directions.”
In the coolness of Río Caño Frío, a jadegreen river on the northern coast, “I was in up to my chest and could still see my toes, which I wiggled into the sand.” I then followed a barefoot local down a trail fringed with wild orchids to a trio of pools ringed with thickets of shaggy mangrove trees. My skin bristled with goosebumps as I eased into cool, clear water. And when I sat on a fallen tree in the sun, “I felt that delicious sensation of shrugging off a sweater on the first warm day of spring.” Later, at nearby Rincón Beach, my friends and I sipped fresh coconut water spiked with local rum as we lunched on lobster, octopus, rice with pigeon peas, and fried plantains.
At Hoyo Claro, a spring-fed pool in the forest near Punta Cana, the welcoming water “glowed a color you usually see only in the mouthwash aisle.” But it was so clear I could see minnows swimming around me, and boulders below in the glassy depths. More cenotes awaited at the Indigenous Eyes Ecological Reserve, where the Yauya River feeds 12 freshwater lagoons. After a 10-foot leap into one of them, I resurfaced to a blue sky framed by luminescent leaves. The air was warm, the water cool, and “as my body adjusted, a feeling of absolute peace took over. I was close to something essential—the origins of the world or, maybe, to myself.” For guided day trips to the swimming holes, ask your hotel or visit toursbylocals.com.