Travel Guide for La Romana, Dominican Republic - La Romana Purple Travel Guide
La Romana in the Dominican Republic has wonderful beaches and even a replica of a medieval village. We show you the best things to see and do in La Romana and we provide lots of photos so you understand what you will see when you visit La Romana in the Dominican Republic.
The information on this page and much more (google maps locations, more reviews, website links, etc.) is available in our Cruising the Caribbean Guide.
Why you should visit La Romana
La Romana is the jump-off point to beautiful white sand palm tree lines beaches, turquoise waters and good snorkeling spots. History buffs may want to explore Altos de Chavón, which is a replica of a medieval village with lots of cigar, clothing, arts, crafts and jewelry stores, and restaurants and bars and unmatched view from high above the Chavón River.
General information about La Romana
La Romana is the 7th largest city in the Dominican Republic and it was founded in 1897 for the oil industry. This changed quickly after the construction of a sugar mill in 1917, when sugar became the primary industry in town.
A "Romana" was an ancient scale to weigh merchandise for export which stood where La Romana is located today.
In the 1960s, the sugar mill was purchased by Gulf and Western Industries, Inc. who invested in the livestock industry. In 1975, they built Casa de Campo, which became one of the largest exclusive tourist resorts in the country. In 1984 the resort was purchased by Central Romana Corporation.
La Romana is different from other cities in the Dominican Republic. Even nowadays, it is still a company town, with the Central Romana Corporation the majority owner of the town. There is almost full employment of the population.
The city itself is not an attractive tourist spot, but more a jump-off point several nearby local resort areas with wonderful beaches like Bayahibe, Dominicus and Casa de Campo, and also a growing number of golf resorts.
Tourism is highly important to the Dominican Republic and La Romana and lots of tourists arrive as part of a cruise. Please also check out Rudy's Cruise Guide for Beginners & Others.
Climate in la Romana
The climate that you can expect when you visit La Romana is shown here:
Best things to see and do in La Romana for Cruise Ship passengers
La Romana has a cruise port, which is about a 25min walk from town. All beaches and other attractions require transportation.
Typical excursions for cruise ship passengers cover one or more of the following:
- beach relaxation at Saona Island or Catalina Island
- beach getaway at Bayahibe or Dominicus
- snorkel tour
- sailing
- kayak tour
- explore Altos de Chavón
We have visited La Romana only once and it was a rainy day. Instead of getting rained out at the beach we waited for a break in the clouds and then walked into town to check out how the locals live.
I still have the best beaches and attractions section further down on this page, but sadly this is only second hand information. Anyway, I hope you find it useful.
First, let me start with our 15min walk into town. The way is easy to find as there are very few roads and I think it would be hard to get lost here. Just to make sure, here is a map and I have added some waypoints that you can use in your favorite maps app.
As soon as you leave the cruise port, pass the taxis and tourist guides and walk by the baseball fields, you know you are in a residential area. We liked that many of the houses had beautiful colorful flowers in their yards.
After you cross the train tracks, you turn left and walk along the local highway Avenida Libertad. On our way back, I got carried away taking too many photos and crossed the busy road at a place where I should not have crossed it. A local policeman saw that and asked me to cross the road further down at a safer place. We had a brief chat and suddenly he asked me if I had ever eaten sugar cane. Well, I had and I told him so. He insisted that Dominican Republic sugar cane was the best and broke his in half and offered it to me. You can see him and me in the photo below. I am eating his sugar cane and let me tell you...it was good!
A few minutes later we came to a bridge over Rio Romana at the edge of town where you have a great view on La Romana and the back of our cruise ship.
After the bridge, the urban area starts and the traffic gets more chaotic. We continued further into town and walked all the way to Parque Del Obelisco where a tall obelisk with beautiful, but sadly weathered, paintings is standing.
We explored the area around there and found more beautiful flowers, monuments and a supermarket.
We chatted with some of the friendly locals and enjoyed seeing how the locals live, but as I said earlier, La Romana is a company town and a jump-off point to beautiful tourist locations, it is not something that tourists will rave about.
When more black clouds appeared on the horizon, we walked back and reached the cruise port just in time when the rain started.
Best beaches in La Romana
Bayahibe Beach
This white sand and turquoise water beach is the closest beach from the cruise terminal. It takes a 25min ($15) taxi ride to get there. It is a Blue Flag beach, meaning that it meets high standards of quality, safety, environmental education and information. There are restaurants and the village is nice to stroll through.
Dominicus Beach
This white sand and turquoise water beach is a 5min taxi ride from Bayahibe. There is good snorkeling here.
Catalina Island
You will need to join a tour to get to this paradise. The island is one of the best beaches and has some of the best snorkeling in the area. The beach has white sand and turquoise wate
Saona Island
This is an uncrowded paradise with miles of coconut palm tree lined golden sand beaches and crystal clear blue water. Like Catalina island, Saona offers some of the best beaches and snorkeling in the area.
Other attractions in La Romana
Altos de Chavón in La Romana
Altos de Chavon is a replica of a 16th century replica of a Mediterranean village which is entirely constructed of stone. As it is located high above the Chavón River and permits fantastic views over the scenic landscape of the Dominican Republic. Altos de Chavón was opened in 1982 and is a charming medieval village with lots of cigar, clothing, arts, crafts and jewelry stores, and restaurants and bars. The centerpiece is the St. Stanislaus Church, which is also a popular wedding site.
As this is part of the Casa de Campo resort, there is an entrance fee for non-guests.
Author: Rudy at Backpack and Snorkel
Bio: Owner of Backpack and Snorkel Travel Guides. We create in-depth guides to help you plan unforgettable vacations around the world.
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