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Why Boca Chica?
Because this resort town is conveniently-located close to the airport
and the capital city of Santo Domingo. No other destination places you
as close to all the attractions of the bustling 2.5-million people
capital city.
Fly in to Las Americas airport and in 15 minutes you can go wading into
a natural giant swimming pool. This makes it a good choice for families
with small children.
And Boca Chica is great for singles. It is a free-spirited tourist town
almost all of the people out partying on any given night will be single.
The Beach
Boca Chica beach is a reef-protected lagoon of tranquil blue waters and
powder-white sand. One can wade out 100 yards from shore into glassy
waters and still be only waist deep with nothing but soft clean sand
underfoot. It’s the perfect beach for small children because there are
no waves and no deep waters. Boca Chica is crowded on Sundays when
capital city dwellers make the half hour commute to the beach,
returning home at dusk. The rest of the week, the sand and sun is for
the tourists.
One can find just about everything in Boca Chica, making it
one of the most complete of the ungated beach towns in the country.
There are hotels and dining for every budget, great night life,
proximity to the airport and capital, yet it’s still small enough to
build relationships.
Boca Chica is a "shopping beach" because pleasant Dominican
vendors wander the beach or sell from their shops on the main street
that runs parallel to the beach. While tanning, you can haggle over
silver jewelry and paintings, or get your hair braided in corn rows. No
heavy pressure. Just people trying to get a few of your tourist
dollars.
What else is nearby?
If you like to explore and are getting tired of the bathwater ocean,
you’ll find slightly wilder water at Playa Caribe. About a 10 minute
drive west of Boca Chica, it’s a small horseshoe bay that offers great
boogie boarding and a nice, if small, beach. Further west are the towns
of Guayacanes and Juan Dolio. Guayacanes has a beautiful palm-studded
beach that’s quiet every day but Sunday. Its wonderful coral reef lies
just meters from the beach – snorkelers’ paradise. World class shopping
is available 30 minutes away in Santo Domingo. Buses that travel up and
down the highway will take you directly into the old colonial zone of
the city where you can marvel at Spanish colonial architecture. Or just
go shopping.
How to get there
Most visitors arriving in Boca Chica will land at Las Americas Airport,
the largest and busiest in the country. The town of Boca Chica is a 15
minute taxi ride from the airport. As well, Boca Chica’s all inclusive
hotels are popular with the cruise-and-stay clients who arrive at the
seaport after a week cruising the Caribbean and stay an extra week in a
local hotel.
Getting around
Boca Chica’s main area of interest to tourists is quite small and
easily walkable. However, there is a taxi stand at each of the three
large resorts and desk clerks at the smaller hotels can call one for
you. They can also advise you on what the fares are.
You will see many motoconchos, or motorcycle taxis, in Boca Chica. For 10 pesos, they will take you anywhere in the town.
If you want to travel to neighboring towns on the Las Americas highway,
go to the Shell gas station (la bomba) and wait at the corner for a
gua-gua (public bus) heading east or west.
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