Things to Do in Dominican Republic

December to April is the classic window — driest, clearest and least humid, though also the busiest and most expensive. March through May is the sweet spot if you want that weather with thinner crowds. September and October are the wettest months and the statistical peak of hurricane season, which is why rates drop then. If you want to see humpback whales in Samaná Bay, you need roughly mid-January to mid-March.

A week is enough for one region done well — most commonly a Punta Cana base with a few day trips out of it. Ten days to two weeks lets you combine two regions, such as the capital with Samaná or the north coast, without spending the trip in transit. Distances are longer in practice than they look on a map, so adding a third region usually costs more travel time than it is worth.

Not if you are staying on a resort strip like Punta Cana, where transfers, taxis and excursion pickups cover everything and parking is pointless. A car becomes genuinely useful once you want the waterfalls, mountain towns and quieter beaches, where public transport is slow and infrequent. Toll highways are excellent; secondary roads are rough, unlit at night and shared with motorbikes, so many visitors compromise by using long-distance coaches between cities and hiring a driver or a car only for the days they need one.

Beaches and all-inclusive resorts above all — it is the Caribbean's most-visited country, and Punta Cana is the region's single biggest resort destination. It is also the birthplace of merengue and bachata, the site of the oldest European city in the Americas at Santo Domingo, a baseball powerhouse far out of proportion to its size, and a major producer of cigars, rum, cacao and amber.

Spanish is the official language and what you will hear everywhere. English is widely spoken in the resort zones, at hotels, excursion desks and tourist restaurants in Punta Cana, Bayahibe and the north coast, so you can travel those areas comfortably without Spanish. Away from tourism — in the interior, in local restaurants and on public transport — English thins out quickly, and a little Spanish makes a large difference.

The Dominican peso (RD$), and US dollars are widely accepted across the resort areas, where excursions, transfers and hotel extras are often quoted in dollars. Cards work in hotels, malls and larger restaurants, but pesos in cash are what you want for beach vendors, colmados, small restaurants, guaguas and tips. Watch the currency on any price board: the plain "$" sign is used for both, and at roughly sixty pesos to the dollar the difference is substantial.

The everyday staple is la bandera — rice, stewed beans and meat, usually with fried plantain — eaten at lunch, which is the main meal. Look out for sancocho, the rich meat and root-vegetable stew served on special occasions; mangú, mashed plantain topped with pickled onions, at breakfast; tostones and mofongo made from green plantain; and fresh fish along both coasts. Local rum is excellent and cheap, and the coffee and cacao grown in the interior are among the country's best exports.

Winter sun, families, diving and mountain adventure.