10 Things to Do: Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
10 Things to Do: Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
By
Kariela Almonte
The tropical playground of Puerto Plata has come a long way from its notorious beginnings as a hub of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Now host to the annual Bride of the Atlantic surfing festival, the busy port on the Dominican Republic’s north coast is a magnet for history buffs as well as beach lovers.
- Walk in Columbus’ footsteps. Just outside the present-day port, Christopher Columbus founded La Isabela, one of the earliest European settlements in the Americas, in 1494. Visitors can see the ruins of the explorer’s first house and a reconstruction of El Templo de las Américas, where the first recorded Catholic mass in the New World was celebrated (150 pesos).
- Reach for the heights. El Teleférico, the only aerial tramway in the Caribbean, whisks you to the top of the 793-meter (2,602 feet) Pico Isabel de Torres, where you...
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