Explore The Silver Coast
The small, friendly fishing village of RÍO SAN JUAN, 5km east of La Yagua, borders a large mangrove lagoon, Laguna Gri-Gri, as well as being in reach of several great beaches, including Playa Caletón, Playa Grande and Playa Preciosa. Although development has taken place around the village over the past decade, it has remained little changed; its tree-lined streets, easy-going atmosphere and simple reliance on boat building, fishing and dairy farming come as a welcome change from the resort bustle to the west.
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Laguna Gri-Gri
Laguna Gri-Gri
Río San Juan’s main attraction is Laguna Gri-Gri, at the northernmost end of Duarte, and it comes as a wonderful surprise, a magnificent mangrove reserve traversed by organized boat tours that you can arrange and board from a small quay at the road’s end (589-2277). The 2hr tours, which cost RD$1200 per person (for 3 to 6; thereafter, RD$200 per person) head out of the lagoon through the mangroves; go early in the morning if you want to catch more of the birdlife. The boat then enters nearby Cueva de la Golondrina (Swallow’s Cave) to admire the stalactites and stalagmites, before heading along the coast to Playa Caletón, where you get to swim. You can also arrange to go snorkelling or fishing for an extra sum. To see the lagoon’s birdlife on foot, walk east from the Hotel Bahía Blanca to the peninsular bird sanctuary that the tour skirts, which is at its most active just before dusk when hundreds of egrets return to roost. Alternatively take the dirt footpath to the left of the tours office.
Campo Tours is the lone tour operator in town, but you’ll find better-quality tours, and operators, down the road in Cabarete.
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Playa Grande
Playa Grande
The area’s most spectacular beach is Playa Grande, a gorgeous and gently sloping stretch of golden sand lapped by deceptively tranquil-looking green-blue waters and overlooked by swaying palms and cliffs. It’s become increasingly popular in recent years, forming a stage on many local tour operators’ itineraries, and the parking area is now home to several shack restaurants as well as vendor stalls selling souvenirs and rum drinks from coconuts. The cliffs to the west are topped by the Playa Grande golf course – neatly symbolizing encroaching development along this coast – while those to the east protect the pristine Playa Preciosa, which, should you manage to negotiate the steep climb down, you will probably have to yourself. Be warned, both beaches are renowned for ferocious rip-tides, so take extra special care when swimming. Playa Grande often has a lifeguard (at its western end); Playa Preciosa does not.
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Rip-tides
Rip-tides
Common on beaches with high surf, rip-tides are dangerous ocean conveyor belts that funnel the water being smashed against the coast back to sea. Surfers and windsurfers actually find them desirable, as they pull you effortlessly out to the big waves, but they can pose a life-threatening problem for less experienced swimmers; indeed, at Playa Grande, a couple of people die each year in the tides. If you’re not a strong swimmer, it’s best to keep off beaches with high, crashing surf altogether. You can sometimes – but not always – identify rip-tides by sight as ribbons of sea that don’t have any large waves travelling across their surface. At times they’ll also have a different colour from the rest of the water. If you’re caught in a rip-tide, do not attempt to swim against the powerful current. Instead, swim to the right or the left – and not directly back to the shore – until you are out of its grip.
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Río San Juan scuba diving
Río San Juan scuba diving
Río San Juan offers some of the best dive spots on the north coast, including: Crab Canyon, a 26m dive through underwater stone arches; Natural Pool, a 15m dive along a great coral reef and into a large cave that looks like a church sanctuary; and Seven Hills, a trip that goes 30m down an underwater mountain and makes you feel as if you were flying. Northern Coast Divers in Sosúa runs dive trips to Río San Juan.
