City overview
The Dominican Republic shares Hispaniola with Haiti and offers more variety than anywhere else in the Caribbean, from Punta Cana's resorts to colonial Santo Domingo and the laid-back north coast around Puerto Plata. Jewish infrastructure here is the best in the region, entirely built by Chabad of the Dominican Republic under Rabbi Shimon Pelman, who also serves as shochet. Santo Domingo has a daily and Shabbos minyan, a mikvah, and Rimon Kosher Market — a full kosher supermarket with its own restaurant, a rarity in the Caribbean. A second Chabad centre opened on the north coast in Puerto Plata in 2025 with its own kosher restaurant and Shabbos services. Kosher catering delivers island-wide, including to Punta Cana resorts, though Punta Cana itself has no year-round kosher restaurant, permanent shul, or eruv.
Saona Island
Dominican Republic · Day tours from Punta Cana or Bayahibe, priced by operator and including boat transfer and park fee
A protected island of palm-backed white sand inside Parque Nacional del Este, reached by catamaran and speedboat from the south-east coast.
Time needed
Full day
Hours
Open daily 9:00 AM–5:00 PM
Tips
The most popular day trip in the country and worth doing, but the standard tour includes a buffet lunch and open bar that a kosher traveller cannot use — bring your own food and confirm the operator is fine with that when booking. Trips leave from Bayahibe, about an hour from Punta Cana. The natural swimming pool sandbar stop, where starfish sit in waist-deep water, is the part people remember. Go on a smaller boat if you can; the large catamarans are loud.
Phone
(809) 567-4300Website
https://ambiente.gob.doNeighborhood
Bayahibe, La Romana
Activity providers
Kosher map of Dominican Republic
Pick a place on the map or search an address or hotel to see what is kosher around it.