Paradise Found: Dominican Republic's Taino Bay Puerto Plata
Updated: 23 hours ago
When I stepped off my MSC cruise ship in Puerto Plata's over-the-top touristy Taino Bay, I wasn't sure. Really. My parents had visited the Dominican Republic decades earlier (with a less than charming description) and what I faced before me was sooo built up for tourism I just wanted to plow right through to the "real Dominican Republic".
As I plotted my course quickly through the winding streets of souvenir shops, coffee outposts and animal encounter opportunities, something grabbed my eye - a chocolate shop. Sure enough, the Dominican Republic is a huge producer of cacao products - and coffee. Ok, so it wasn't looking so bad.
Then, I saw a lazy river, a huge pool area, palapa roof restaurants and bars, and even got dragged in to get a free facial treatment. Not bad, not bad. But I needed more - authentic - real.
My sister in law yelled after me as I found the exit to the real world, exclaiming
"Why would you want to leave paradise!?". "It's not my paradise", I cooed back,
and left her to her rum drinks and water sports.
Entering the true port of Puerto Plata, I found what I was looking for.
Below I'll share with you my sister in law's paradise - the cool shops, the quirky water activities, and then I'll share with you what I found on Umbrella Street, in the bubble gum pink Paseo de Doña Blanca, the main town square bustling with local family life, the amber shops, the chocolate Tours, and even a secret hidden gem for lunch.
Paradise in Taino Bay Puerto Plata can be found no matter what you enjoy. Let's dive right in!
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What to Expect at Taino Bay Puerto Plata
So for all intents and purposes, Taino Bay is the sub-culture built for cruise passengers in the Puerto Plata port. All passengers must walk through here to get to "real Puerto Plata".
Note that Taino Bay is a specific cruise port area. You may also encounter the name "Amber Cove" - these are not the same. Amber Cove is a port specific to certain cruise lines (Carnival, if I recall).
At Taino Bay, the long pier can be navigated on foot, or free Tuk tuks wait for ferrying passengers back and forth to the Taino Bay entrance. No need to tip the drivers, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind a buck or two!
Take the obligatory photo op at the Taino Bay sign, and then continue walking through the obligatory Duty Free Shop before setting your eyes on tourist mania.
Note that ONLY cruise ship passengers can access this area (you'll need to show your cruise ship card if you leave and return) meaning, you've got the place to yourselves. No worries about safety or cleanliness!
The downside of that, of course, is that I found the prices to be jacked to nearly FIVE TIMES the amount we were seeing just a mile into the real town of Puerto Plata.
Nonetheless, there were tons of cool amenities and options to stay put other than shopping including the lazy river, a boogie boarding area, a nice swim up pool, and more.
Check the photos for an idea!
Shopping in Taino Bay
Popular shops will be selling chocolate tea, Del Sol gear (it turns colorful in the sun's rays), plenty of jewelry and gift shops, and Dominican Amber. Be aware that the Amber is marked up quite a bit from what we discovered in town, but it is quite beautiful and makes for a great souvenir.
When You Leave Taino Bay Towards Town
Make sure you have your cruise ship card with you. This is necessary to return through Taino Bay and back to the ship.
You'll find taxis and tour operators hollering at you when you exit Taino Bay. If you want one, they are inexpensive and readily available. You can arrange taxi rides in advance if you have a particular excursion in mind, but I doubt this is necessary.
Walk a block or two and make your way across to the sidewalks where you'll see large signs pointing to the right hand road (you'll be faced with an option to walk to the left by a brick building or to the right down a different road). Take the right hand road.
This road will look a little divey for the first block or two, but never fear! You will start to see souvenir shops and quickly realize you are in the right place.
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Shopping in Puerto Plata
Unlike other ports typically on a lower Caribbean cruise itinerary (think Dutch ports like Oranjestad Aruba) the primary language in Puerto Plata is Spanish. This is great for me, because with my holiday home in Spain I've gotten really good at learning all the shopping and dining lingo en Español. In fact, this helped me turn on the haggling charm once or twice.
In Puerto Plata's main tourist shopping streets you will surely find dresses, which I found the girl's dresses averaged around $15 give or take some haggling, handbags, chocolate, and yes Dominican Amber.
Head down Umbrella Street and find a shop on the right with a guy out front selling earrings and necklaces at $10 - that's $40 LESS than the prices I saw in Taino Bay.
Look at how beautiful these necklaces are! I love mine so much.
Meanwhile, at the end of the hectic street, find a Chinese style shop (these are super popular in Spain and called 'Chinese Bazaars' for their Dollar Store-like variety). The prices are inexpensive in this store and you can find a lot of local goodies.
For instance, we picked up some local Dominican Republic coffee beans for only $6 a pound. Credit cards and US Dollars are widely accepted.
Duck in and out of shops and enjoy browsing!
What to Do Other Than Shopping...
You may be stumbling on my site for the first time, but if not then you might know me by now - all I really do when I travel is shop and eat. And go wine tasting.
In Puerto Plata, there's a few other things you can do without added effort:
Visit the church in the town square
Take a horse and buggy ride (we saw them on the walk into town)
Look for street art and murals everywhere - so colorful for photo ops!
Take an arranged city tour - they will pick you up at the port
Visit the chocolate shop in town - they offer free 'tours', which take about 10 minutes
Watch cigar rolling across the street from the chocolate shop (or around town in various places)
Chocolate Tours
The tour in town at La Chocolateria is mostly a demonstration of the production of coffee, which ends with tastings in the gift shop. It's worth your time!
If you are REALLY into chocolate though, I heavily researched this tour out of town, which I kind of regret not making time to do. You visit a local farm where they take you on a walk around the property to see the real deal on how chocolate is made. It's a bit of an epic day out, but looked totally worth it.
If you want to check out more details on the internet, look up Hacienda Cufa. I tried to arrange a taxi service, but felt overwhelmed by such an epic day and ended up not doing it. For a surefire way to get 'er done (without too much effort), just book the tour at this link, which includes transportation.
Enjoy the Perfect Colonial Lunch in Puerto Plata Cruise Port
At Taino Bay you can get Mexican eats, touristy burger joints and more or less Dominican food, but nothing as authentic as the place we stumbled on for lunch in town.
The name of the place is called simply, Kaffe Restaurant Bistro.
WOW.
Listen, this place needs to be on your list. That's all there is to it. Go for the absolutely impeccable ambiance, stay for the legit DR cuisine.
Have fresh seafood in garlic, Spanish and Latin infused menu options, and while away in the tiled rooms for as long as you like, you're on island time.
To find it, walk one or two blocks (left) past the main church square and turn right. You'll see it about half a block down.
If you are walking down the Insta-worthy Paseo de Doña Blanca, you can simply head straight a block and a half after you've gotten to the end of the pink lane and turned right. I'm great at giving directions, huh?
After lunch, make your way back to the ship and grab a Tuk Tuk for one last hurrah before calling it a day.
Overall
Taino Bay Puerto Plata is truly an interesting port, full of something for everyone - and a paradise for all types of palates.
Enjoy the water sports and umbrella drinks, or enjoy the shopping and umbrella Street. Either way, it's a port I'd very much like to visit again.
Headed to other Caribbean ports?
I've got you covered with more things to do and cruise port guides:
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