Things To Do in Uvero Alto

This star-studded festival is in Bavaro, a 20-minute drive away. It’s where some of the island’s most famous merengue outfits, like Diomedes y el Grupo Mio and Pochy Familia y la Coco Band, demonstrate their musical pedigree. Crowds on the beach lap it all up.

Coco Tropical is the kind of Dominican hang-out you’ll find all over the island. Behind the bar, there’s a line of glistening rum bottles that go to make cocktails like coco loco and piña colada. And if the large bottles of Presidente beer are made to share, then the tropical sounds of merengue are made for dancing.

You can splash the cash at Plaza Uvero Alto, the shopping centre on the resort’s main road. Besides a couple of minimarts, there’s a row of gift shops piled high with crafts from both Dom Rep and its arty neighbour, Haiti. Haggle over abstract paintings, colourful Lime dolls, and amber jewellery that can fetch sky-high prices outside the republic.

Move over, Rio. This 1-day carnival sees Punta Cana seafront transformed into a world-class party. The costumes take the word elaborate to a new level – these huge-scale concoctions of feathers, sequins, glitter and tulle are a real spectacle. There’s plenty of dancing and street performance, along with stalls selling tasty local specialities.

Seafood is the stock-in-trade at this understated beachside restaurant. You can share a parrillada – a mixed grill of lobster, octopus and crispy red snapper – or dig in to a pescado con coco – fish marinated in coconut sauce. The seafood is brought in daily by local fishermen, so there’s no questioning its freshness.

Being so close to the Atlantic, seafood is what dominates the menus in Uvero Alto. You’ll find a sprinkling of authentic Dominican restaurants both on the beach and along the main road running parallel to it. Tuck in to fried fish or attempt to polish off a parillada – a mixed grill of shrimp, calamari and conch, cooked over smouldering charcoals. To quench your thirst, have a cold Presidente beer or a freshly squeezed fruit juice.

Picture yourself as the heartthrob in a Hollywood blockbuster as you take the reins of a stallion and gallop down the beach, throwing up a fine sea spray in your wake. That’s just what’s on the cards when you sign up for horse riding at Uvero Alto Ranch. You’ll be matched with a horse that suits your skills and then you’ll be off. Wear plenty of suntan lotion and full-length trousers.

You’ll find the full line-up of watersports here, with kayaking, waterskiing and banana boats all playing to the not-very-big crowds. And with waters this clear and beautiful, it would be rude not to try snorkelling or scuba diving. The biggest coral reef in the region sits just off the coast, giving you the chance to get up close to moray eels, trumpet fish and the occasional dolphin.

Uvero Alto isn’t big on shops, but the local plaza has a few souvenir kiosks selling local paintings, handicrafts and ceramics. Keep an eye out for the jewellery, too – you can get great deals on the local amber and larimar, a pretty blue stone. Meanwhile, if you’re pining for big brand names, head to the Palma Real Shopping Village in Bavaro.

With 50 kilometres of beach at your fingertips, it’s easy to overlook all the action on the water. There are tonnes of watersports available from the huts on the beach. You can kayak over the breakers, zip across the water on water-skis, or buckaroo on a banana boat. The scuba diving is also top-notch. All day long, motorboats escort divers to Uvero Alto’s reef that’s home to a menagerie of DayGlo underwater creatures.

This part of the Dominican Republic is part Spanish, part African in its roots, which makes for a real one-off cuisine. The hotels put on Dominican nights, where you can try local dishes like mangu – pureed plantain – and sancocho, a kind of meat stew. And if you want to try a local, family-run restaurant, you’ll find a handful of them in Bavaro, 30 minutes away.

This upscale beachfront hotel is home to the only AAA Four-Diamond-rated restaurant in the region. Here, a master chef cooks up tastebud-tickling dishes like salad with caramelised apple and foie gras shavings, and confit of spinach and leek with red pepper coulis, dill cloud and pesto droplets... And the wine cellar is something else, too.

For a close-up look at the world outside your resort, take a 4x4 safari. Expert guides will drive you to the virgin countryside, taking in tropical forests, rivers and mountains en route. You’ll travel down off-the-map dirt-track roads and catch a glimpse of how the locals live. And you’ll end up at a secluded beach only they know about.

Tropical locations and casinos go together like, well, James Bond and martinis. So order yourself a dry one and take a seat at this glamorous bar. Aside from the cocktail list, there’s plenty to keep you occupied, including slot machines, poker, blackjack and roulette. And it stays open ’til 3am every night.

Things slow to a crawl in Uvero Alto once the sun’s gone down. In the village there are a couple of bars where the locals hang out and sip Brugal rum while listening to tropical rhythms. Mainly though, visitors stick to the hotels, where there are cabaret shows, live music acts, and a casino.