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The Parque Nacional del Este (the National Park of the East), located just 4 miles outside of Bayahibe – and at the heart of the La Romana-Bayahibe area is one of the Dominican Republic’s most popular tourist destinations – most famous for it’s crystal blue waters and white sandy beaches at Saona Island.
This beautiful National Park, a nature reserve only since 1975, covers an area of 791.9km2; of which the main landmass is a peninsula covered with Subtropical Rainforest and Subtropical Dry Forest. This area, once settled by the Taino Indians can be visited at “Padre Nuestro” on foot or horseback along a 1.9km ecological trail – click here for details!
The most visited area however, is the maritime area of the park- the “Catuano Strait”, which separates Saona Island from the mainland, as well as Saona Island itself. Here the clear aquamarine Caribbean ocean gleans in the sunlight and offers tourists picture perfect Caribbean memories – whether you chose to relax on one of the many beaches, dive the reefs that line the shore or fish its bountiful waters.
The following are links to articles most recently published about the magnificent Parque Nacional del Este: