Macao Beach ranks in various ‘best beaches of the Dominican Republic’ articles always in the Top 10. That makes a curious traveler like me even more curious. How can it be, that a beach at the overcrowded east coast of the Dominican Republic is so popular and famous? I wanted to find it out myself and decided to invest a day at the weekend to go there and check the facts. Is Macao beach really the most beautiful beach on the Dominican east coast?
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Why is Macao Beach better than other beaches in Punta Cana?
The major reason is, that Macao Beach is less-frequented than other beaches in Punta Cana and still maintains the laid-back vibe of a Caribbean dream beach. In comparison to many other beaches in Punta Cana, Macao Beach kept a clean and authentic scenery with finer-grained sandbanks.
But first things first: The east coast in the Dominican Republic is the most famous tourist destination in the whole Caribbean. Punta Cana acts here as THE magnet for tourism in the Dominican Republic. Tourists from all over the world are seduced with all-round carefree packages in All-Inclusive-Resorts, many thrilling or relaxing activities and plenty of beautiful beaches to spend vacations.
However, there is still this one beach on the east coast of the Dominican Republic and in close distance to Punta Cana, which always scores in these Top-beaches-rankings. That’s Macao Beach. Just about half an hour from Punta Cana and 15 minutes away from Bávaro away.
Macao Beach is less visited than other beaches in Punta Cana
When I think of Punta Cana and the east coast of the Dominican Republic, I see in my mind’s eye all the crowded beaches with the artificial paved concrete deserts and accommodations. Hordes of package tourists cannot decide if they prefer after an ample lunch to be grilled by the scorching sun at the hotel pool or rather have the same experience on a beach chair for the rest of the afternoon there.
So it is a small sensation for me that Macao Beach even makes it into all of these rankings of the most beautiful beaches in the Dominican Republic. But I wanted to find out exactly why the beach is so beautiful and popular. Right at the entrance to the beach, it becomes clear that Macao Beach has not (yet) fallen victim to mass tourism.
For a public beach without any major hotel chains in close proximity, Macao Beach is in a good shape. It was from an architectural perspective very well planned and the adjacent green garden elements fit the surrounding of the beach entrance.
On the right side of this picture, you can see a few beach chairs of Dreams Macao Beach Punta Cana Resort to separate a private area. It has 500 rooms and is probably during high season and off Corona times very well visited. But other than that, there weren’t other accommodations near the beach. Hence all the other visitors at Macao Beach were daily visitors.
Not more than maybe 80 – 100 visitors in total visited the beach. And I went there on a Saturday, which is usually THE day in the week when Dominicans go out of the house to visit their beaches. Of course, there are fewer visitors in September 2020 during the era of Corona. But on the other hand, that doesn’t mean that I can’t have a couple of those at the beach.
Why Macao Beach is a pure Caribbean dream beach
But too much alcohol at the beach makes you not only tipsy but also dizzy and sluggish. The best thing to do against that is to walk along the beach and check out the scenery. What Macao Beach offered me was more than I expected and a natural resource in its pure beauty.
I was maybe lucky or just picked the right day in the calendar. But there weren’t many people at the beach and I made some very good photos.
There are some strong waves in the afternoon at Macao Beach. However, this condition depends on the form of the day. I was quite lucky and tried my best to literally ‘catch a wave’ with my camera.
These waves are not only good to take some goofy photos as I did. Especially water athletes with their boards would have a pretty good time at Macao Beach. No wonder, that Macao Beach is at the same time considered as one of the best destinations for surfing in the Dominican Republic.
Beach check: Macao Beach in the Dominican Republic
Did you plan to visit Macao Beach in Punta Cana? There are some things I can promise you to be excited about. On the other hand, there are also some things to consider before planning to travel to Macao Beach.
Read in the following section more about 5 reasons why a visit to Macao Beach is worth it and 5 reasons that should take into account for your travel planning to Macao Beach.
5 things I loved about Macao Beach:
- Macao Beach is a very clean beach and doesn’t consist of algas, seashells or garbage. I was pretty impressed by the neatness of Macao Beach and can barely remember any comparable beach in such a good shape.
- Macao Beach offers good conditions for people who love water sports. If you are looking for waves, you’ll find them at this beach. There is also a famous surf school at Macao Beach called ‘Macao Surf Camp‘.
- Although it is a public beach, you’ll have a lot of privacy there. Just take a look at the pictures I uploaded earlier. If you walk for a couple of minutes away from the entrance you’ll be virtually alone at the beach.
- This relaxed vibe is very rare on the east coast of the Dominican Republic. There aren’t many quiet and serene places left around the shores of Punta Cana. You should enjoy that before this place is going to be exploited like the rest of the east coast.
- You like the sun, but you don’t fully love and enjoy it? Expect enough shade from offered umbrellas of the few beach bars. You’ll have to consume a couple of drinks, but nothing easier than that! If you are thrifty enough to save also a few bucks here, mother nature helps you out to not burn in the sun. The shoreside of Macao Beach is palm-lined with a lot of coconut trees who spend shade.
5 things to consider before going to Macao Beach
Nobody’s perfect. Not even the beautiful Macao Beach on the east coast of the Dominican Republic is perfect. In fact, there are some reasons to consider before going there. Here you have 5 reasons to regard for your travel planning to Macao beach.
- Macao Beach has limited parking spaces. If you come by car, you probably have to park a bit outside of the official parking areas and walk some 5 – 10 minutes under the scorching sun. These parking spaces are under semi-professional surveillance. Don’t leave any valuable objects or money inside the car when you go to the beach. No one guarantees anything.
- Having a shower costs 50 Pesos. Not too much, but you should have change ready in your pockets. These showers aren’t private either. Remember the first picture I uploaded in this article?
- Public toilets exist. But I only saw two cabins there, not equipped with either toilet paper or soap. Could be very stinky after some time. Better doing one’s business at home before driving to Macao Beach.
- No changing booths at Macao Beach. The only privacy you can have is inside of the toilet cabins. And they are understandably not the best place to change clothes…
- I was there off-season during the Corona era and was pretty impressed by everything I saw. But I don’t even want to think about, how the most beautiful beach on the east coast of Punta Cana looks during high season at the weekends.
Is Macao Beach in Punta Cana the best beach on the east coast of the Dominican Republic?
I hope, that these 5 arguments for or against a visit to Macao Beach helped you out to have a better understanding. You should now know better what to expect from Macao Beach. I just can tell you, that I have had a pretty good time there.
If you still ask why, please take a look at the following picture:
Macao beach is definitely the beast beach on the east coast in the Dominican Republic. It doesn’t feel like Punta Cana and that’s the best argument for a visit. So far, I didn’t encounter any better beach on the east coast in Punta Cana. And if I ever will, I am going to write a new article about it 😎
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