lagoon

Approximate reading time: 6 minutes

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Table of contents
- Where is Laguna Redonda?
- What is Laguna Redonda?
- How to reach Laguna Redonda?
- Is it easy to get to Laguna Redonda?
- Why is the water of Laguna Redonda green?

If you are familiar with tourism in the Dominican Republic and like to travel, you probably have heard already of Montaña Redonda. This is a famous tourism excursion on the top of a hilly area where you have a stunning 360 degrees with to the adjacent valleys. But have you ever heard about the little neighbor Laguna Redonda?

Where is Laguna Redonda?

Laguna Redonda can be found in the northeast of the Dominican Republic. It’s part of the district El Seibo and in a rather scarce populated area of the country.

As you can see on Google Maps, it is quite close to Montaña Redonda and shares even the same name. Both are ‘redonda’ which means ’round’ in Spanish. Okay, if I see it on Google Maps, it might not be perfectly round but I think that you get the idea what I mean.

Laguna Redonda filmed from the top of the hill.

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What is Laguna Redonda?

Laguna Redonda is one of the many aquatic and hidden places in the Dominican Republic. The country is rich of lagoons that create habitat for both flora and fauna. Laguna Redonda has an extension of 1.93 mi² (5 km²) and consists of salt water. It’s connected with the near sea through Caño Celedonio.

View from the shoreside

Laguna Redonda has been a livelihood for hundreds of poor families who fish with rustic instruments to survive in this place of just a few opportunities. Some species of fauna that can be observed in the lagoon are: crabs, tilapia, bass, shrimp and guabinas.

Lagoons in the Dominican Republic are a pure paradise for bird watchers. The birdlife around Laguna Redonda is also rich and is represented by Pied-billed grebe (Podilymbus podiceps), the common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus), great egret (Ardea alba), black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja), northern pintail (Anas acuta).

Copyright of www.traphil.com — This sign welcomes you with additional information about Laguna Redonda

Unfortunately I haven’t had sufficient time and boats to discover the whole lagoon. But what I saw from the shore was kind of beautiful already.

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How to reach Laguna Redonda?

Laguna Redonda is not touristically developed and accessed. Meaning, that you need to invest a high effort to reach it. But it’s worth it if you want to have an individual and exclusive feeling.

Usually, tourism destinations and excursions in the Dominican Republic are completely overrun. This one’s not. I had the luck to be there on my own. If we zoom a bit out at Google Maps, we can see, that there is only one single pathway to reach Laguna Redonda:

Only one pathway from the south leads to Laguna Redonda

The Atlantic is in the the north and there are no connections both from east and west towards the lagoon. This makes it a bit more difficult to reach.

Here is how you get there: On the highway 104 (RD-104 Carretera Bávaro) you see a quite an unremarkable green traffic sign with ‘Laguna Redonda’ on it. It’s probably around 1.5 miles (2,5 km) away from the entrance to Montaña Redonda. Just continue driving for about 10 – 12 minutes and you’ll reach Laguna Redonda.

That’s the official part you would guess by planning it from the outside. But I was beneath the surface and can tell you, that you should park the car approximately where you can see the little white square on the screenshot. Why?

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Is it easy to access Laguna Redonda?

It’s better to walk the rest of the route to the lagoon. Shouldn’t be more than 1/2 or a 3/4 mile from the marked checkpoint. You should see a gate:

Copyright by www.traphil.com — Takes probably 5 -7 minutes walking time from here until you reach Laguna Redonda.

The road conditions are not stable enough and look the following:

Muddy conditions on the way to Laguna Redonda

You better not wear sandals, flip flops, etc. and rely on sturdy shoes. That’s what I can recommend, because I wore flip flops and looked more than dirty after reaching the lagoon 🙂

But on dry days without rain it won’t be easier either. Here is how the path looks like:

Beautiful landscape around Laguna Redonda

To be 100% sure to reach Laguna Redonda safe and to not get stuck in the muddy terrain, you should only access it with a jeep or a SUV. Everything that has a 4×4 engine is the only secure car to go there.

Of course you could as well motorbikes, quads, etc. These vehicles would be even more suitable to enter the difficult terrain. But once you reached Laguna Redonda, it’ll be more than worth it!

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Why is the water at Laguna Redonda green?

That’s a good question, isn’t it? If you took a closer look to the videos and photos above, you’ll see a green shimmer at the water surface.

Green water at Laguna Redonda in the Dominican Republic

The reason for the green water are the mangroves and the rotten leaves from the surrounding trees. In combination with the very salty water, this rare effect of green water is produced. It corrodes at the bottom of the water surface. There are no rocks or stones that could wash the water and make it a little more clear.

That’s why the water at Laguna Redonda shimmers in a light green hue.

I have seen a lot of green water places like stagnant ponds, natural pools or puddles. Mostly, because they are not moving waters. But this was the first time, that I saw a moving water with this green hue.

I decided to not swim there, rather enjoy a few silent minutes at the shore and observed the little fisher boat before I continued the trip to Montaña Redonda.

Laguna Redonda is one of these many hidden destinations in the Dominican Republic that are barely known and communicated. Few information are available of it and you have to search for places like that. But once you discovered one of these places, you can be sure to be the only person there.

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OOPS! One of these typos again. I wrote “How Du you Du?” – But actually, wanted to ask my audience “How do you do?” What an unforgivable mistake and what a weird headline! Dancing with dogs at Laguna Dudu? Who for Heaven’s sake had the idea to name a lagoon Dudu? And is it really possible to dance with dogs? You don’t believe my words? Read this article and Du not hesitate to comment and like this article!

Where is Dudú?

During the last site inspection, I was duing (okay, enough of that platitude for now) for my job I stopped 25 km to the northeast of Nagua to see a tourism destination.

For me and my job, it’s very important to obtain practical knowledge about the national tourism resources of the Dominican Republic. This beautiful place called ‘Laguna Dudú’ is one of the famous spots where adventurous tourists go.

Why Dudú?

That’s of course the most important question. Why do tourists like to go to Laguna Dudú? There are many other lagoons, lakes, ponds and fluvial tourism destinations, where tourists can go and spend some nice time. What makes Laguna Dudú special?

Zip-Line at Dudú Lagoon — Costs $1 – Makes fun!

The only thing I heard before visiting the place, was the possibility of doing zip-lining over the lagoon. Contrary to the usual zip-lining activities where you go from platform to platform, you can splash here into the water. Which was definitely one of the main reasons for me to try it out.

A security guard told me, that it is 13 meter (42.5ft.) high, which is doubtful. A few months before I was doing the ‘Magic Mushroom experience’ where I jumped down from 15 meter (50ft.). This one here seemed to be less high. Especially, if an obese participant pulls down the zip-line. Hence, the distance to the water surface decreases progressively during the ride because of the participants’ overweight by the factor of two. If you were not good at Physics and Geometry in school, watch the following two videos of my second attempt:

It’s never ever 13 meters (42.5ft.) high. Maybe, if you span it straight and taut. But as soon as I was pulling the line down with my weight, it was max. 10 meters (32.8ft.) high.

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What else can you do at Dudú?

Laguna Dudú is only a part of a national park. Hence, you pay for more and can go and see more than just the lagoon itself. It has for example as well a beautiful garden area, which would invite you to do a pick-nick…

…or exploring another cave…

…or even dancing with a dog!

Doggo seemed to live in the national park. He didn’t wear a dog collar, but wanted to play and dance all the time with me. Poor thing didn’t seem to receive enough attention. Thus, he was very happy, that someone helped him to spend a good and interesting day at Laguna Dudú. He was also very interested to observe the fishes in the water.

Dudú Blue Lagoon - Stray dog — A dog observes the Dudú lagoon

How much costs Dudú?

Don’t take my words for granted. Price consistency and informational reliability are alien concepts in the Dominican Republic and are actually non-existent. I paid 200 DOP (=Dominican Pesos) for the entrance to the national park. That’s about $4 and I think, that it is quite much. But prices for these type of attractions and entrances usually fluctuates significantly in the country. It could be, that a new tourism minister, director or responsible person decides to raise the prices for a bit before it will decrease again. Price policy in the Dominican Republic is like a roller coaster without a seat belt. And I am not talking about the thrilling attraction itself, but the metaphor to showcase the inconsistency.

Good scenery for Instagram — A very good spot to take a picture

All in all, I would say that it’s quite pricy and a lot for a national park of this limited area. Of course, it depends on what you want to do and how much time you are willing to spend there. If you really want to swim at both lagoons, make a pick-nick on the grass and enjoy the area for a walk to discover every corner you get your money’s worth. Unfortunately, we didn’t have sufficient time to do that and spend maybe 60-80 minutes there.

Oh, before I forget: Using the zip-line costs extra 🙁

You need to pay 50 DOP (about 1$) per ride to be allowed to splash into the water. Very exploitative, these Dominicans!

What makes Dudú unique?

Another interesting fact is that…

Laguna Dudú is the only place in the world where it is possible for speleologists to dive from one natural lake to another one.
Source

I have no idea, what a speleologist does for a living. But it always seems very attractive, if you can sell and advertise something with a pure USP and if you are ‘the only X in the world’. And speleologists appreciate it very much! Except them, no one else seems to be elected to dive from one natural lake to another one. Quite elitist people, these speleologists! Too bad, that I found out about this additional activity too late. I would have loved to become a speleologist before I visited Dudu Lagoon and go diving in these caves. According to the further description, it seems to be tremendous:

This place has two lagoons connected to each other and to the sea (the connection with the sea is more indirect). Dudú Lagoon is 32 meters deep, and it is surrounded by a thick forest that occupies the surrounding cliffs.
In the surroundings of Dudú Lagoon, it is possible to find some caves, there are some stalactites and stalagmites that were formed little by little. But the best place to admire pre-Columbian art is the Taíno cave: its 30 metre-high walls are decorated by this kind of art.
Apart from speleology, the refreshing baths, the funny experience of jumping over the rocks or the interesting cave exploring, this place has charming restaurants and hotels.
Source

Laguna Dudú (bird perspective) — A not complete snapshot from the bird perspective of Laguna Dudú

Goddamn! In my next life, I definitely want to become a speleologist. If I will have the chance to come back here again, I will bring my diving goggles and discover the subterranean area of the lagoon. Promised!

Would I recommend Dudú?

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I definitely would recommend to visit Dudú lagoon. Even if you are not a speleologist (which is a by the way the scientific name for potholer/cave explorer), if you don’t like to dance Merengue with dogs and if you are afraid of heights and would never ever do the water zip-lining, you would have a good time at Laguna Dudú. But make sure, that you’d bring enough of it with. If you come at the right day and the right time, you can spend some quiet hours here.

Dudú you like my article about the lagoon?

If you do (!) like my article, I would be very happy about your appreciation. Please help with a like, a share or a comment. I would be very happy like the dancing dog!