City Guide
Cabarete
The wind capital of the Caribbean. A one-street town on the north coast where the trade wind arrives every afternoon and the whole economy is built around it.
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Where to stay
On the beach in town if you want to fall out of bed into a lesson; up the hill in Pérez if you want quiet and a view; Encuentro if you're here to surf.
Cabarete Bay
Walk to schools, restaurants, and the bars.
Pérez hillside
Quiet rentals, long-stay pricing.
Encuentro
Surf breaks at the doorstep.
Eat
Beachfront tables set out at dusk, plus a surprisingly deep bench of cheap local kitchens one block inland.
Beachfront strip
Tables on the sand after sunset.
Callejón local comedores
Full plates for a few hundred pesos.
Encuentro breakfast spots
Post-dawn-patrol smoothies and eggs.
Drink
It's an early-to-water town, so the night runs earlier than the capital. Weekends on the sand, weekdays quiet.
Kite Beach North
Saturday sand parties.
Bay beach bars
Sunset happy hours.
Sosúa
Twenty minutes away; go with a plan and a ride home.
Beaches
Cabarete Bay is for kiting and windsurfing, Encuentro for surfing, Playa Alicia in Sosúa for actually swimming.
Cabarete Bay
Afternoon wind, kites everywhere.
Playa Encuentro
Consistent surf, boards for rent.
Playa Alicia
Calm water, good for families.
Nightlife
Low-key and beach-based. The big nights are the full moon parties and whatever the schools throw after a competition.
Full moon party
Monthly, on the sand, goes late.
Live reggae nights
Midweek along the bay.
Post-competition parties
Ask at the kite schools.
Getting around
The town is one walkable street. For Encuentro, Sosúa, or the airport, use a guagua in daylight or a booked car at night.
Walking
Everything in town is within ten minutes.
Guagua
Cheap shared vans along the coast road, daytime.
Booked car
After dark, always.
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