Sosúa

Sosúa

Sosúa

The city called Sosua is located about 15km west of Pueblo Checo and Cabarete. Recent years Sosua has been working on to be called the “mekka of turism ” in the Dominican Republic. If you are looking for an active tropical holiday for relatively good money, you are in the right place. Sosua offers many leisure activities, among the most popular water activities such as scuba diving, sailing or fishing on the high seas.

For diving is recommended especially the Sosua Bay, which offers beautiful beaches with golden sand and varied underwater fauna and flora. Thanks to good transport connections with the hinterland and other coastal areas, Sosua is an easily accessible location.

Those of you who like to enjoy the nightlife you can enjoy countless discos, bars and restaurants. Owners of many evening businesses and bars are Europeans – Austrians, Germans or Swiss.

History of Sosúa:

Sosúa is the youngest city in the Dominican Republic, founded in 1938 by Jewish immigrants. At the conference in the French city of Évian, an agreement between the US and the Dominican Republic was established. In the agreement was stated that the Jews who were persecuted at that time throughout Europe will have their way to the Dominican Republic open and that Dominican Republic will provide them with a shelter. The President of the Dominican Republic, Rafael Trujillo, has offered to receive up to 100,000 Jewish refugees. Around 800 Germans and Austrians were granted a visa in 1940 and 1945 and later on settled in the city of Sosúa.

The city became the center of tourist interest from the mid-1980s. Due to the circumstances and the very short history of the city, it is obvious that you will not find historical and interesting landmarks that you should not miss.

One of the conditions for admission of refugees was that they will start to work in agriculture in this area. Unfortunately refugees were mostly doctors, engineers, lawyers, or artists who had no experience with agriculture. Some of the immigrants, fortunately, had the knowledge of meat and milk processing, and thus they laid the groundwork for the Caribbean food industry, called “Productos de Sosua“.

After the war, most of them left to the US but some of the descendants of the original settlers still live here even today. Some streets even bear names for German Jews, such as “Calle Dr. Rosen”. A Jewish synagogue and museum were built in their memory.

More than 1,000 km of beautiful coastline – sandy beaches, coral reefs, wrecks of ancient Galeons and pirate ships. In the royal waters of the Dominican Republic, it is possible to find many pirate ships that have been shipwrecked here during their cruises across the Caribbean Sea and the ocean.

Undersea world of the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic offers a magnificent undersea world with beautiful beds of aquatic plants, vibrant coral reefs, mysterious underwater caves and rich fauna. Simply put – you can expect unexpected.

With the Atlantic Ocean in the north and the Caribbean Sea in the south, the Dominican Republic will truly satisfy even the most demanding divers. The South Coast of the Dominican Republic is home to colorful corals, fish and mysterious caves. We are sure that all divers from begginers to professional will enjoy the National Underwater Park – La Caleta, which is located east of the capital of Santo Domingo – near Boca Chica. The underwater park covers 1 500 km2 and offers the possibility of dives up to a depth of 182 meters. The area of La Caleta National Park will attract you with its fascinating cliffs and colorful fish species.

Divers who are interested in exploring shipwrecks can explore the 21-meter-long wreck of the ship El Limo, which is now full of beautiful corals. Another underwater gem is the 43-meter-long Hickory shipwreck that is surrounded long-flowered yellow aquatic plants.

In the southern waters of the Dominican Republic, about 18 meters below sea level is the hidden wreck of the ship – El Catuán.

Another place which worth a visit in this area is the Barracuda Valley, which has become the home of over hundreds of breathtaking fish bearing the same name. If you come here, you will have a unique opportunity to visit several underwater caves such as Cueva Taina, El Hipodromo and El Tildo.

All brave divers should not forget to visit somewhat more extreme areas of the southern coast near Barahony-Pedernales. This area is not as popular as the previous ones and, in addition to the warm waters, offers breathtaking dives to beautifully structured cliffs and coasts.

If you like real adventure, then head to the south-east coast. Here is one of the largest habitat of shipwracked ships in the Caribbean. One of them is more than 81 meters long wreck – St. George, which is home to basses, barracudas, dolphins, murenes or moackerels.

Southwest of La Romana lies an idyllic Catalina Island. Here you can dive up to 40 meters deep and admire beautiful cliffs such as La Pared or the Hoyo Azul or Padre Nuestro caves. Catalina Island is also famous for its aquariums, large coral formations inhabited by various frogs, fishes or seahorses. Catalina Island offers a real amazing diving experience for all divers. You can dive along the coral wall to a depth of 40 meters and touch the sandy bottom. On the way, you’ll get the attention from smaller and bigger fish and other inhabitants of the marine world.

 

The northern coast of the Dominican Republic definitely belongs to the favorite places for all divers coming to the Dominican Republic. More than 350 kilometers of the wonderful coast coming from Samana up to the Montecristi Peninsula. The undersea world here is full of multicolored corals, rich sea fauna, fantastic caves, cliffs and gulfs. The waters around the village of Samana are recommended for the more demanding scuba divers who are not afraid to dive to a depth of 36 meters and to swim around Cabo Cabron’s Coral Wall and around other coral gems – Las Tres Puertas (The Three Doors) and La Piedra The Stone).

When you are in the Dominican Republic, do not miss to visit Samana and visit the Deep Blue Marine Museum. Here you can see an exposition comprising number of artifacts rescued from ancient galeons and wrecks. The expositions also include artifacts from the French naval ship – Le Scipion, which participated in the fighting in the American War of Independence, as well as several other important historical wrecks.

In the hidden and well-protected waters of Sosua Bay in the northwest of Samana, underwater gardens, coral walls, cliffs or shipwrecks, along with the colorful underwater world, are waiting for all divers who decide to dive in this area. Divers can head to west to Sosua towards to Montecristi and observe various coral reefs such as the Cayo Arena, as well as the remains of nearly 230 ship wrecks, including one of the Spanish who was sink there in 1563.

Punta Cana and Bávaro
Las Terrenas

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