This week’s episode of Eye on Travel broadcasts from the Puntacana Resort & Club in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. I have more reporting on the Boeing 737 Max story and the possibility that there may be criminal cases filed. And a real world, real time update on personal safety and crime for travelers to and in the Dominican Republic. Joining me on this week’s show is Jake Kheel, who explains the work by Grupo Puntacana to not only preserve but rebuild the country’s coral reef system, and a remarkable but true story of why you should thank the Parrotfish for the white, sandy beaches in the Dominican Republic. Cruise Critic Managing Editor Chris Gray Faust reports on a new parade of cruise ships entering the market (how, why and where) — and why the cruise lines are building/developing their own islands in the Caribbean. Margarita González-Auffant, Director of the Alcázar de Colón Viceregal Museum in Santo Domingo, shares the historical background of Santo Domingo, including the real story of Christopher Columbus. And yes, Peter makes his own cigars (photo here) and enjoys an unexpected smoke. There’s all this and more as Eye on Travel broadcasts from Puntacana Resort & Club in the Dominican Republic.

Punta Cana, República Dominicana.- El proyecto de restauración de corales de la Fundación Grupo Puntacana (FGPC) titulado: “CoralRestore DR”, fue seleccionado para financiamiento en la primera convocatoria del Fondo de Adaptación basada en Ecosistemas (EbA) por el Fondo de Biodiversidad del Caribe (CBF).

El proyecto consiste en la ampliación dramática de la restauración de corales de múltiples especies en sitios seleccionados en la República Dominicana, como una estrategia de adaptación al cambio climático. El objetivo de “CoralRestore DR” es reducir los riesgos climáticos y desarrollar la resiliencia climática de la comunidad de Punta Cana y otras comunidades de la República Dominicana y el Caribe.

La Fundación Grupo Puntacana y 11 organizaciones del Caribe Insular, fueron seleccionadas de cientos de propuestas para la primera ronda de proyectos EbA. Se otorgaron donaciones por un total de US$12 millones, con un aproximado entre US$260,000 y US$2 millones destinados a la implementación de soluciones EbA dentro de las zonas marinas y costeras de 10 países del Caribe.

El vicepresidente de Fundación Grupo Puntacana, Jake Kheel, resaltó que las múltiples amenazas que enfrentan los arrecifes de coral requieren estrategias de protección y restauración a una escala grande.
“Para lograr la restauración de ecosistemas complejos y grandes como son los arrecifes de coral, necesitamos expertos locales para lograr soluciones efectivas y escalables. Nuestro nuevo proyecto de la ‘Facilidad de adaptación basada en ecosistemas’ es un gran paso hacia esas soluciones”, agregó Kheel.

La propuesta tuvo la colaboración estratégica de The Nature Conservancy, la Asociación de Artesanos y Servicios Marinos (ARSEMAR), la Asociación Nacional de Hoteles y Restaurantes (ASONAHORES), la Asociación de Centros Acuáticos, la Asociación de Hoteles del Este (ASOLESTE), la Agencia de Desarrollo Alemán (GIZ) y el Caribbean Hotel Tourism Association (CHTA).
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Los proyectos seleccionados se implementarán colectivamente en República Dominicana, Antigua y Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Granada, Haití, Jamaica, Santa Lucía, San Vicente y las Granadinas y Trinidad y Tobago

When the temperatures start to drop, head to Punta Cana, located in the Eastern Dominican Republic in the Caribbean. The perfect winter getaway, you will find everything you need for a warm escape: white sand beaches, calm turquoise seas, delectable cuisine and some of the friendliest people in the Caribbean.

With direct flights from several cities flying directly into the privately owned airport, you can leave in the morning and be sipping a fresh juice and sunbathing by the afternoon. The VIP Service offered to all guests of Puntacana Resorts & Club is a must, making airport transfers quick and seamless. Here are 5 reasons to visit Punta Cana this winter:

La Isla de Plástico, el documental largometraje de Cacique Films, que muestra la compleja realidad de los desechos sólidos en la República Dominicana. Nos presenta, con imágenes alarmantes, un vertedero encendido que arroja un humo apocalíptico, mientras un ejército de “buzos” se ahondan en la basura en búsqueda de materiales. Una tortuga marina lucha por cruzar la basura en la playa para poner sus huevos. Sin embargo, esas imágenes inquietantes solas no garantizan una solución al problema. En los últimos años, criticar al plástico se ha convertido en una tendencia internacional.

Sin embargo, el problema fundamental no es el plástico, sino nuestra cultura desechable. No vale criticar únicamente a los plásticos de uso único, sino todos los productos de uso único. Tenemos que reemplazar todos los materiales y productos desechables: desechos orgánicos, cartón, papel, vidrio, metal, plástico, textiles, ropa, electrónicos y electrodomésticos.

En vez de una sociedad desechable, la meta nacional de República Dominicana tiene que ser una “Economía Circular,” un sistema económico que elimine el desperdicio y la explotación continua de los recursos. Imitando a la naturaleza, la económica circular valoriza cada material, transformándolo en un producto nuevo con una vida útil continua. Esa solución integral requiere la integración del sector público, privado y la ciudanía en general. En particular, el Gobierno dominicano juega un papel fundamental para estructurar soluciones. Primero, el Estado puede incentivar fiscalmente a la inversión privada en tecnologías, procesos y negocios que transformen residuos existentes en otros productos. Por ejemplo, nuevos incentivos motivarían a nuevos proyectos de conversión de residuos a energía eléctrica.

In September 2017, our entire company was tracking the storm path of Hurricane Irma. Already a category 5 storm, it was barreling through the Caribbean and headed straight towards the Dominican Republic. Our resort, Puntacana Resort & Club, on the eastern end of the island, was at risk and we feverishly prepared for the storm.

Luckily for us, Irma took a last-minute turn to the north, barely missing Punta Cana. Our property had only light damage, a few fallen trees and a couple of days of rain. We had electricity throughout the storm and the Puntacana International Airport operated without interruption.

The British Virgin Islands, Saint Maarten, Puerto Rico, and other islands were less fortunate, suffering catastrophic damage to homes, hotels and public infrastructure and producing many casualties. Just two weeks later, Hurricane Maria, another major storm, inflicted more damage on Dominica, the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. As it turns out, the 2017 hurricane season, which included the impacts of Hurricane Harvey, was the costliest hurricane season in history, causing an estimated quarter of a trillion dollars in damage.

PUNTA CANA, República Dominicana — El próximo viernes 1ro de noviembre de 2019, Punta Cana cumple 50 años de haberse creado por el Grupo Puntacana. Sí, el nombre del grupo se escribe como si fuera una sola palabra para diferenciarlo del destino, Punta Cana, que de ser marca turística pasó a ser el nombre de toda una región. Y claro que todo esto no ocurre por casualidad, sino que ha sido el resultado del grupo de visionarios que se atrevió a soñar en grande, pero con la convicción de que la evolución no llegaría a la carrera, pero sí como resultado del trabajo en equipo, constante y sin pausa.

Y es que “sin prisa, pero sin pausa” además de resumir la evolución del sector, es el lema del gestor de Punta Cana, el dominicano Frank R. Rainieri, quien por allá en 1969 y junto a otros inversionistas estadounidenses se atrevió a comprar un pedazo de paraíso en el este de la República Dominicana, para desarrollarlo como destino turístico internacional. Y fue precisamente ese auge turístico “allende los mares” lo que provocó que la región de Yauya adoptara el nombre de Punta Cana.

Meet our new Polo Club at Puntacana Resort & Club, the ideal place to get a full insight
of all the techniques and good practices of polo. Here you have the chance to learn how
to interact, understand and ride polo horses. Practice and improve your polo skills, while
you are having fun learning about the challenges of the world´s oldest, most graceful and
exhilarating sport.

Now the full family of beginners, amateurs and professionals are welcome to learn, practice,
play and enjoy polo with us!
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Our unique polo facilities include playing and practicing fields located at our Equestrian
Center, visit us and get the chance to try it.
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The game is played by two opposing teams. Each team has four mounted riders with the
objective of scoring goals by using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ball
through the opposing team's goal. The game usually lasts one to two hours, divided into
periods called chukkers.

For vacationers who prefer an inclusive beach haven with world-class amenities like an 18-hole golf courses, a Six Senses Spa and a full-service marina, then this beachy eco-friendly haven in the Dominican Republic is all of these and more. Puntacana Resort & Club’s home rentals are an extension of the resort’s offerings that are centered around sustainability through their zero-waste program to reduce pollution of the local landfills and a wastewater treatment plan that reuses recycled water for irrigation.

Hurricanes Irma and Maria damaged Corales Golf Club. Determined superintendent Julio Díaz and his crew prepped the course for its first PGA Tour event six months later.

Matt LaWell

The first storm ripped apart the course on a Thursday.


Winds whipped, faster and faster, and sand shuffled out from the bunkers. Rocks surged up onto the greens from the ocean below. Everything that had remained outdoors rather than shuttled into the relative safety of the clubhouse had found a new location across acres of disruption.

Hurricane Irma was not the first storm to touch down on Corales Golf Club in the Dominican resort haven of Punta Cana — though it was the first during the tumultuous hurricane season of 2017. “The people here are very used to hurricanes,” says Julio Díaz, the veteran superintendent for both Corales and its 27-hole neighbor, La Cana. “Hurricane season comes and we worry about a lot, but we get so used to them coming, we say, ‘Oh, we can manage a hurricane.’” But Irma, a Category 5 hurricane whose sustained winds eventually reached 180 mph and resulted in 134 deaths and more than $77 billion in damages across the Caribbean and the southeastern United States, was “a disaster,” he says.

It's half a century since a pair of visionary entrepreneurs took a chance on buying a stretch of almost untouched jungle and beach in the Dominican Republic. Today, Punta Cana is thriving and the Puntacana Resort & Club has a reputation as one of the finest spots not just in the country but in the Caribbean as a whole.

At the very end of the 1960s, a young Dominican looking for a way to make his mark in the world teamed up with a high-powered lawyer from New York to try an audacious gamble. Some 15,000 acres of land had come up for sale on the Eastern extremity of the Dominican Republic – the furthest tip of the island dubbed Hispaniola by Columbus when he landed here in 1492. 
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It had practically nothing by way of facilities – just mile after mile of jungle. Even the name hardly sounded auspicious: it was then called Punta Borrachón, or Drunkard’s Point. But the price of $200,000 – roughly £1m in today’s terms – seemed promising, as did the six miles of spectacularly perfect white sand along the coast. The entrepreneur and the lawyer – Frank Ranieri and Theodore Kheel – went for it.