Insider's Dominican Republic

This itinerary is the starting point for your tour, but it’s not set in stone. If there are days you would like to change, or specific places you’d like to go, we can work with you to create a personalized program that fits the needs of you and your students.

Day 1: Santo Domingo

Depart from the USA and arrive in the Dominican Republic. Check into your hotel in the historic and picturesque Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo and meet your ACIS Tour Manager.

Day 2: Santo Domingo

This morning take a Chu-Chu colonial historical train tour through the Colonial Zone, a UNESCO World Cultural Site and the historic central area of Santo Domingo. Enjoy facts and anecdotes as you see the Cathedral of Santa Maria la Menor, thought to be the first cathedral of the Americas, the Ozama Fortress overlooking the river, the Franciscan Monastery ruins and other historic sites. Then visit the Mercado Modelo public market. Inside this bustling Caribbean bazaar, in addition to fresh fruits and vegetables, you'll find handicrafts, paintings, jewelry, clothing, traditional prepared foods and even botánicos peddling secret potions and health remedies. In the afternoon, apply what you've learned about Santo Domingo today during a fun, team-based Culture Quest challenge.

Day 3: Santiago

A morning bus ride takes you to San Cristobal. You'll study petroglyphs and pictographs and learn about the subterranean ecosystem at the Pomier Caves Anthropological Reserve, the single most important pre-Columbian site in the Caribbean. Journey on to Santiago. Upon arrival visit the Leon Jimenez Cultural Center, the best of the nation's five national museums under one roof. Tonight see the spectacularly illuminated Monumento a los Héroes de la Restauración on a hilltop park in the center of the city.

Day 4: Cabarete

Begin this morning in Altamira engaging in a Global Exchange with the Río Grande Abajo community. Río Grande Abajo is a small, tight-knit, rural community in the foothills of the northern mountain range. You'll be welcomed by a group of locals brought together through Brigada Verde, an environmental youth group. A personalized walking tour of their neighborhood will include an introduction to cacao through a chocolate cultivation and processing workshop. You'll learn how to make traditional Dominican hot chocolate and sample a taste. Then you'll have the chance to practice your Spanish as you're invited in small groups into the homes of local Dominican families for lunch. After lunch, continue to the Damajagua Waterfalls and prepare to get wet: You're about to swim, climb and cascade down falls, ending in the sparkling-clean, aqua-blue pools below! Arrive in Cabarete this evening for a night's rest in your beachside hotel.

Day 5: Cabarete

This morning enjoy views of Cabarete Bay as you free your mind and body and set an intention for the day during a yoga session. Then collaborate on a food sovereignty community service project with Cabarete Sostenible. Responding to a food security crisis at the beginning of 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic, Cabarete Sostenible has evolved from a food distribution program into a community pillar, leading education efforts in the areas of responsible and sustainable farming and healthy eating. During this workshop, become intimate with the reality of hunger in impoverished areas and come to understand both the organization's successes and continued challenges. You will spend some time lending a hand where needed—perhaps clearing donated farmland, transplanting seedlings, picking fruits and vegetables for distribution, or fundraising. After free time to get lunch, discover the local marine life first-hand as you enjoy snorkeling with colorful tropical fish around the reefs in Sosua Bay, said to be some of the best snorkeling in the world.

Day 6: Cabarete

Begin the morning with a surfing lesson on Cabarete's iconic Encuentro Beach, an idyllic favorite where both locals and visitors of all surfing abilities come together to enjoy the azure waves. You'll start off dry, on land, learning how to "pop up" and read the waves. Then once comfortable, you'll head off into the water—our goal is that everybody stands up! After time for lunch, feel the groove as you collaborate with Brigada Verde, a local youth environmental group, for a dance lesson in traditional Dominican dances.

Day 7: Cabarete

Enjoy free time this morning to explore more of Cabarete's cultural treasures at your own pace, play in the waves at the beach or perhaps pick up some souvenirs at the many local gift and surf shops. Tonight cap off the tour in style as you sit back, relax and explore the shoreline during a leisurely boat ride down the Yasica River that concludes with a bonfire dinner on the beach.

Day 8: Departure

Depart for the USA.