The Dominican Republic region is located on the eastern two-thirds of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola and it borders the small country of Haiti. Hispaniola is the second-largest of the Greater Antilles islands and can be found west of Puerto Rico and east of Jamaica.

The Dominican Republic has a whole host of activities that are guaranteed to keep even the most active of children busy for their entire trip. Many of the attractions are centred on water and animals such as the numerous water parks, aquariums and zoos. Children will be able to view animals in their natural surroundings while enjoying the excitement of waterslides, whirlpools and fairground rides. Whatever age your child might be, there will be something to keep them and the entire family occupied.

New Year’s Day
The festivities of New Year are celebrated through music, dance and a number of good luck rituals. Carnivals and parades mark the New Year celebration with masked parties held across the country.

The Dominican Republic is home to the oldest city in the New World, so take time to fully discover Santo Domingo and its surroundings. The country is small enough to enjoy a number of sights and cities, so you can choose from resort towns, historic monuments, amber museums, ancient forts or stunning botanic gardens. Coupled with the year-round good weather, the number of sights on offer will ensure a truly memorable trip.

Air
There are three main airports serving this small country: Punta Cana (PUJ) in the east; Las Americas (SDQ) in Santo Domingo and Puerto Plata (POP). The national airline is Air Santo Domingo, which offers domestic and limited international flights.

The currency of the Dominican Republic is the peso (RD$). One peso is equivalent to 100 centavos. Notes can be found in denominations of RD$2,000, 1,000, 500, 100, 50, 20 and 10. Coins come in denominations of RD$1 and 5 and 50, 25, 10, 5 and 1 centavos. Every coin is legal tender, but only the RD$1 and RD$5 coins are actually used because the smaller denominations are so impractical.