Los Haitises National Park boat trip

Across Samaná Bay from town, the far shore is a maze of steep, forested limestone hills rising straight out of mangrove swamp, with islets in the water in front of them. That is Los Haitises, and almost everyone goes by boat, since roads barely reach it. The park caps the number of visitors.

The boats thread the mangrove channels of San Lorenzo Bay and pass Cayo de los Pájaros, a rock where frigatebirds and pelicans circle low overhead all day. Ashore, the limestone is full of caves, and some of them carry pictographs and petroglyphs left by the island's early peoples, possibly older than the Taíno. This is one of the rainiest corners of the country, so bring something waterproof.