Isla Catalinita

Punta Cana & the Southeast


This tiny uninhabited island on the eastern edge of Parque Nacional Cotubanamá is a common stop on snorkeling and diving tours. Arriving on the island’s western (leeward) side, it’s about a half-hour hike to the other side, where a lookout affords dramatic views of powerful open-ocean waves crashing on the shore. There is a coral reef in about 2m of water that makes for great snorkeling, and a good dive site called Shark Point, where sharks are in fact often seen.

It's around 20 minutes or so by speedboat and an hour by catamaran from Bayahibe.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Punta Cana & the Southeast attractions

1. Isla Saona

3.45 MILES

There’s a reason why boatloads of tourists descend upon this island every day. The powdery, white-sand beach doesn’t seem real from afar, and a dip in the…

3. Cueva de Berna

12.43 MILES

This large cave, with scattered Taíno pictograms (and graffiti) and stalactite and stalagmite formations, is several kilometers west of Boca de Yuma on…

4. Cueva del Puente

14.55 MILES

Parque Nacional Cotubanamá has more than 400 caves, many of which contain Taíno pictographs (cave paintings) and petroglyphs (rock carvings)…

5. Parque Nacional Cotubanamá

15.12 MILES

Much more than simply Isla Saona, which is all that most people see on a group tour, the Parque Nacional Cotubanamá (formerly known as Parque Nacional del…

6. Playa Dominicus

16.17 MILES

The advantage of staying in Dominicus Americanus is being able to walk to Playa Dominicus, a beautiful stretch of thick, nearly white sand, with good…

7. Padre Nuestro

16.87 MILES

Located deep inside Parque Nacional Cotubanamá, Padre Nuestro is a weaving stalagmite- and stalagtite-filled 290m tunnel flooded with freshwater that can…

8. Casa Ponce de León

17.13 MILES

Just east of the two-lane highway linking Higüey to Boca de Yuma, outside the small town of San Rafael del Yuma, is a fine rural Dominican town surrounded…

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