Boca Chica is also located close to the capital Santo Domingo, which makes it a great stopover beach when you get off your flight. A cab will take you right to your motel and the next morning when you get up, you are either a short walk to the beach or right on the beach depending on which motel you choose.

Here’s a list of the Boca Chica hotels. As we do reviews on the hotels we will link to them to help you choose the best one for you. Contact us if you would like to have your Hotel reviewed or if we are missing you on this list!

Calypso Beach Hotel

The Calypso Hotel is a smaller hotel located about a 5-minute walk from Boca Chica’s beach. While walking to the beach from the hotel you walk down streets lined with some of the local artwork most of it having an island flavor to it and also quite good.

One of the advantages of having the hotel a little ways away from the beach is that it is also a little ways from the very noisy Calle Duarte (Duarte street) where most of the Boca Chica nightlife is centered around. It would be hard to call anywhere in the Dominican Republic “quiet” but the small distance from the particularly loud areas help.

One of the main highlights of this charming little hotel are the employees. We got to know several of them pretty well in our stay; all are friendly and do their best to make your stay enjoyable. If you stop by, say hi to Andreas, Rafael and Rosa for us! The staff also goes to great efforts to make sure that the hotel is clean at all times. The pool and the patio areas are well maintained and comfortable.

Calypso Pool

The building itself is an older building that they appear to improving regularly, at this point the rooms are not in the same state of repair that you would find in a new building but the design and age of the hotel is part of what gives it it’s charm. While clean, expect the bathrooms to be a little worn with an appearance of age. The beds were comfortable and each room had air conditioning, color TV with cable, and Wifi.

Each room (that I seen) has it’s own balcony overlooking the pool or the street in front of the hotel. Personally I like the ones overlooking the street. There always seems to be something going on out there and it is usually rather entertaining to us foreigners. Don’t forget the mosquito repellant though. You will want it whenever you go out in the evenings and likely when you go to bed at night.

The security is good, there is always a guard outside the front door and watching over the cars. There is also an eating area where you can relax at the table and snack on something you picked up at one of the local mercados or stores.

This hotel review was based on my last visit to the Calypso Hotel on 12/20/09.

Calypso Beach Hotel
Caracol Esq 20, Boca Chica,
República Dominicana
(809) 523-4666

View From Room

Calypso Hotel Patio

Boca Chica Beach Sunset

Boca Chica beach is located on the southern coast of the island of Hispaniola. It’s a unique reef-protected lagoon of tranquil blue waters and powder-white sand. It is perfect for families with children as it is only waist deep even up to a mile from the shore and hardly ever there are waves. The crystal clear and shallow water are great for swimming and snorkeling, paddle boating, kayaking, especially around the coral reefs. Boca Chica has two small islands, Los Pinos and La Matica (later there maybe something more about those two islands).

Boca Chica has a many Hotels and all inclusive resorts within walking distance of the beach. For a list check out our Boca Chica Hotel Reviews.

Boca Chica is the most crowded beach of the Dominican Republic especially on weekends and holidays because it is only 19 miles away from the capital city – Santo Domingo. Only Monday morning the beach is empty and cleaned up of any trash left from the day before. It is so close to the capital that it pays off to go there even for one day. It is small and basically everywhere you can get on foot. You can always take a motoconcho for 10 pesos and they will take you whenever you want to. If anyone gets tired of the beach, it is also close to other places such as a small horseshoe bay that offers great boogie boarding or if you are interested in playing golf, there is San Andres Caribe Golf Club in the area.

People call it “shopping beach”, because you don’t have to worry about spending your free time shopping – here the goods come to you. Vendors trying to sell coconuts, sunglasses, silver jewelry and paintings are everywhere on the beach. What is more, while getting a tan, for a few dollars you may have your manicure or pedicure done or even get your hair braided. Just make sure you agree on the price before they give you a treatment.

Beach Restaurant

History
Boca Chica was originally developed by the president and a dictator of Dominican Republic – Juan Bautista Vicini Burgos in the early twentieth century. However, it became really famous when the dictator Raphael Leonidas Trujillo decided to build the first hotel on the coast – Hotel Hamaca. There, Trujillo provided asylum to Fulgencio Batista, Cuban dictator, former president, after the Cuban Revolution. Soon later Hamaca Hotel became something of an icon. It welcomes guests until today. After Trujillo’s death in 1961 Boca Chica transformed to an exclusive resort called “Playa Saint-Tropez”. Since then it became a popular resort destination for wealthy Dominicans coming from Santo Domingo and tourists from all around the world.

Calle Duarte – night life in Boca Chica
Calle Duarte during the day is a busy street full of souvenirs stalls, little cafes and really good restaurants. One of the best things to take home is rum, artwork or crafts. There are several discos that play of course merengue and bachata, making boca Chica one of the better “singles” beaches on the island. However, you may find there a bar with an extravagant name “Route 66” that brings to mind the highway that runs across the USA. Unlike in other bars, rock and roll fills the air there. Yet, after dusk Calle Duarte has a notorious reputation. It becomes the place of party bars and prostitution. You have to be careful not to get close to the prostitutes, because very often even if you don’t accept their offers, they may try stealing your wallet.

Even during the day prostitution is very common in Boca Chica. Usually the girls target single men, so men with their families are usually not bothered. You will often also see men taking a prostitute up to their hotel room, this is accepted by most of the Hotels. Prostitution is one of the major draws or drawbacks of Boca Chica depending on your viewpoint. Except for the occasional minor cleanup of the situation, the city doesn’t seem to really view this as a problem to be dealt with.

Boca Chica Ocean View

Boca Chica Beach

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