How to Spend A Day in Puerto Plata, DR (From Cruise Ship)

Hola, Dominican Republic!

Depending on your cruise line, you will either dock at Amber Cove or Taino Bay when in Puerto Plata, DR. Both are exclusive to cruise goers, no outside general public is allowed. Since we were on NCL, we were lucky to dock at the almost brand new Taino Bay port. It opened in 2021, and let me tell you, she is a beaut!

From the ship, it is a flat 5-10 min walk to all the restaurants, bars, shops, activities, and amenities Taino Bay has to offer. If you don't want to walk, they offer a free tuktuk ride (almost like a golf cart type/scooter vehicle). Make sure to tip though if you do this option!

We got off the ship early and decided to walk instead of ride to work off some of those cruise calories, cause one thing about me is I'm eating everything in sight on a cruise. I can worry about eating fruit later. First, we followed the signs to head straight for Monkey Island, located in Taino Bay, to avoid crowds. It was very easy to find, and we ended up being the first group of the day with the squirrel monkeys. No reservations necessary. It worked out perfectly.

We paid, signed some waivers, and entered the monkey house 5 min later with a small group of 6 other people. We all sat down on a bench where the monkeys kept jumping on our head, shoulders, knees, and toes. I'm not gonna lie, one had explosive diarrhea on me, so prepare for that. It was gnarly, but their cuteness makes up for it. ("You guys made me ink" -- Finding Nemo) The guide gave us each a bucket of fruit and as he did the monkeys swarmed it like they hadn't been fed in years. I couldn't stop cheesin'. He snapped pictures, which later we were given the option to see them and purchase the QR code for download.

Following this, I headed to the restroom to wipe off the monkey poop the best I could. Thank golly gee they had paper towels and not just the hand blowers. I had to do some scrubbing. Then we decided to venture out of Taino Bay into the town of Puerto Plata.

As soon as you exit the cruise port to go into town, be prepared for people coming at you trying to sell you excursions and take you on private tours. It can be a bit overwhelming, but stay strong, amigos. Say no thank you and continue walking confidently. Keep walking straight on the sidewalk until you get to the point where you cross the busy road. When we were there, there was a security guard stopping traffic to walk across. Then we continued on straight. You will stumble upon the colorful umbrella street on your left (takes a total of about 8 min from port to umbrella street).

It is a cute street lined with shops and restaurants. You would think it would be busy, but it seemed very dead. Actually that was the theme for majority of Puerto Plata. A few small group tours we saw, other than that where was everyone?

From here we walked about 2 min to Paseo de Dona Blanca, aka the pink street.

The Barbie marketing team really went above and beyond. Just kidding. But it is very unique and PINK. Lots of photo opportunities as well. More people tried to come up to us and get us to buy a tour when we were here, which was annoying. Like.. leave us alone.

Overall, we don't think it was really worth walking out of the port and into town. I wouldn't say unsafe, but it felt uncomfortable and no-one was around which made me question why? I would say instead get off the ship and spend your day relaxing in Taino Bay.

We did just that for the next part of our day. We headed back to the ship to eat lunch onboard and to change into our bathing suits before heading back to Taino Bay. Don't forget to grab a free beach towel on board before heading off. They normally have the cart right by the exit and take your room number down, then you return them when you come back on board.

Taino Bay felt like a resort. Swim up bars, a lazy river, cabanas, bean bags, and lounge chairs. All included for cruise guests. The only thing you have to pay for is any additional food, drink, or souvenirs.

We found a cabana to hide all of our stuff under our towels as we went on the lazy river and took a dip in one of the many pools. It felt very safe since it is just the cruise-goers in here and we were the only ship docked. I believe you can rent a locker though if you don't want to leave anything out in the open with your towels. We spend a few hours relaxing before heading back to the ship.