Bávaro Beach

Bávaro runs north from Punta Cana on the eastern tip of the Dominican Republic, a continuous coconut-backed shore with an offshore reef and, behind it, one of the densest concentrations of all-inclusive resorts anywhere. Punta Cana International handles more passengers than any other airport in the Caribbean, and almost all of them come here.

It is the reference case for a particular model. Development began in the early 1970s on land that was largely inaccessible — the road came later than the first hotel, and the airport was privately built. What followed was a coastline planned around the all-inclusive package: guests arrive, transfer, and remain within a property for a week. The economic argument for and against that model is live in the Dominican Republic, and Bávaro is where it is conducted.

The shore itself is genuinely good, which is easy to forget in the argument. Fine pale coral sand, coconut palms to the sand line, and a reef offshore that removes most of the swell and leaves calm, warm, shallow water. The slope is gentle and the swimming is easy. Sargassum arrives on this coast in the summer months and hotels clear their own frontage with varying diligence.

Dominican law makes all beaches public to the high-water mark, and in practice this means you can walk the full length past every resort; what you cannot do is easily get onto the sand from the road, since the frontage is hotel property. Marked public entrances exist and are worth locating in advance. Macao, twenty minutes north, is the public counterweight: a beach with surf, no resort frontage and a car park, used by Dominicans at weekends and the only place along this coast where the model visibly stops.

Thirty kilometres of all-inclusive and a genuinely good shore underneath it. Sargassum arrives on this coast between April and August and hotels clear their own frontage with varying diligence. The beach is public to the high-water mark and the marked public entrances are worth finding before you need one. Macao twenty minutes north is where the model visibly stops.