Is Punta Cana good for solo travelers?

Punta Cana was built for couples and families, and the pricing shows it. At the large all-inclusives along Playa Bávaro and Uvero Alto, a single traveller can expect to pay 70 to 100 percent of the double rate, so a US$250 room tends to cost close to US$250 for one. The resort walls keep the hustlers out, but they also keep you inside a wristband bubble with honeymooners. Our pick for a solo base is Los Corales or El Cortecito, two small grids behind Playa Bávaro. Guesthouses and apartment rentals there usually run US$40 to US$80 a night with no supplement, and the sand is a five-minute walk away. By late morning in Cortecito you can smell fish grilling at the beach shacks, the fishing boats are pulled up on the shore, and the sand is too hot to stand on barefoot.

Meeting people is easiest in Los Corales. Huracán Café sits right on the beach there and draws a mixed crowd of expats and travellers at sunset, with merengue playing over the sound of the waves, and Onno's in El Cortecito picks up after 10pm. On a small-group day trip you'll leave with names, not just photos. Isla Saona is about 90 minutes away by road and speedboat, and we'd choose a boat capped at 12 to 16 people over the 100-seat catamarans out of Bayahibe. Hoyo Azul, the cold turquoise cenote inside Scape Park at Cap Cana, makes a good half-day, and solo visitors often get grouped together for the zip-line. Eating alone is easy along Avenida Alemania in Los Corales, where you can take a bar stool and order fresh mofongo without anyone looking twice. Resort à la carte restaurants are less friendly to singles because many take bookings by room, and a party of two seems to be what they expect.

The main risk here is persistence, not violence. Vendors on Playa Bávaro push excursions, cigars, and massages, but a firm "no, gracias" usually ends it. Solo women tell us the catcalling is constant, and some meet sanky panky, the local name for beach gigolos who court foreigners for money. After dark, we'd avoid walking alone in Friusa and Verón, the workers' neighbourhoods inland from Bávaro. Stay on the lit stretch of Los Corales or take a taxi from an official stand, and agree the fare before you get in. Guaguas, the white minibuses on Avenida Barceló, cost roughly 50 to 80 pesos, which at 61.5 pesos to the dollar comes to under US$1.50, but service thins out after dark. The nights stay heavy and warm. At 1am on 20 October it was 27.2°C, and the humidity made it feel like 31.5°C, so carry water on any late walk.