What should I pack for Punta Cana?

Punta Cana sits at 27-32°C year-round with humidity that rarely drops below 70%. You'll feel it the second you step off the plane at PUJ. Three or four quick-dry shirts and two pairs of lightweight shorts will get you through a week, because cotton holds moisture in this air and starts smelling sour by midday. Pack one light long-sleeve shirt for evenings when the mosquitoes come out along the lagoons near Bávaro, and a second one if you plan to visit the Basílica de la Altagracia in Higüey, where shoulders need covering. Swimwear dries fast on a balcony railing here, so two sets are plenty. First-timers miss the resort restaurant dress codes. Most Bávaro-area hotels require closed shoes and long pants for their à la carte restaurants after 18:00. A pair of linen pants and loafers adds under 400 grams to your bag.

Water shoes matter more here than at most Caribbean beaches. Playa Bávaro is soft white sand near the loungers, but walk 200 meters east toward the reef line and you're stepping on dead coral chunks and the occasional sea urchin spine. Rubber-soled water shoes run $8-12 on Amazon but cost 800+ DOP (about $14) at the resort gift shops. If you book a snorkeling trip to Coral Lab or the reef off Cabeza de Toro, your operator might provide fins but not foot protection for the wade-in. Bring a 10-liter dry bag for catamaran excursions to Saona Island, where salt spray soaks anything left in the open. A portable charger is non-negotiable. The resort WiFi tends to be weak past the lobby, so you'll lean on mobile data for maps and translation apps, and that drains a phone battery by early afternoon.

Reef-safe sunscreen is the single most important thing on this list. Punta Cana's coral reefs sit behind half the excursions you'll book, and oxybenzone-based formulas accelerate coral bleaching. The Dominican Republic doesn't currently restrict them, but dive operators at Dolphin Island Park Bavaro and most catamaran tours will ask you to use mineral-based SPF 50+. Bring it from home. Farmacias Carol and other local pharmacy chains carry sunscreen, but the reef-safe varieties are harder to find and cost 40-60% more than US retail. For the rainy season, May through November, a packable rain shell weighs nothing and saves you from the 15-minute afternoon cloudbursts that roll in between 14:00 and 16:00 most days. Warm rain soaks through a cotton shirt in seconds, then the sky clears to deep blue within the hour.

Skip packing rum. Brugal Añejo costs 350-500 DOP (roughly $6-8) at any colmado in Verón, the service town behind the resort strip. The same bottle runs $15-20 at a US liquor store. Mamajuana, the Dominican root-and-herb infusion, sells pre-bottled along Bulevar de Higüey for 200-400 DOP. Mosquito repellent is worth bringing if you have a preferred DEET concentration, but the Jumbo supermarket in Palma Real Shopping Village stocks Off! and local brands for under 200 DOP. The electrical situation simplifies things. Punta Cana runs on 110V with Type A and B outlets, identical to the US and Canada. Leave the voltage converter and plug adapter at home. European travelers still need a Type A plug adapter and should check that their devices handle 110V input. That said, power fluctuations happen during storms, so a surge-protecting power strip is worth the 200 grams if you're bringing a laptop.