Incredible beaches, all-inclusive resorts, and unspoiled nature: this is the Dominican Republic's most surprising new destination.

“Here we're more into baseball , although there are now minor leagues that are starting out with soccer. But we have more than a thousand Dominicans in the major baseball leagues in the United States. We're also into dance and music ; who hasn't heard bachata, merengue, or known Juan Luis Guerra?”

Our guide Prudencio Ferdinand, from the Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism, tells us about the country's identity on our trip from Punta Cana airport.

It's an hour and a half along a new highway to the newest Dominican destination —so new, in fact, that it doesn't yet appear on the official website's list of destinations, although it's just as popular as the more established ones , from Punta Cana to Samaná, Bayahíbe, or Puerto Plata.

The destination we are going to is called Miches , and 100 km northwest of Punta Cana, in the same bay as Samaná but on the opposite coast.

"With the construction of the new hotels, I believe the Miches area is approaching 5,000 rooms. It's a new destination that's doing very well , with one of the country's paradisiacal beaches, the Costa Esmeralda . You'll soon see it; it's beautiful," Prudencio explains before continuing to talk about the country's economy, which relies, by far, on tourism as its main driving force.

With major investments in the last two years, Miches now boasts a handful of large all-inclusive hotels nestled among nature reserves, evergreen mountains, and 50 kilometers of pristine beaches , among which the beautiful Costa Esmeralda stands out.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. We get off the van at the spectacular entrance of a spectacular hotel, whose full name is as long as the area's beaches: Zemi Miches All-Inclusive Resort, Curio Collection by Hilton.

Entering the Zemi is like entering a fabulous world of an impressive buffet for those breakfasts that one never wants to finish, five restaurants headed by Toa, serving local cuisine - there is also Italian, Thai, grill and beach grill -, another five bars and lounges - two of them in pools - and the impressive Club Azure , a luxury service among luxury.

“This body of water represents the Caribbean Sea; canoes are the means of transportation used by the Taino Indians to travel on rivers and the sea; and these silhouettes represent the air, the wind that helped them navigate,” explains Hairo Galindez about the hotel's aesthetic, which pays homage to the Taino culture , the country's native people.

We're almost at the inauguration of the hotel, which opened its doors at the end of June and added its luxury offering to those of four other all-inclusive resorts that attract visitors on these shores, from the pioneering Club Med , which opened in 2020, to the "siblings" Secrets and Dreams , two neighboring Hyatt resorts, with a differentiated proposal - Dreams is for the whole family and Secrets, on the other hand, does not admit children -; and the Viva Resort by Windham , opening at the end of 2024.

With its high-end hotels, verdant mountains, nature reserves, and the incredible pristine beaches of the Costa Esmeralda—with no buildings for miles—Miches is positioning itself as the Dominican Republic's newest treasure , one of the country's most promising destinations, expanding the already extensive offering of beaches and hotels in the land of rum, merengue, and bachata.

Of course, one could stay peacefully in these enormous hotels without having to leave or even look around. But it turns out that Miches also has interesting activities to enjoy in a more adventurous way .

For example, the ATV tours organized by Philippe Roques, a Frenchman who is now closer to mofongo—a typical dish made with plantains—than to baguette, because he has been living in the Dominican Republic for 26 years with his wife, also French, and where his daughter was born. Roques is now studying in Valencia, “but all she thinks about is graduating so she can come back here,” he says.

With his company Quads - which started with Club Medp because it was the only one at the time, and today has contracts with all of them - he rents out quadricycles or four wheels , as they call them here, on an excursion that accompanies Esmeralda beach through the jungle, along dirt roads with holes, puddles and all the adventure , in the middle of tropical vegetation.

We travel in pairs on each quad, and at the first of the three stops on the tour—which lasts 2 to 3 hours—next to the beach, our guide, Eddy Montero, tells us about the area and the turtles that come to these sands to lay their eggs —leatherback, hawksbill, and green species—between March and September.

“They arrive almost at the same time as the whales , and it's impressive how they dig in the sand and lay their eggs, hundreds of them, so that the baby turtles then hatch, and as soon as they're born, they walk to the sea,” Eddy says, in a picture-postcard landscape : palm trees, fine, almost white sand, and an incredibly turquoise sea.

There's a second stop to enjoy fresh coconut water —in the shade of palm trees laden with them—and a third for a long-awaited swim , which we have to skip this time due to lack of time. There'll be a rematch.

But if we're talking about the country of merengue and bachata, we should also add cocoa , because the Dominican Republic is a producer and exporter of fine cocoa, which is used in the production of the most famous chocolates.

We confirmed this with a visit to Cacao Canducito , a 100% natural organic cocoa plantation where we were welcomed by Eduardo, the fourth generation of the same family of producers, who guided us on a journey from the plant to the finished product , in five fundamental steps: harvesting, fermentation, drying, reforestation and the tastiest part, tasting.

“Here there are 45,000 square meters with about 15,000 cacao trees and other cacao-friendly plants, because it's an organic plantation,” says Eduardo as he cuts a pod with a machete to show us the fresh, white seeds covered in a thin white layer called mucilage.

The visit ends at La Tiendita, where we can grind the already dried seeds and taste: cocoa powder, various chocolates or drinks such as liquor, punch and cocoa wine and the most particular mamajuana , which is prepared by macerating herbs, roots and tree bark in rum, red wine and honey, and which here, of course, includes cocoa.

Many consider it a Dominican national symbol , with supposed medicinal and aphrodisiac benefits and a history dating back to the Tainos.

Our last stop in Miches is at the top: Montaña Redonda , from whose summit, at about 300 meters above sea level, you get a great 360° view , and where there are swings that swing over the ledge.

A great place to crack open a mamajuana and toast the eternal sunshine, the eternal beaches, and the eternal turquoise waters of Miches, the Dominican Republic's newest vacation destination. Cheers!

• Arajet has 10 weekly flights from Ezeiza to Punta Cana and will increase to 13 in the summer, with two more to Santo Domingo. Starting in December, it will also fly from Córdoba to Punta Cana five times a week. Prices start at US$660 round-trip in Smart class, US$735 in Comfort class, and US$757 in Extra class.

• By airlines to Punta Cana, from $1,311,656 at the end of October.

• Double room at Zemi Miches Curio Collection by Hilton, from US$320.40 per night in October, US$546 in November. For a 7-night program, average US$552 per night.

• Viva by Windham, from US$554 for a double in November.

• Secrets, from US$384 for World of Hyatt members.

• Club Med, US$4,764 for a 7-night package for two.