Vamos a la Playa! (Bavaro Beach, Punta Cana)

So this is the unforgettable Bavaro beach. It's beautiful and pristine, as you can see. Employees even pick up loose seaweed daily, so as not to defile your experience of white sand and clear water. There are designated swimming areas, and the Caribbean changes color depending on the time of day and amount of sunlight and wind.

Watersports along the beach include scuba, snorkeling, swimming, windsurfing, sailing, parasailing, kayaking, kitesurfing, and so forth.

There are boats leaving to nearby reefs for snorkeling and scuba diving, and there is a diving school with a platform as well. We saw some helicopter rides too, but I'd rather not start my chopper adventures in a place where safety measures are seen as a threat to fun.

Or, if sports are not for you, then there are a few open air markets where you can bargain for necklaces, banana leaf cigars and dead endangered species. Be sure to bring American dollars.

The beach is secured by resort guards around the clock (although the semi-automatic weapon at night was a little unnecessary). The only threat is from solicitors trying to sell all kinds of deals, and the IFA Ocean Village animación (translation: really repetitive entertainment), which consists mainly of latino dance classes on the sand accompanied by a lot of yelling into a microphone "Turista I love you!" This rules out taking a nap, but you can always relocate to the shore of another resort. As long as you look like a turista, no one really cares where you go.