Nearby, young people kick up the sand in volleyball and soccer games. In the ocean, children in orange life jackets bounce over waves aboard those gigantic yellow bananas pulled by boats. Some guests try wind-surfing, and quickly learn it's much harder than it looks. Others try sailing, kayaking and big-wheeled peddle boats. A gray raft attached to a motorized hang glider occasionally flies through the sky, looking like it is defying gravity.
Helicopters carrying sightseers also bank off the coast and para-sailers wave from above.
People occasionally walk by selling cigars, jewelry, souvenirs and even sarongs. But they are not persistent or annoying. Souvenir shops selling colorful Caribbean paintings are on the beach as well as outside the gates of Paradisus. A new golf course is in Punta Cana, with another scheduled to open before the end of this year. While some hotels stand next to each other, Punta Cana is not one long stretch of overdeveloped beach.