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.
Many properties are miles apart.
It would be nice if at least some of the beach remains undeveloped. What I like is no hotel can be higher than the tallest palm trees. People come to Punta Cana because it's the least expensive destination in the Caribbean, according to Gabriela Fernandez, group sales coordinator for Iberostar's Punta Cana hotels, and because its beach is so beautiful. Existing hotels are expanding and renovating. I visited eight of the hotels.