Malecon and new projects place Nagua at the center of tourism development in the northeast of the country
The construction of the Malecon of Nagua, complemented by a marina, a heliport, an amphitheater, a pier for fishermen and several recreational works, aim to turn this city into the strategic center of tourism development in the Northeast Region.
Fourteen years after the project began and almost ten years after its total paralyzation, including the two terms of President Danilo Medina’s government, President Luis Abinader assumed the responsibility of resuming the construction and reinforcing it with a set of works that, in addition to generating a road solution and protecting the town from the potential onslaught of the Atlantic, would transform the entire coastal coastline, through an investment of more than 2.7 billion pesos.
It is worth remembering that the work on the Malecón de Nagua began in mid-2008, with the promise of President Leonel Fernández and the engineer Felix Bautista, then director of the State Works Supervisory Office, to finish the work before the congressional elections of 2010, which obviously did not happen.
From the beginning until 2012, the contract granted by the Fernández government was amended three times, the first one for 757 million 936 thousand pesos, exceeding the 25% allowed by Law 340-06 on Purchases and Contracting of Goods and Services; a second one for 164 million 26 thousand pesos and a last one for 235 million 609 thousand pesos, which increased the total cost to 1,650 million 570 thousand 870 pesos and 77 cents. But the work was abruptly interrupted without the destination of the investment and the reason for the stoppage being known.
Nagua and the National Coconut Festival
The head municipality of the province of María Trinidad Sánchez has returned to the top of the Dominican tourism scene with the celebration of the third edition of the National Coconut Festival, which has already become one of the most attractive and popular tourist events in any region of the country.
Gastronomy, music, handicrafts, tourism offers, cultural presentations and exhibitions on various topics of social and economic interest, occupied a wide strip of the Malecon, showing for 9 days all the potential offered by Nagua as the next great tourist destination in the Northeast.
The dedication and enthusiastic participation of the local authorities, headed by Mayor Junior Peralta, was remarkable throughout the fair, which began with a great endorsement from President Luis Abinader, who was present on the opening day along with the Minister of Tourism, David Collado; the Minister of Interior and Police, Jesús Vásquez Martínez; the Minister of Agriculture, Limber Cruz; Senator Alexis Victoria; Comptroller Freddy Correa; Congressman Jorge Cavoli; the municipal director of Tourism, Carlos Machuca and the provincial director of Tourism, Carina Lavandier.
Strategic Location
Located only 25 minutes from El Catey Airport and one hour and 30 minutes from Greater Santo Domingo, the head municipality of the province María Trinidad Sánchez, has an important inventory of beaches, rivers, lagoons and other natural attractions distributed in the neighboring communities of Matancitas, La Entrada, Cabrera and Río San Juan, which together with the municipality of El Factor, offer excellent conditions for ecotourism or luxury tourism, as already happens in the municipality of Cabrera, a favorite destination of many international celebrities.
Nagua, recognized as the capital of typical music, also offers special conditions for the development of orange tourism, especially supported by its cultural richness, coconut-flavored gastronomy and the contagious joy of its people.
The new boardwalk, projected as the most complete and attractive of the whole country, will represent an extraordinary platform to promote city tourism, although the limited hotel offer of Nagua, based on small hotels, will demand and probably attract important investments of national and foreign capital.
Beautiful beaches and ecotourism
Nagua is an ideal destination for sun and beach tourism, as it has several of the most beautiful natural beaches in the Northeast, such as Posa de Bojolo, Playa los Gringos, Playa Pescadores and Playa Cayena. But the province of María Trinidad Sánchez and all its municipalities have a wide variety of ecotourism attractions.
At a very short distance from Nagua is the municipality of Cabrera, with an impressive catalog of natural resources, such as the beaches of Arroyo Salado, Los Cocos, El Diamante, Playa Grande (shared with Río San Juan), Playa Caletón (large and small), Playa del Puerto; and natural spas such as Laguna Dudú, Lago Azul, the natural pool of Catalina and the “Djokovic” salt lake, named after the frequent visits -and high jumps- of the world tennis champion Novak Djokovic.
On the Costa Verde itself, 15 minutes from Cabrera is the emblematic tourist town of Río San Juan – visited more than once by Michael Jordan – apparently in love with this small fishing village that has a wide range of attractions, including the Gri Gri Lagoon, the Natural Swimming Pool, Cueva de las Golondrinas and the Bosque Húmedo Natural Monument, in addition to the well-known beach resorts of Playa Grande, Playa Caletón, Playa Los Mino and Playa Los Muertos, the latter two in the heart of the town.
El Factor, located 9 kilometers from Nagua, is an eminently agricultural municipality, but it also has notable resources and attractions for the development of ecotourism, including several sites and resorts that are beginning to generate interest at the local and regional level.
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