The small town of Sosua in the Dominican Republic is located in the north of the country. It gained popularity among tourists due to its proximity to the northern capital of Puerto Plata. Next, I will tell you everything about Sosua that a tourist needs to know. About the pros and cons of vacation in this city, as well as there will be many tips and recommendations.

Table of contents:

beaches in the north of the Dominican Republic
This is what one of the city’s beaches looks like on a weekday. There are not many people, everyone is at work and in business.

Sosua: general facts and a brief history

Sosua is a small town 20 km from Puerto Plata. Since Puerto Plata is a large port city, very often all this northern coast 50 km from the city is called the Puerto Plata coast. Therefore, cities such as Sosua and Cabarete, which are located not far from Puerto Plata and the international airport, are often considered an suburbs of this city. But in fact, these are all different cities of the same province.

  • The city of Sosua was founded in 1938
  • Population about 50,000 people

It is important to know:

In the Dominican Republic, it is very difficult to count the population of cities. In different sources, the number of cities is different. This is due to the fact that sometimes people are counted together with the suburbs, and sometimes only the population of the city. Therefore, there are discrepancies. And the last census took place quite a long time ago. Therefore, according to one source, the population of Sosua is 40 thousand, and according to the second – 75. My personal feeling is that in reality there are no more than 50 thousand.
Locals on the beach in the Dominican Republic
Dominicans love to go to the beach on their day off. But they always sit in the shade at the tables and drink cocktails.

Short story

The history of the founding of Sosua in the Dominican Republic is interesting, albeit short. In the 1930s, clouds began to gather over Jews throughout Europe. And the Second World War is just around the corner. The head of the Dominican Republic said that he was ready to accept Jewish refugees in the country and allocate land to them. So in 1938 Sosua was founded, where the first 800 Jewish families settled.

Today there are almost no Jews here, many have immigrated to the United States. But the factories they founded are still working.

Interesting fact:

First, it was before the 2000s. Now the authorities are fighting it. Secondly, if you come on vacation with your wife and children, you will not even notice it, and you will have a great time. But if you are alone, then at night in the bar there is a great chance that local beauties will flirt with you. But this happens all over the country, maybe in Sosua just a little more. Therefore, do not worry and do not believe those who say that Sosua is a big brothel. Whoever needs it can find a brothel in any city in the Dominican Republic.
Hypermarket Pola in Sosua
There are two large hypermarkets in the city with an excellent range of products and low prices. This is one of them.

How to get to Sosua

Everything is simple here. How to buy excellent tickets and cheaply get to the Dominican Republic, read the article: flights to the Dominican Republic. But I want to warn you right away that most flights from the old world (from Europe) arrive at Punta Cana and Santo Domingo Airports. And there will still be 200-350 km to Sosua.

And planes from the USA, Canada and Central America arrive just in Puerto Plata, which is very convenient

Sosua is located near the large industrial, transport and tourist city of Puerto Plata. And it greatly facilitated the task for everyone. It is very easy to get to Sosua by bus of the Dominican company Caribe Tours from:

  • Puerto Plata
  • Santo Domingo
  • Samana Peninsula.

The price of a bus ticket from Santo Domingo is about $7-8.

Sosua town main beach
One of the main beaches. By the way, this is the largest beach in the city. It is important to know that there are no endless beaches.

It is also convenient to go to Sosua by rental car. Perfect roads, great views and interesting sights along the way. I will write about very close sights below, but one of them is worthy of your attention. If you drive from the Samana Peninsula to Sosua, then in the middle of the way there will be a little-known DuDu lagoon. I recommend everyone to come here, relax, swim in the karst lake and have a bite to eat.

And read the link for your own experience of renting a car in the Dominican Republic.

Accommodation in Sosua

The huge advantage of Sosua over other resorts in the Dominican Republic is that:

  • This is the city where the locals live.
  • It is industry and production center, and therefore there is all the necessary infrastructure
  • This is not a tourist resort like Cap Cana
  • This means that there are not only hotels, but also a large selection of apartments and other accommodation options.
  • 4 star hotels predominate in Sosua. What to expect from the Dominican 4* hotel read in a separate article.

Beaches and sights of Sosua

Speaking in terms of accommodation, this city is a great place for all tourists. But the beaches are a bit of a problem. Since this is primarily an ordinary city on the coast, and not a resort. Then there are problems with the beaches within the city. There are not many of them, and those four beaches that are here are very small in size. The best beaches of Sosua are on the outskirts towards the town of Cabarete.

It is important to know:

Dominicans like to spend their weekends with the whole family on the beach. Since there are few beaches, and there are many locals, there are a lot of people on Sosua beach on Saturday and Sunday. And do not forget that all the beaches of the Dominican Republic are free and municipal. Even if it seems that the beach is private and only for hotel guests, it is not. Feel free to come and relax. Only sun loungers can be paid.
Dominican cities and beaches
This is the main beach of the city on Sunday. And 90% of vacationers are not tourists, but locals.

By the way, the favorable location of the city in the bay gives two big advantages for vacationers:

  • although it is the Atlantic Ocean, there are almost no waves here and the water is always calm
  • on the beaches of Sosua you can watch the sunset, here the sun sets directly into the ocean. And this is a rarity for the Dominican Republic, and there are very few such places. Since the beaches of the whole country are facing north, south or east. And to the west – just a few places in the country.
    • In addition to Sosua, you can still watch the coolest sunsets at glamping in the Bay of Eagles in the Caribbean. What is glamping and how to get there in the review article at the link.
The beaches of Sosua
One of the four beaches of Sosua at sunset.

I also recommend reading an article about the best beaches in the Dominican Republic: Top 10. Yes, there are no beaches from this rating in Sosua, but in this part of the country there are already five beaches. And the beaches of the Dominican Republic look like a picture from an advertisement for the Bounty.

Sosua attractions or what to visit

Everything is not really good here. The history of the city is only 80 years old. There have never been any special events here. There were no military conflicts and other significant historical events in the city. Therefore, there are no sights here. In addition to two small museums and three art galleries of local artists, there is nothing else here. The only activities that attract tourists within the city are diving centers and jeep tours on ATVs.

City of Sosua Dominicana
There are many artists in the city who draw such paintings of any size. You can even order what you need. And a local artist will draw it in a couple of days.

But the city of Sosua has an excellent strategic location. If you have a car, then within one hour drive there are the following coolest places in the Dominican Republic that you must visit:

  • 27 waterfalls
  • Cable car and mount Isabel de Torres in Puerto Plata
  • Zip line and monkey park
  • and of course the DuDu lagoon, which I said about above.

Details about each attraction, where it is located, opening hours, ticket price, tips can be found in the article TOP-30 attractions of the Dominican Republic.

Travel Tips

I would like to give you the following advice:

  • The city of Sosua is beautiful in its naturalness. This is not a resort for tourists. This is an ordinary city with all the Dominican flavor. Here you will see the real Dominican Republic and its life.
  • I recommend coming here for 3 days. This is enough to get to know the city and visit the sights in the area.
  • There are two full-fledged large hypermarkets in the city. Here you can buy all the necessary products and even more: for example, lobsters, excellent rum, fruits and much more that you cannot buy in small shops.
  • Since this is a city for locals, the prices here are lower than in popular resorts.
lobsters in a dominican shop in sosua
In the Sosua store for $ 15 you can buy such a kilogram lobster.

In conclusion: the city of Sosua in the north of the Dominican Republic is definitely worthy of your attention. Here flows the real Dominican life. But at the same time, Sosua is clean, safe and tourists really like it. I recommend to everyone, when planning your holiday itinerary, plan a few days in this part of the country.

I wish you to spend an unforgettable couple of days in such a cool town as Sosua!

Resources to help you plan your dream trip to Dominican Republic

  • Flights at the best prices with discounts
  • Car rental: DiscoverCars – a largest international resource
  • Hotels and apartments:
    • Hotellook – compares hotel prices among dozens of booking platforms and offer you the best price.
    • Booking – large online booking platform.
    • Agoda – even more accommodation options in Dominican Republic.
  • Vacation packages:
    • Expedia – best deals from Europe.
    • CheapOair – cheap packages from all US cities.
  • Tours, excursions and extreme activities:
    • GetYourGuide – more than 800+ tours and water activities.
    • Viator – 3500+ tours and excursions in Dominican.
  • Comprehensive travel insurance: EKTA
  • Internet and Calls:
    • Airalo – eSIM with internet package.
    • Drimsim – universal SIM card (or eSIM) in any country in the world.
  • Taxi and airport transfers: Intui.Travel