Fronton and Madama beach in the Dominican Republic are among the top 10 most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean. These are wild beaches, without hotels, roads, restaurants, and tourists. It’s not easy to get here, especially for free. In this article, you’ll find all the necessary information about these two beaches, including many photos, tips, and recommendations.

Table of contents:

what does fronton beach look like in the Dominican republic
This is Fronton Beach

Common points about Fronton and Madama beach: map

  • Both beaches are located on the Samana Peninsula in the easternmost part of it (see map below).
  • The distance between the beaches is only 600 meters. However, there is no direct road between them.
  • A few years ago, Playa Fronton and Madama could only be reached by boat.
    • By the way, the resourceful boatmen on the beaches of Las Galeras will tell you that now. So that you pay them money for the boat, and not go on foot.
  • There is no infrastructure at all on either beach. Be sure to bring water, drinks, and more. Also, food and snacks.

Both beaches are state-owned and are municipal, like all the beaches in the country. This means that they are always open and always free. As these are wild beaches, no one cleans them. Keep in mind that the ocean throws trash on the shore here, but it doesn’t interfere with rest.

fronton and madama beach palm trees and sand
Fronton Beach. If you look closely, you can see the garbage on the sand, which is thrown out by the ocean and no one cleans it. But these little things do not interfere with recreation and views in any way. Well, do not forget that the beach is wild.

Fronton and Madama Beach: detailed map

It is important to know:

There are not all roads on the map, but I tried to finish them to make it clearer to you. Download the free app to your phone maps.me or organic maps. There are just great maps, and there are absolutely all the paths to the beach of Fronton and Madama.

The map is dynamic. You can click, zoom in, and zoom out. The color of the routes indicates its difficulty. Also, pay attention to the house icon – it’s the coolest and cheapest eco-villa, I’ll write more about it below. We lived here for a week. In addition to a lot of different advantages, it has one more: it is very close to the Playa Madama and Playa Fronton beaches.

villa in las galeras
Having breakfast in our favorite villa, look at the view. And in the season, even whales can be seen in the ocean.

And now separately about each beach.

Beach Madama in the Dominican Republic

This is a small lagoon beach, with a coastline of less than 100m. There are all the attributes of a gorgeous beach: clear warm water, white sand, rocks, palm trees with coconuts and the absence of people.

madama beach
This is the entire width of Madama Beach. It’s small, but it’s so beautiful.

Useful to know:

At some point in the past, either an attempt was made or a building was built, but the structure became unusable and now stands in the jungle 70 meters from Playa Madama beach. It is not visible from the beach, but be aware: if it rains, it is the only place where you can seek shelter. You will easily find it, the beach is tiny.
madama beach in the rainy season
But Madama in cloudy weather. It’s about to start raining. But due to the fact that there is no sun, the beach has not become worse.

There are two options for getting there: by boat and on foot. I will write about the boat later, and now about walking.

There are two routes on the map above: Route #1 in red and Route #2 in green. Both are literally 2.5 km in length. We went there on the Red Route and back on the Green Route and what I can say is…

Please do not walk along the Red Route along the ocean. There is no path there. We walked for 3 hours, through thickets, rocks, and only by luck we did not turn back. We scratched our legs and arms. There is supposed to be a path, but in several places it is lost and passes through completely impassable places.

the road to madama beach
One of the easy sections of the red route along the ocean. It’s just a field and there are no paths, it’s not even clear where to go. Fortunately, there was a navigator and we felt our way through.

We went back on the second, green route – a smooth, straight, worn path, which is nice to walk on and enjoy the surrounding nature. The entire journey on the green route took us 30 minutes to get to our villa. On the road, there are signs and navigation arrows. On the red route, there is nothing.

navigation to madama beach
Keep your eyes open. Such signs will tell you where to turn off and which path to take.
how to get to madama beach
Banana plantations are very popular here and you will meet them on the way to both beach and Madama and Fronton.

Fronton Beach in the Dominican Republic

fronton and madama beach in the dominican republic
This is the Fronton beach

This is my favorite beach. I consider it the coolest beach in the whole country for sure. This is a long kilometer-long beach, with white sand, lots of palm trees, there are several secluded coves.

There is a gorgeous color of water here, and it differs from that in the south, for example in the Bay of Eagles, and even that in the north on other beaches of Las Galeras. But the most important thing that makes it so cool is the mountains like in Hawaii. Just look at the photo. A black rock in the background above palm trees adds uniqueness to the picture.

Fronton beach on a cliff background
Mountains, palm trees, beach Fronton and wife in the center. The scale of this photo can already be understood.

How to get there: just like with Madame. On foot or by boat. If on foot, there are two options:

  • The beautiful but somewhat difficult road through the jungle – orange route #3 on the map.
  • And the same beautiful road, but easy and along the ocean – green route #4.”
Road to the fronton beach
Orange route #3. But such a wide road is only part of the way. The second half is a usual path.

It is important to know:

If you have a car or scooter, then I would probably go for route #4. You need to drive to the parking lot, which is indicated on the map with the corresponding symbol. And then about 1 hour on foot along the Atlantic Ocean. The view is a fairy tale. In places, the waves break on the rocks and sprays rise 20 meters. Lots of palm trees, coconuts, a smooth path. You will definitely enjoy the walk.

If you don’t have a scooter and you live in Las Galeras, then walk along the orange route. From the eco-villa, where we lived and it is marked on the map, exactly 2 hours on foot or 6.5 km. And the full report about the villa, with a crazy view, where we lived, at the link.

view from the villa to the ocean of las galeras
This is the view from the bedroom of our villa. If you want the same, read the report about it.
las galeras villa rental
And this is the view from the terrace of the eco-villa, which is discussed above. Ahead of the Atlantic and the beaches of Las Galeras. It seems like a long way to the beach. But in fact 8 minutes on foot.

Important

You’ll need sneakers on your feet. 90% of the path is nothing complicated, but the last 300 meters before the beach, there will be a steep descent from the mountain. Actually, the mountain that is visible in the photo. The descent is not extreme, but very unpleasant. By the way, it’s easier and not as scary to climb back up the mountain :). About the mountains of the Dominican Republic here.

There are also beautiful views on this route!

fronton beach and palm trees
There were already many photos above. The number of tourists on them pleases yes?

Fronton Beach and Madama by boat: price, timing

If for any reason, hiking is not your option. Then you can visit both beaches in one day by boat.

It is easy to find a boat on the beaches of Las Galeras, for example on Rincon Beach. More information about this village will be in a separate article. There are ordinary motorboats on the beach that take tourists to Madama and Fronton. The boatmen will find you themselves and will offer to take you here. Or you approach the boat and say the cherished words “Madama and the Fronton”.

fronton beach recreation area
Here is such a recreation area there is on the beach Fronton.

Timing of this event on the boat:

  • Sail out by boat from Las Galeras beach.
  • It takes 20-30 minutes to swim to the first beach of Madama.
  • There you are dropped off and given an hour of time to swim / sunbathe / take pictures.
  • Another 5-7 minutes and you will be taken from Madama Beach to Fronton Beach
  • There is a big beach here, there is also a place to walk. Usually they give 2-3 hours to the Fronton beach.
  • And then back. In total, the whole tour takes about 5 hours more or less.

The price of a boat to the beach of Fronton and Madama

The price depends on many factors: headwinds, waves, but the most important factor is the number of tourists. Gas is expensive here and these motors have a high consumption. The fewer people in the boat, the more expensive it is.

All about prices in the Dominican Republic for everything that interests a tourist, read the article at the link.

The standard price for the whole excursion to both beaches for one person is around $40. In this case, not only can you, but you should negotiate. With favorable circumstances, you can reduce the price to $20. It’s unlikely to go lower. But such a price is possible if the ocean is calm and there is no wind. And most importantly, there will be at least 6-8 people in the boat. But everything is individual and depends on the circumstances.

Fronton beach and madama are the best beaches in the Dominican Republic
Here on such a boat you will be brought both to Madama and to the Fronton Beach. Even a canopy from the sun will be $ 40 for a reason 🙂

Tips and recommendations

  • Take drinks and food with you
  • It is advisable to have coral slippers, there are a lot of rocks in the water, in places with hedgehogs.
  • All the palm trees are wild, no one knocks down coconuts here. Don’t go to rest right under the palm tree 🙂
    • Remember, in the world, about 500 people die every year from falling coconuts on their heads.
  • If you go through the jungle, there are a lot of fruit trees along the way. It can be collected directly on multifruit juice.
fruit on the way to fronton and madama beaches
Collected on the way. The main thing is to know what you are collecting. But there are no poisonous fruits in the Dominican Republic 🙂
  • If you walk, you must have a navigator app with a map. I wrote above what a good one, we use it ourselves. Because without a navigator app just following the navigation arrows will be very difficult. Especially on the orange route.
  • Technically, you can walk both beaches in one day, but I recommend dividing them into two different days. Well, by boat, you will visit both in half a day.
  • If there is a chance that you can return after sunset, it is better to have a flashlight with you. You won’t get far in the dark without it.
  • And if there is no time and there is a choice to visit only one beach of some kind: then definitely the Fronton beach is number 1 for me.
как добраться к пляжам fronton and madama
In one place, if you go through the jungle, there is even such an information board. I indicated its location on the map at the beginning of the article.

Fronton Beach and Madama Beach in the Dominican Republic definitely make the list of the best beaches in the country. While Madama is a small, cozy beach, Fronton will blow your mind with its landscapes. These are places that rarely get visited by package tourists, and tourists in general. They are a piece of paradise on Earth. I recommend them to everyone.

Have clear weather and great photos from Fronton and Madama Beach!


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