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:
- Common points about Fronton and Madama beach: map
- All about Madama Beach
- Fronton Beach and everything a tourist needs to know
- Author’s tips and recommendations
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: 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Fronton Beach in the Dominican Republic
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.
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.”
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.
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 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”.
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.
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.
- 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.
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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“The descent is not extreme, but it is not very pleasant.” – explain, please, how bad is everything? Will people with below-average physical fitness and fear of heights be able to overcome?
Ksenia is difficult to speak. I judge by myself and my physical form. Probably, this descent should be considered higher than average in terms of difficulty.
Danil, just a super site! Everything is clear, without unnecessary information, on the case. Somehow kind and fun. Well done!
Maks, thank you 🙂
Good afternoon! Thank you for the good description of beaches and routes! I’m going to live in Grand Paradise Samana, I’m going to walk to Fronton, I wanted to clarify how difficult the route is…in general terms, I realized that the last meters are not pleasant, the descent to the beach ! And the route itself ….is there a path along the entire route or does it disappear in places? And you can find out more about the descent to the beach, maybe there are photos?! I am very grateful in advance!
Evgeny, the route is all along the road and then the path. It doesn’t disappear anywhere, but you still need a navigator. It’s easier with him. And the final descent to the pediment is difficult to describe, and the photos do not convey the real situation. I’m fine, my wife is passing too, she’s whining but she’s passing. I wouldn’t have brought my mother here, she wouldn’t have passed. I definitely wouldn’t go with the kids
Olya, Danil, good afternoon!
Thank you very much for the gorgeous guide to the Dominican Republic. I wanted to clarify about the Fronton beach. We thought to go together on foot to the beach from the parking lot along the route from the guidebook. I wanted to clarify 2 points: how difficult is the descent from the cliff without special equipment and climbing skills? And the second point, I read on trip adviser that tourists were robbed with a machete on the way to the beach. How safe is it for beginners to go on their own through the jungle now? Guides from travel companies claim that there is no way to do without them in the Dominican Republic 🙂
Firstly, everyone read about this robbery in 2012, and I am constantly asked this question. I’m not even sure if there was a robbery. Now it is safe in the Dominican Republic, especially on the Samana Peninsula. And the guides always say that there is no road, only they know it and so on, they need to earn money.
I’m on the orange route right now. There is a barbed wire where the path should begin, and beyond it a forest. Is there at least some kind of landmark?
Andrey, good afternoon. It’s hard to say. I was there for the last time literally two months ago. The road is there as always. Only Google maps in this case can’t be worse. If you follow mapsme, there are no problems at all, every step is clear there. And there is a lot of barbed wire, banana plantations are almost all fenced off to it.
As a result, it seems that the beginning of the path was found, but it does not coincide with the route shown on the map. You need to go further, climb a steep climb and just behind him, in front of the house you need to turn left. But we went further earlier, walked along another path, and when we returned, two women came out of the specified place, said that the road was very difficult and they did not reach and returned.
It turns out that the boat is really the easiest way to get there…
The fact that it is easier on the boat is unequivocal, I wrote everywhere that the last part is difficult. There is no steep ascent, there is a gentle ascent and a steep descent. It is always difficult for me to assess the level of descent. Since I am guided by myself. I have been on the route many times, I pass in the shales of it. But in general, if you estimate the difficulty from 1 to 10, I would give 7 points to the last section of 300 meters. To be objective, then probably older people, say 50+, like my parents, or overweight, or with low physical fitness, I would recommend them the green route.
I had both maps.me and Google. It’s just that your route is superimposed on the Google map, and you followed it. It turns out that it is slightly shifted. Maybe it’s a GPS error.
If you often go there, take a photo of the landmark where you need to turn off, it will be very useful for people. Because there is an information pointer at the beginning, and in the most key section where you can easily pass a turn, it is not there 🙂
We are just not the only ones who passed this turn on the path, we were walking in front of us the Americans also went ahead.
Alex, I understand you, thank you for the feedback. It’s not that I go often, even once a month it doesn’t work, but I’ll think about how to make it clearer. To make it easier for everyone to follow the route in the future. But I haven’t corrected it yet, for everyone who reads. Main road and route by maps only Maps.Me . What is in the article on Google maps is for a general idea and there may be small errors.
Good afternoon. We plan to visit these beaches in a couple of weeks. We want to see two beaches at once in one day, as we are limited in rest time.
We will go by car. We will leave it in the parking lot (where you indicated on the map) and follow the green route (# 4), we will get to the Fronton beach. Then we plan to visit Madama Beach.
Tell me, do we need to take the orange route from Fronton Beach (#3) and then go to the green one (#2) to get to Madama Beach?
And back to get back to the parking lot, you need to go along route # 2, then exit to #3 and then exit to #4?
Tell me, did I understand the description of routes on the map at all?
Sincerely, Natalia
P.S. Thanks for the site- it’s very cool!!!!
Natalia, good afternoon. If you are driving by car, you have misunderstood. It’s better not to go that way. It will be much easier to visit the Fronton beach along the route no.4. Go back to the car and make a circle through Las Galeras, get as close as possible to the start of route #2. You will not get to the very beginning as on the map if you do not have a four-wheel drive jeep, but in any case it is so much easier and faster than going along the orange route.