Fodor's Expert Review Tubagua Ecolodge

The hand-hewn, thatch-roofed wood structures on this mountaintop a short 20 minutes by road from Puerto Plata look over a vast quilt of sugarcane fields to the ocean beyond, offering an authentic Dominican experience in rustic comfort. Here it's all about nature and eco-responsible tourism. Puerto Plata's Canadian consul, Tim Hall, is your helpful, charismatic host. Two spacious cottages have private baths; three smaller palapas share bathroom facilities set apart in the gardens; a cute geodesic dome (called The Igloo) provides backpacker dorm rates. Guests gather over family-style suppers in a spacious social area and enjoy guided and unguided hiking, birding, waterfall treks, and visits to a coffee plantation and nearby amber mines.