Playa El Portillo
Playa El Portillo
4.5
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Top ways to experience Playa El Portillo and nearby attractions

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles900 reviews
Excellent
679
Very good
183
Average
28
Poor
7
Terrible
3

Danno27
Guelph, Canada36 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2017 • Family
My wife and I vacation an average of twice a year including all over the Caribbean, Mexico, Fiji and Australia. We were looking to find a new destination with a great beach and we were not disappointed with our choice of Grand Bahia Principe El Portillo. We have been fortunate to witness first hand several of the top ranked beaches in the world ie. Grace Bay in Turks, Whitehaven Beach in Australia, Cayo-Coco, Cayo Santa Maria in Cuba and the hundreds of white beaches in Fiji. In a nutshell, El Portillo deserves to be ranked amongst them. The 10km beach is not as white, more a light carmel, but the thousands of impressive palm trees lining the beach give it a South Pacific feel and with the rain forest laced mountains that seem to fall into ocean reminded me of north Queensland Australia. We walked the beach each day and one day walked all the way from the Grand Bahia resort, 9km each way, to the town of Las Terrenas. The Air Canada rep will discourage the walk for safety reasons but in my opinion he was more interested in selling his excursions. As anywhere in the world, it's best not to flaunt your jewelry and leave it in your hotel safe.
Written 4 February 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

jksommer
Indianapolis, IN10 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2016 • Couples
If you're looking for a place to snorkel in Las Terrenas, this is a pretty good spot (keeping in mind that Las Terrenas is not known for snorkeling in general!! Not to be compared with great snorkeling spots... just saying that if you're in the area, it's a decent place to go.) My husband and I parked at a local public access area just beyond the Grand Bahia Principe el Portillo hotel. We had heard that Grand Bahia had good snorkeling, so we parked at the nearest beach access after the resort, and then walked along the beach back toward Grand Bahia Principe resort. We went on a rainy day with bad weather, which greatly affected the experience, but were still able to see a lot of fish. The fish were plentiful, even with the bad weather. We thought it would be wise to stay outside the swimming area at the Grand Bahia (thinking that the swimming area would be cleared of coral, and swimmers would scare away any remaining fish.) However, we found that the waves outside the swimming area were too strong and stirred up the water, which caused very limited visibility. Within the swimming area at the Grand Bahia resort, there was a LOT of coral with a good amount of fish, and much better visibility. The water is mostly shallow; you may find yourself snorkeling right next to swimmers and beachgoers. Overall, we were able to see a lot of fish on a day with horrible weather. I imagine on a good day, it could be a really nice experience.
Written 31 July 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Biljana C
Toronto, Canada150 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2015 • Couples
Playa El Portillo is one of the most pristine beaches I’ve seen on my many Caribbean travels. It is gorgeous palm forest with white sands, calm and clear waters and plenty of water sports such as kite surfing, and other activities. The beach is long and wonderful for those who enjoy walking; it is very scenic and picturesque with many unique photo-op opportunities. Unlike Punta Cana, there aren’t very many resorts along the shore. The beach is protected by the barrier reef making it calm and enjoyable for swimming. Although there is quite a bit of reef and coral, there are nice sandy areas for swimming. Snorkelling is awesome so bring your mask and fins and enjoy the sights and marine life.
Written 29 January 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

JesseParsells
Hackensack, NJ107 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2016 • Couples
My wife & I stayed at a beach side hotel in Las Terrenas last month... and we walked for a long time along the beaches. And I can tell you that we spent 99% of out time cleaning the trash off the beaches and nothing else.

Is there incredible natural beauty here? Absolutely. Gorgeous nature. But, the people and businesses here should be ashamed of themselves! Between the restaurants, the hotel guests, the tourists, the locals, and worst of all- the fisherman & tour boat operators all make a terrible mess of the beach!!!

And its not just paper goods or food or biodegradable stuff... its plastic bags, plastic and glass bottles, and extremely dangerous items for marine life!!

How can the businesses here not realize its in their best interest to have one of their employees clean up their area, and the areas a bit in either direction!?

How can these boat captains leave HUNDREDS OF PLASTIC BOTTLES OF WASTE BEHIND!?!? (you'll see scores of little "castrol" or similar plastic bottles- oil or engine additive of some kind- scattered in their little boats and all around them!!)-- DONT THEY KNOW THIS HURTS THEIR BUSINESS!? Don't they know that people don't want to snorkel with trash? Don't they know that they're killing the local marine life that people are paying them to go see (or catch)?

Its honestly quite horrifying. And I wish I could say that it was isolated to this spot- but we found the Dominican Republic to be the most trash-ridden and disgusting island we have ever visited! It will absolutely break your heart. The only place without trash every two steps on the beach is the only "not real" place on the island- Punta Cana. It is one of the few positives to this "fake" and "manufactured" "city"- you won't find nearly as much garbage on the beach there...
Written 5 May 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

karenbutler21
Birmingham49 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2017 • Family
Our hotel was on this beach sheltered calm waters stunning and kept immaculately lots of lovely fish to see and lovely fine sand
Written 1 September 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Mallo_Pahanen
Helsinki, Finland977 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2017 • Couples
Peaceful stretch of beach along Bahia Principe El Portillo hotel to the city center. Beach was somewhat dirty, and there were caution in the glasses so the shoes were necessary. We met a nice local dog who went with us all the way.
Written 30 July 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Akobayan
Metuchen, NJ34 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2017 • Family
Visited this beach with family and friends. This is the second time and we always enjoy the beach. It is far enough from the middle of town that the beach is still somewhat secluded but so far out that one would have a long trip into town. The beach is nice and I enjoy snorkeling around the reefs in the area. Not very wavy either. One part of the beach is also good for kite surfing which is on my list to do the next time I visit.
Written 21 July 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

snowgriz
Fernie, Canada278 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2016 • Family
A lot of the reviews on here are actually talking about the all inclusive resorts and the beach in front of them. The actual beach that goes by is name starts a few km east of the AI resorts. There is a small parking lot and beach restaurant were a small river runs into the ocean. This is a popular spot with locals because it is quick to get to, usually calm and great for kids with shallow warm water. There is a small dirt road just past the river, if you walk or drive to the end of this road, probably about two km you are in for a treat. You have arrived at the real Portillo beach, white sand, usually calm and not busy. There are no vendors of any type here so bring your own supplies. This place belongs on a post card, go and enjoy.
Written 9 April 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Pierre V
Blainville, Canada17 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2015
I tought I was in paradise. We could walk for kilometers it was so nice. We could do snorkling it was really beautiful. A place to go back for sure.
Written 10 February 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

rdy2go
Detroit, MI70 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2014 • Couples
Nice beach, however, when you consider the many other beautiful beaches in the area this one is just average ....
Written 10 November 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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