Caribbean Birding Trail

Know the Caribbean, Bird by Bird

Donate
  • About the CBT
    • Interpretive Guide Training
  • Countries
    • Countries A-I
      • Anguilla
        • Cove Pond
        • Dog Island
        • East End Pond
        • Forest Bay Pond
        • Katouche Canyon
        • Long Pond
        • Meads Bay Pond
        • Merrywing Pond System
        • Prickly Pear Cays
        • Road Salt Pond
        • Scrub Island
        • Sombrero
        • West End By-the-Sea Ponds
        • West End Pond
      • Antigua and Barbuda
        • Bethesda Dam
        • Christian Valley
        • Codrington Lagoon
        • McKinnon’s Salt Pond
        • Two Foot Bay National Park
      • Aruba
        • Spaans Lagoon
      • Bahamas
        • Abaco
        • Andros
        • Cat Island
        • Crooked Island and Acklins
        • Eleuthera
        • Exumas
        • Grand Bahama
        • Great Inagua
        • Long Island
        • Mayaguana
        • New Providence
        • San Salvador
      • Barbados
      • Bonaire
        • Dos Pos IBA
        • Gotomeer
      • British Virgin Islands
        • Josiahs Bay Salt Pond
        • Sandy Cay
      • Cuba
        • Guanahacabibes
        • Humboldt National Park
        • Mensura-Piloto National Park
        • Viñales
        • Zapata Swamp
      • Curaçao
        • Christoffel National Park
        • Salt Pans of Jan Thiel
      • Dominica
      • Dominican Republic
        • Central Mountain Range
          • Constanza and Valle Nuevo
          • Ebano Verde Reserve
          • Hatillo
          • Jarabacoa with Armando Bermúdez and José del Carmen Ramírez National Parks
          • La Joya de San Francisco
          • Loma Quita Espuela
          • Pico Diego de Ocampo, Santiago
        • Southeast
          • Bávaro
          • Cumayasa
          • Del Este National Park
            • Del Este National Park: Boca de Yuma
            • Del Este National Park: Guaraguao
            • Del Este National Park: Padre Nuestro Trail
            • Del Este National Park: Saona Island
          • Ecological Foundation Trail, Punta Cana
          • Limón Lagoon
          • Los Haitises National Park
            • Los Haitises National Park: Caño Hondo
            • Los Haitises National Park: Los Limones
          • Monte Plata
        • Southwest
          • Aguacate and Zapotén
          • Cabo Rojo and Pedernales
          • Cabral Lagoon
          • Cachote, Eastern Bahoruco
          • Jimaní
          • Lake Enriquillo
          • Loma Charco Azul
          • Oviedo Lagoon, Jaragua National Park
          • Puerto Alejandro and Tortuguero
          • Rabo de Gato and Puerto Escondido
          • Sierra de Bahoruco National Park
            • Los Arroyos, Sierra de Bahoruco National Park
        • North Coast
          • Cayos Siete Hermanos
          • El Choco National Park, Cabarete
          • El Limón, Samaná
          • Estero Hondo
          • Loma Guaconejo
          • Loma Isabel de Torres, Puerto Plata
          • Monte Cristi and Saladilla
          • Nalga de Maco National Park, Río Limpio
          • Samaná
        • Around Santo Domingo
          • Las Salinas de Baní
          • Mirador del Norte Park
          • National Botanical Garden
          • Ozama Wetlands
      • Grenada
        • Antoine Lake
        • Beausejour/Grenville Vale
        • Diamond Rock
        • Grand Etang National Park
        • Levera National Park
        • Mt. Hartman National Park
        • Telescope Pond
        • Woburn Bay MPA
      • Guadeloupe
        • Mountain Road
        • Pointe des Chateaux
    • Countries J-Z
      • Jamaica
        • Ahhh…Ras Natango Gallery and Garden
        • Barbecue Bottom Road
        • Black River Great Morass
        • Cockpit Country
        • Ecclesdown Road
        • Flagstaff
        • Green Hills Field Station
        • Hardwar Gap
        • Hope Gardens
        • Portland Bight Protected Area
        • Stewart Town
      • Martinique
        • Rocher du Diamant
      • Montserrat
      • Puerto Rico
        • Camuy Coastal Area
        • Culebra National Wildlife Refuge
        • Laguna Cartagena National Wildlife Refuge
      • Sint Eustatius
        • Pilot Hill
        • Quill/Boven National Park
        • Zeelandia Beach
      • St. Lucia
      • Sint Maarten
        • Great Salt Pond
        • Little Bay Pond
      • St. Martin
        • Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House
        • Étang Cimetière de Grand Case
        • Étang de la Barrière
        • Pic Paradis
      • St. Vincent and the Grenadines
        • Grenadines
          • Bird Sanctuary
          • Mustique Lagoon
          • Mustique Ponds Walk
        • Saint Vincent
          • Richmond Beach
      • Trinidad and Tobago
        • Tobago
          • Kilgwyn Swamp
          • Little Tobago
        • Trinidad
          • Asa Wright Nature Centre
          • Brasso Seco Paria Village
      • Turks and Caicos
        • Grand Turk
        • Middle Caicos
        • North Caicos
        • Providenciales
        • Salt Cay
        • South Caicos
  • Tours
  • Guides
  • Get Involved
  • Contact Us

You are here: Home / Dominican Republic / Southeast / Bávaro

Bávaro

  • About Bávaro
  • The Birds
  • How to Get There

The Bávaro area is another center of all-inclusive resorts with little attention being placed on the development of ecological diversions such as birdwatching. Yet some birds can be seen at most resorts despite the little attention that is paid to habitat protection. The area contains several potentially good sites for birdwatching, including the productive Bávaro Lagoon, but access is a problem. Some resorts with small lagoons and golf courses are known to provide habitat for West Indian Whistling-Ducks, Hispaniolan Orioles and other species. Outlying sugar cane and pastures can also produce difficult to see species such as Northern Bobwhite, Double-striped Thick-Knee and Nutmeg Mannikin. Coastal habitats include extensive mangroves, lagoons, sand beaches, as well as marine habitats.

The VistaCana Resort and Country Club is developing an artificial lagoon, natural areas, and a 12 km (7.4 miles) walking trail through native vegetation. While still in development, it will be of interest to see how successful the project is in developing and safeguarding native habitat, and whether their success might prompt additional ecotourism projects and the protection of the Bávaro Lagoon itself.

We present several birding options in the Bávaro area. The Bávaro Lagoon is accessed from the seaward side just behind the coastal hotels. Unfortunately, the park house is neglected, and entrance onto the lagoon – once possible with the help of the resident guard – is now impossible as the small fiberglass launch is leaking and lacks a motor. There are one or two small openings along the shore near the park house which afford some restricted views, but the construction of a simple dock extending beyond the margins of the mangrove fringe would do wonders for birdwatching on the lagoon.

A new upland birding trail has been developed at the VistaCana Resort and Country Club. This wooded trail is currently 5 km (3.1 miles) long, but a total of 12 km (7.4 miles) of trail are planned and are in various stages of development. Disturbed vegetation is currently re-growing, and substantial reforestation is taking place with native species. This trail has been particularly good for overwintering migrants and passage migrants, but many endemics and permanent residents also are found here.

Target Species

West Indian Whistling- Duck, White- cheeked Pintail, Helmeted Guineafowl, Northern Bobwhite, Least Grebe, Pied- billed Grebe, Purple Gallinule, Double- striped Thick- knee, Wilson’s Plover, Black- necked Stilt, Mangrove Cuckoo, Antillean Nighthawk, Pearly- eyed Thrasher, Northern Parula, Cape May Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, American Redstart, Hispaniolan Oriole, Nutmeg Mannikin

Most visitors to the area will arrive at the Punta Cana International Airport. Visitors arriving from Santo Domingo will head east on the main coastal highway to San Pedro de Macorís, then will continue on to La Romana, Higuey, Otra Banda and Veron following signs for Bávaro and Punta Cana. Detailed directions are provided in the Ecological Foundation account (Site D29). From Veron, you will continue to drive east another 3.2 km (2 miles) before encountering a metal arch across the road with a Shell station on the right. Turn left here on Route 105 towards Bávaro. In 4.3 km (2.7 miles) look for a small sign for Cabeza de Toro on the right where you will turn. Soon you will cross a new divided highway, and 6.3 km (3.9 miles) from the Cabeza de Toro turn the road will fork. Stay to the left here on the paved road. You will pass many hotels and small shops on the right; the lagoon is on your left but hidden by mangroves. Just 1.0 km (0.6 mile) past this fork the road will fork again. Again stay left on the road toward the Natura Park Hotel and look for an unmarked drive passing through a barbed wire fence on the left. If you pull in here and go around the corner you will see the aging yellow-green park house for the Bávaro Lagoon.

To reach the VistaCana Resort and Country Club return towards the Cabeza de Toro turn-off on the Veron-Bávaro road. Once you reach this corner, turn right (towards Bávaro) and continue about 0.6 km (1 mile). Turn left towards Macao and Manatí Park, and left again about 0.6 km (1 mile) further on, just after a castle-like structure. The sign for VistaCana may not be in place yet, but a guard station and office are staffed.

Bávaro (Map by Dana Gardner)
Bávaro (Map by Dana Gardner)
  • Address: there is no address for the Bávaro Lagoon, but VistaCana Resort is located at: Boulevard Turístico del Este Km 12.5, Puntacana, Bávaro
  • Telephone: Welcome center 1-866-710-7041, Principal office: 809-466-2009
  • Website: www.vistacana.com

Bávaro

Dominican Republic Sites

Constanza and Valle Nuevo

Ebano Verde Reserve

Hatillo

Jarabacoa with Armando Bermúdez and José del Carmen Ramírez National Parks

La Joya de San Francisco

Loma Quita Espuela

Pico Diego de Ocampo, Santiago

Bávaro

Cumayasa

Del Este National Park: Boca de Yuma

Del Este National Park: Guaraguao

Del Este National Park: Padre Nuestro Trail

Del Este National Park: Saona Island

Ecological Foundation Trail, Punta Cana

Limón Lagoon

Los Haitises National Park: Caño Hondo

Los Haitises National Park: Los Limones

Monte Plata

Aguacate and Zapotén

Cabo Rojo and Pedernales

Cabral Lagoon

Cachote, Eastern Bahoruco

Jimaní

Lake Enriquillo

Loma Charco Azul

Oviedo Lagoon, Jaragua National Park

Puerto Alejandro and Tortuguero

Rabo de Gato and Puerto Escondido

Los Arroyos, Sierra de Bahoruco National Park

Cayos Siete Hermanos

El Limón, Samaná

Estero Hondo

Loma Guaconejo

Loma Isabel de Torres, Puerto Plata

Monte Cristi and Saladilla

Nalga de Maco National Park, Río Limpio

Samaná

Las Salinas de Baní

Mirador del Norte Park

National Botanical Garden

Ozama Wetlands

Partners in the Dominican Republic

  • Grupo Acción Ecológica
  • Grupo Jaragua
  • La Sociedad Ornitológica de la Hispaniola (SOH)
  • National Aviary

With special thanks to our partners at the Ruta Barrancoli

Ruta Barrancoli logo


Dominican Republic Tour Operators

  • Cúa Birding
  • Explora Ecotour
  • Kirkconnell Birds Conservancy
  • Miguel A. Landestoy T., Independent Guide
  • Tody Tours
  • Wildside Nature Tours

Bird Checklists

Click here to download a pamphlet-sized year-round checklist for Dominican Republic.

Recommended Field Guides

Field Guide to the Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti by Steven Latta, Christopher Rimmer, and Kent McFarland

Field Guide to the Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti

Aves de la República Dominicana y Haití by Steven Latta, Christopher Rimmer, Allan Keith, James Wiley, Herbert A. Raffaele, Kent McFarland, and Eladio Fernandez

Ruta Barrancolí: A Bird-finding Guide to the Dominican Republic by Steven C. Latta and Kate J. Wallace

Birds of the West Indies by Herbert Raffaele, James Wiley, Orlando Garrido, Allan Keith, and Janis Raffaele

Want to know how you can be involved?

Do you know of a place that should be part of the Caribbean Birding Trail? Are you the owner of a lodge or hotel and want to attract eco-tourists? Are you a guide interested in the birdwatching market? Then, get involved with our project!

Get Involved

The Latest from BirdsCaribbean.org

Twitter
Birds Caribbean
Birds Caribbean
@BirdsCaribbean

The Barbados-based dynamic birding & #travel experts✈️, Ryan and Alex Chenery of Birding the Islands are crafting tailor-made, multi-island 🏝️ travel itineraries for individuals & small groups. Learn how you can build your own #birding holiday at: bit.ly/Build-your-ow… pic.twitter.com/yEbO…

reply retweet favorite
3:55 pm · June 12, 2023
Twitter
Birds Caribbean
Birds Caribbean
@BirdsCaribbean

Endemic Bird of the Day, Day 126! 🦩🦜🦉 The small but feisty Flat-billed Vireo! 🇩🇴🇭🇹 For feathery facts and materials: bit.ly/FlatbilledVir… #CEBF2023 #FromTheNest #WaterSustainingBirdLife @grupojaragua @accionverde @SOSAmbienteRD @TurismoRD @Trees4Haiti @LoopHaiti pic.twitter.com/XwpI…

reply retweet favorite
3:35 pm · June 11, 2023
Twitter
Birds Caribbean
Birds Caribbean
@BirdsCaribbean

Join experienced tour guide Ernesto Reyes🇨🇺 on an extraordinary trip to #Colombia! For the detailed itinerary head over to: bit.ly/BirdTourColom… ✨For every BirdsCaribbean person that signs up for this trip, Ernesto will make a $100 donation to us! 📸Carlos Roberto Chavarria pic.twitter.com/Blco…

reply retweet favorite
7:52 pm · June 9, 2023
Twitter
Birds Caribbean
Birds Caribbean
@BirdsCaribbean

#ExpeditionDiablotin was a challenging search for the Black-capped Petrel in #Dominica. But also a rewarding experience connecting with locals to build support for its conservation. Learn more at: bit.ly/DiablotinOutr… @ABCbirds @EPICislands @SeabirdEcology @USFWS @jlkbrisbane pic.twitter.com/DBqF…

reply retweet favorite
2:25 pm · June 8, 2023
Twitter
Birds Caribbean
Birds Caribbean
@BirdsCaribbean

Endemic Bird of the Day, Day 125! 🦉🦜🦩 A spectacularly colorful Cuban endemic: the Gray-fronted Quail-Dove! 🇨🇺 For feathery facts, puzzles, coloring page & more: bit.ly/GrayFrontedQu… #CEBF2023 #FromTheNest #WaterSustainingBirdLife @BirdingEastCuba @AMA_CUBA pic.twitter.com/WgnQ…

reply retweet favorite
3:20 pm · June 7, 2023

Our Site

  • Home
  • About the CBT
  • Countries
  • Tours
  • Guides
  • Get Involved
  • Contact

Search

Follow

Sign up for our Mailing List

Copyright © 2011–2025 Caribbean Birding Trail. A project of BirdsCaribbean.