World-famous resort complexes at Casa de Campo, Puerto Plata and Punta Cana attract droves of European visitors, but Americans are now slowly catching on to the delights of the D.R. Visitors with limited vacation time are often hard-pressed to choose their activities: Golf, tennis, fabulous beaches and horseback riding compete with world-class windsurfing (at Cabarete) scuba diving and outstanding sport fishing for marlin, sailfish and dorado.

Some of the world's finest cigars are made here from Cuban-seed tobacco brought by Cuban expatriates after the Revolution. In addition to hand-rolled cigars, the Dominican Republic cultivates heavenly coffee beans. Larimar, the Dominican version of turquoise mined near the Haitian border, is another bargain.