December is the start of the Dominican high season, and for good reason: the south and east coasts turn dry, hurricane season is over, the seaweed is usually gone and the whole country is in a Christmas mood. The first half of the month is the smart window, with high-season weather at shoulder prices. From about December 18 to January 3, rates hit their peak, flights fill with Dominican families going home, and you need to have booked already.
Want Christmas week? Book now, or aim for December 1 to 17 instead. The north coast and Samaná stay showery all month. For the year-round view, see When to go.
Weather by region
December on the Caribbean and east coasts is about as good as the DR gets: sunny mornings, a steady breeze and showers that pass in minutes. On the Atlantic side, cold fronts from North America bring gray, drizzly spells of a day or three.
| Place | Average high | Average low | Rain in December | Rainy days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Punta Cana and Bávaro | 85°F (29°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 3.6 in (91 mm) | About 11, mostly short |
| Santo Domingo | 87°F (31°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 3.0 in (77 mm) | About 9 |
| Puerto Plata (north coast) | 84°F (29°C) | 71°F (22°C) | 9.1 in (230 mm) | About 15 |
| Santiago (Cibao valley) | 84°F (29°C) | 66°F (19°C) | 2.7 in (68 mm) | About 10 |
| Constanza (mountains) | 73°F (23°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 1.6 in (42 mm) | About 6 |
The sea cools only a little, to about 80°F (27°C). Evenings in Santiago and Jarabacoa call for a light layer, and Constanza can drop into the 40s°F (single digits °C) on a clear night, with frost on the high plateau of Valle Nuevo.
The north coast and Samaná in December
Puerto Plata, Sosúa, Cabarete, Las Terrenas and Las Galeras are in the middle of their wettest stretch, which runs from about November to January. Plenty of days are still sunny, but you should expect some lost beach time and rough Atlantic water, with stronger rip currents in winter swells. The upside: steady trade winds return to Cabarete's kite beach, Playa Encuentro gets its winter surf, and hotels cost less than in Punta Cana. If your trip is mainly about lying on a beach, pick the east or south coast this month.
A Dominican Christmas
Christmas here lasts for weeks. Lights and nativity scenes go up in November, and the celebrations run all the way to Three Kings Day on January 6. By law, workers get an extra month's pay before Christmas, the doble sueldo, so malls, supermarkets and highways are packed for most of December.
- Aguinaldos and parrandas: friends go house to house with drums, a güira (metal scraper) and Christmas songs, often late at night or before dawn, expecting food and a drink. You may hear one pass your guesthouse in a residential neighborhood.
- Angelito: the Dominican secret Santa, played at offices and among friends.
- Nochebuena, December 24: the main event. Families gather late for cerdo asado (roast pork), moro de guandules (rice with pigeon peas), Russian-style potato salad, pasteles en hoja (plantain parcels filled with meat) and telera bread, with ponche (eggnog-style punch), rum and wine.
- Christmas Day, December 25: a quiet family day and a public holiday.
- New Year's Eve: family dinners, fireworks in every neighborhood and crowds on Santo Domingo's Malecón and in the Zona Colonial.
Insider tip
For a taste of Nochebuena without a Dominican family, look for restaurants in the Zona Colonial or Santiago offering a set Christmas Eve dinner, and reserve early, since many close by late evening.
Holidays and closures
| Date | What | What closes |
|---|---|---|
| Thu, Dec 24 | Nochebuena | Not an official holiday, but many shops, offices and local restaurants close early in the afternoon or evening |
| Fri, Dec 25 | Christmas | Public holiday: banks, government offices, many local shops and comedores (lunch counters) closed; resorts and most tourist restaurants open |
| Thu, Dec 31 | New Year's Eve | Early closings; resort gala dinners; heavy traffic and fireworks at night |
| Fri, Jan 1, 2027 | New Year's Day | Fixed public holiday; a slow, closed-up day outside resorts |
Christmas and New Year's Day are fixed holidays under Dominican law, so they do not move to a Monday. Both fall on a Friday this year, which makes two long weekends: Dominicans will be on the road on December 23–24 and again on December 30–31, and returning on Sunday, January 3. If you are touring independently, get groceries, cash and fuel on the 23rd and the 30th.
Museums and sights in the Zona Colonial may close or shorten hours on the 24th, 25th, 31st and 1st; check the day before. Ask your tour operator about return times on the 24th and 31st. Intercity buses can sell out on the days before Christmas, so buy your Caribe Tours or Metro Tours seat a day ahead.
Crowds, prices and booking timelines
December is two months in one. The first half is the bargain of the high season: dry weather, moderate rates and room at the pool. From about December 18 to January 3 the country hits its annual peak, with three crowds arriving at once: American families on school break, the Dominican diaspora flying home from New York, New Jersey, Boston and Florida, and Dominicans on holiday at the beaches near the capital.
What that means for your wallet
- Resorts: Christmas and New Year's weeks are the most expensive of the year. Many resorts add a compulsory gala dinner supplement for December 24 or 31, and some set minimum stays over the holidays; read the fine print.
- Flights: routes to Santo Domingo and Santiago fill with diaspora travelers, and fares to Punta Cana spike for departures around December 19–23 and returns around January 2–3. Flying on Christmas Day or New Year's Day itself is often cheaper and calmer.
- Small hotels and villas: the good ones in Las Terrenas, Bayahíbe and the Zona Colonial were booked months ago. What is left at the last minute tends to be the least appealing inventory.
If you are booking now
- Decide between Christmas week and early December. A week from December 5 to 12 gets nearly the same weather at much lower rates.
- Check both PUJ and SDQ, and La Romana for the southeast. The diaspora fills SDQ and STI at Christmas, so compare fares and times at each.
- Price a flight-and-hotel package as well as booking separately. Packagers hold room blocks that are not always on resort websites.
- Buy travel insurance with your first payment.
- Book airport transfers, a New Year's Eve dinner and any Saona or private boat trip as soon as the flights are fixed.
The planning guide has a full booking timeline: for next year, book Christmas resorts 9 to 12 months out and flights 4 to 6 months out. See Flights for nonstops by city.
Save money
The cheapest high-season beach week of the winter is usually the first or second week of December. You get the dry season, the Christmas lights and baseball, and you leave before the peak rates start.
The beach and resort experience
On the east coast, December beaches are usually at their best: calm, clean water inside the Bávaro reef, little or no sargassum and comfortable heat. The difference you will feel is the crowd. At a big resort in Christmas week, loungers vanish by 9 am, the buffet has lines and the best dinner slots go on the first day.
- Book every à la carte dinner for the week at check-in or in the resort app before you land.
- At peak, a club or preferred level is more likely to pay off, with its own pool, lounge and reservations. See All-inclusives.
- Bring small US bills for tips; staff work long holiday shifts.
- Ask how the resort handles New Year's Eve: a gala dinner, a beach party, a fireworks show, and whether any of it costs extra.
The calmer alternative is the southeast. Bayahíbe and Dominicus have flat Caribbean water and smaller resorts, and the Juan Dolio strip fills with Dominican families at Christmas. For the region's beaches and how far each sits from the airport, see Punta Cana and Beaches.
Saona at peak season
Isla Saona, inside Cotubanamá National Park, is the most visited protected area in the country, with more than 800,000 visitors in 2024. In late December the Bayahíbe waterfront is chaotic from 8 to 10 am as buses unload, and the sandbar and main beaches are crowded by midday. Group tours from Bayahíbe start at about $69 per person on major booking sites, and trips from Punta Cana add about 3 hours of road time.
Insider tip
Sleep in Bayahíbe the night before and book a small-group or private boat that leaves at the first departure. Or pick Isla Catalina, which is closer, calmer and better for snorkeling. Either way, avoid the days right after Christmas and New Year's, when boats are fullest. See La Romana and Bayahíbe and Excursions.
Winter baseball in December
The LIDOM regular season ends on Tuesday, December 22, 2026, and the last weeks are a pennant race, with every game counting for a place in the top four. The calendar has no games on the weekend of December 4–6, set aside for the professional players' federation, Fenapepro, so check lidom.com before you build an evening around one.
After the regular season comes the round robin among the top four teams, with 18 games each, six against every opponent. Last season it started on December 27 and ran to mid-January; the 2026–27 dates had not been published when we checked, so expect a similar pattern. Crowds and prices rise for the round robin, and families pack the stands between Christmas and Three Kings Day. Big matchups, especially Licey against Escogido or the Águilas, can sell out: buy from the team's official channel, not resellers.
From Santo Domingo, the Quisqueya is a 15 to 25 minute Uber ride from the Zona Colonial. From the Punta Cana resorts, the Toros del Este park in La Romana is about 1 hour 15 minutes away. Bring a light layer for night games in Santiago. Everything else is on the Baseball page.
Where to go and where to skip
Punta Cana, Bávaro, Cap Cana
Dry, clean beaches and the most flights. Busy and expensive from about the 18th.
Bayahíbe and La Romana
Calm water, diving, Saona and Catalina, and Toros del Este games.
Santo Domingo
Lights in the Zona Colonial, the Malecón on New Year's Eve and two teams at the Quisqueya. Street works in the colonial district were scheduled to finish around the end of 2026, so expect some detours.
Jarabacoa and Constanza
Cool, dry and full of Dominican families over the holidays; start of Pico Duarte season. See Jarabacoa and Constanza.
North coast and Samaná
Showery and rough for swimming, but good for kiting, surfing and lower prices. See Cabarete and Sosúa and Las Terrenas.
Samaná for whales
The humpbacks arrive from mid-January. See January.
What to pack
- Reef-safe sunscreen and a hat: winter sun burns northerners on day one
- Long pants, closed shoes and one dressier outfit for Christmas and New Year's dinners
- A light sweater for night games, air-conditioned buses and evenings in Santiago
- A real jacket, hat and long pants for Constanza, Valle Nuevo or Pico Duarte
- A compact umbrella for the north coast
- Small US bills for resort tips, and pesos for everything off the resort; RD$1,000 is about $16
- A copy of your passport photo page and your e-Ticket QR code (see e-Ticket)
More on Packing.
A sample December week
City lights, islands and the beach, flying into Santo Domingo and home from Punta Cana, for a week around December 8 to 15, before the peak and while the baseball race is on.
- Day 1
Santo Domingo
Land at SDQ and check into the Zona Colonial. Evening walk to Parque Colón and Plaza de España under the Christmas lights.
- Day 2
The colonial city
The cathedral, the Alcázar de Colón and Calle Las Damas, then a nap and a Licey or Escogido game at the Quisqueya.
- Day 3
To Bayahíbe
About 1 hour 45 minutes by road. Afternoon swim at Dominicus and dinner on the village waterfront.
- Day 4
Saona, early
First boat out to Saona and the natural pool, back by mid-afternoon.
- Day 5
Catalina or a dive
Snorkel Catalina's reef or dive the wrecks off Bayahíbe, then a Toros del Este game in La Romana.
- Day 6
To Bávaro
About 1 hour 15 minutes to the east coast. Settle into your resort and book dinners.
- Day 7
Beach day
Nothing at all, or the cenote at Hoyo Azul. Fly home from PUJ the next morning, arriving 3 hours before departure.
Getting around in December
- Holiday traffic. Highways out of Santo Domingo jam before Christmas and New Year, and police run extra checkpoints. Drive in the morning, never after dark, and do not count on fast toll-road times. See Driving.
- Airports. Diaspora flights arrive with mountains of gift boxes, so baggage claim and customs at SDQ and STI can be slow. At PUJ, arrive 3 hours before US flights, more on Saturdays in Christmas week.
- Uber and taxis on New Year's Eve. Expect surge pricing and long waits around midnight. Agree a pickup in advance with a driver or your hotel.
- Crime. The CDC notes that crime tends to rise over Christmas and New Year, when cash circulates and cities are crowded. The State Department rates the country Level 2, Exercise Increased Caution. Carry little cash, keep your phone away from the curb and use hotel taxis at night. See Safety.
Bottom line
Go in December if you want reliable beach weather on the east or south coast with Christmas atmosphere, and especially if you can travel in the first two weeks. Families locked into school holidays will still have a good time at Christmas, as long as they book early and budget for peak rates.
Pick another month if you want low prices with the same weather (try early December or after January 10), if you are set on the north coast's beaches, or if whales are the point. See November for the last low-season weeks and January for whales, the baseball final and the post-holiday price drop.
Add it to a route in the trip builder, or ask us to plan the hotels, trains and guides for you.