Parque Nacional Tres Ojos

Wednesday, February 05, 2020

The Three Eyes, Santo Domingo Province, Dominican Republic

With another day to kill in Santo Domingo I planned to goto the Tres Ojos (three eyes) cave system. I was looking online and they were selling tours for $70 USD even though its only a few kms from where I was staying.

The hotel said I could get a cab for $5US. I went to where the cabs were waiting by the Parque National. A driver told me 400P so I got in. When I was doing the math while we were driving this was $10 not $5 but he was going to wait for me and drive me back.

Entrance was 100P ($2US) for locals or 200P for foreigners ($4US). A guide wanted to take me around for $22US but I'm not sure what I needed him for and my taxi was waiting.

There are three caverns, hence the 'three eye's' name. The first had clear blue water.

The second was rather interesting in that there was a boat with a rope pulley to get across. I waited in line and it moved quickly with groups of 12. The journey is about 2 mins.

On the other side was a sub tropical ecosystem. As we could only come back via the boat I quickly returned so I wouldnt have to wait in line again.

The third cavern was also quite impressive with rich blue waters. People used to swim in the pools but this has since been stopped.

The driver was waiting to take me back and trying to get me to goto the aquarium or the beach. I wasnt that interested. I wanted him to stop at the Columbus monument but as he only spoke Spanish he misunderstood and thought I wanted to go back to the Zona Colonial.