Samana: Bridges, Pueblo Principe, Malecón

Running in Samana, the namesake town of the Samana Bay, is a pleasure. It’s home to a lovely boardwalk leading to the Pueblo Principe, a shopping center lined with brightly colored storefronts. On the other side of the port, a series of pedestrian bridges that hopscotches across three islands, affording several nice vistas of the bay. Starting from the easternmost end of the Malecón (waterfront), an out and back is about 4.8 km (3 miles). The concrete walkway heads west through Parque Malecón de Samana. When you see the colorful Pueblo Principe, use a crosswalk to cross Avenida la Marina, then continue west on the sidewalk. At the rotary (about 1 km in) use the street closest to the water to run south towards the Grand Bahia resort. This street leads all the way out to the bridge where you can run for 1 km out to a scenic viewing tower.

Samana is in the northeastern end of the Dominican Republic, about a 2.5 hour drive from Santo Domingo and sort of in between Punta Cana and Porta Plata — but a little tough to get to by road.