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- “Sargassum is not a rumour: 2025 set an all-time Atlantic record at 37.5 million metric tons in May, 58 per cent above the 2022 record, and…” RuinMyTrip research
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Punta Cana in 2026: 11 million airport passengers, a record 37.5 million tons of sargassum in 2025, and tap water you still cannot drink
By RuinMyTrip Editorial
Punta Cana is the machine that made the Dominican Republic the biggest tourism market in the Caribbean, and in 2025 the machine broke its own records. The country recorded 8,005,257 visitors between January and August alone, a national record, and had passed 10,284,251 by the end of November, putting the full year above eleven million. Of the January to August total, 6,085,053 arrived by air and 1,920,204 by cruise …
What nearly ruins it: Sargassum is not a rumour: 2025 set an all-time Atlantic record at 37.5 million metric tons in May, 58 per cent above the 2022 record, and forecasters have flagged 2026 as another…
Read the full editorial review
Written by RuinMyTrip Editorial from published research and official sources, not from a personal trip. It is not a traveler review and is never counted in the community rating. How we research.
Practical tips
Editorial- Travel between October and January if seaweed matters to you. That is the low-sargassum window and the odds of a clear beach are high; spring and summer are the peak, and 2025 set an all-time Atlantic record of 37.5 million metric tons in May.
- Ask a resort directly what it does about sargassum before booking, not after. The strip's standard answer is crews and tractors clearing the sand before guests wake up, and the resorts differ a lot in how seriously they do it.
- Do not drink the tap water, including in your room. The municipal supply is treated but the pipes and tanks after treatment are not reliable, so bottled water is the norm everywhere in the area.
- Agree the taxi fare before you get in. Airport to Bavaro is commonly around 30 US dollars for up to four people, and quotes vary wildly depending on who is quoting.
- Book flights early for the December to April high season. Punta Cana International passed 11 million passengers in 2025, up 9.9 per cent, and December alone carried 1,087,621 people.
- Plan at least one day outside the resort corridor. Bavaro and the strip are purpose-built, and the Dominican Republic that the country is actually like starts well past the gate.
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