The National Park of the East was created in 1975 and it is considered one of the main resources of the National System of Protected Areas, among which is the most visited one and most profitable in the country, receiving more than 300 thousand tourists per year; attracted mainly by the wonderful beaches of Saona Island. The visitors’ rate continues to increase, contributing to the country with approximately 80 million pesos annually, according to data from the Ministry of the Environment.
This sustained tourist flow, the terrestrial and maritime territory of said Park is of great extension, almost 800 square kilometers, and is located between the provinces of La Romana and La Altagracia. Many hotels have been developed in the area, especially on the beaches of Bayahíbe and Saona. Boca de Yuma, as well as Saona Island (110 km.2) are very relevant to tourism and they got each a small village: the picturesque fishing village of Mano Juan, with about 300 inhabitants, and Catuano, a tiny village born around of a Dominican Military Navy´s small barrack. Between both villages there is an ecological trail of 11 km for visitors to do on foot or by bicycle, passing through the tropical forest and beaches.
The Park preserves an extraordinary biological variety and numerous marine and terrestrial species threatened or in danger of extinction; it hosts the main conserved tropical forest of the Eastern Region of the country, as well as different ecosystems, such as beaches, mangroves, wetlands, coral reefs, among others.
To talk about the National Park and its beaches we must mention the so called natural pool and the unspoiled beach paradise that is Palmilla, located in front of the west coast of the park. From the public pier of Bayahíbe or any of the hotels in the area, anchored boats and catamarans in the middle of this natural pool of the Caribbean Sea, about 200 or 300 meters from the beach coast. This impressive beach corner receives daily packs of tourists who bathe in the stunning turquoise and transparent waters of Palmilla, where they get overwhelm by all the goodness of this 
beach including waters that barely reach your breasts.
Translated by Eduardo Houellemont.
By Victoria Curiel
