Barahona

Barahona, known as La Perla del Sur, is the main city of Barahona Province on the southwestern Caribbean coast of the Dominican Republic. A working port city with a relaxed coastal feel, it serves as the gateway to the southwest's most dramatic landscapes, from highland cloud forests to arid lake basins and remote beaches.

Founded as a small settlement that grew around trade and later the sugar industry, Barahona retains landmarks from its 20th-century expansion, including the Arco de Triunfo, the Nuestra Señora del Rosario Cathedral, the clock-towered Palacio Municipal and the seafront Malecón. The city is also the birthplace of actress María Montez and singer Casandra Damirón.

Around the city, travellers explore Bahía de las Águilas, Playa San Rafael, the natural pools of Los Patos and the brackish Lago Enriquillo, as well as the coffee-growing hills of Polo and the Sierra de Bahoruco. Barahona is famous for larimar, a rare blue stone mined only in this part of the world.

As a regional centre for the port, agriculture, coffee and ecotourism, Barahona draws both leisure visitors heading to the southwest's national parks and beaches and business travellers connected to local trade and logistics. Its modest size and genuine local character make it a useful base for slower-paced exploration of one of the island's least crowded regions.