The Beach		Playa Andrés		Las Maticas		Las Arenitas		History		Social Demographic

Boca Chica is where beach tourism began in the Dominican Republic Resorts Industry. One of the reasons is due to the location of Boca Chica: some 25 minutes from Santo Domingo and only 10 minutes away from Las Americas, (the first International Airport of Dominican Republic). Another reason why Boca Chica became the first, was due to the beautiful crystal clear blue water and white sandy beach. This beautiful beach was/is so close to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, a sector of the Dominican elite began to build Beach Houses on Boca Chica Beach. Most of these houses remain intact on the East side of the Boca Chica Beach, next to the current all inclusive resort: Hamaca.

When three large all inclusive resorts entered the market during the 80’s and early 90’s, the Dominican Republic Resorts industry clientele in Boca Chica was predominantly European (Italian & German) and French Canadian. Later, benefiting from Internet publicity in the mid 90’s, more tourists from the United States began to visit Boca Chica.

Boca Chica’s development has, to a large extent, been influenced by the first tourists who visited the area. Even today, the town has a fair number of Italian residents. Also, there are numerous Italian Restaurants as well as hotels and condominiums owned by Italians. The German presence is apparent as well. Not, as much as the Italians, but there are still a number of German owned businesses as well, particularly dive shops, coffee shops, and bars.

This situation to some degree has influenced the local of Boca Chica. This explains why Boca Chica locas tend to be more liberal than other Dominican areas or sectors. Today, Boca Chica Beach has become a multicultural town, composed of diverse nationalities and ethnics, from Dominicans, Italian, Americans, Britons, Germans, Haitians etc.