This beautiful waterway is born up in  Bella Vista, where it falls and pools in a beautiful natural landscape where locals gather every weekend; snaking its way between Maranatha and Sosua Abajo to finally mingle with the Atlantic Ocean at El Tablon beach.

Backtracking our steps, we drove to the gorgeous natural scenery of Los Pescadores beach (El Tablon) where the river meets the beach, and decided to shoot a video for an article we wrote about a year ago on the Sosua fishermen. After talking a local fisherman into hiring his boat to shoot some scenes, we found out we could sail in the river, and voilá, we raised the offer to include a motorized river tour.

Photo Gallery: Sosua River

The Sosua Fishermen Village

The river end on the beach has a sandy beach, cleaned by the local fishermen who operate a fish cleaning station and a fresh fish store where anyone can buy the catch of the day (fishermen arrive around 11am). Here there are boats sitting by the shore, some coming and going in hopes of catching the big fish that land bigger financial rewards.

The beach at El Tablon is like a small bay, with towering walls on the East side; squatters long ago created a small barrio called La Piedra (the rock) which could be considered the lowest income neighborhood in Sosua- yet it looks so naturally beautiful as the vines hang down from above as those hanging rocks in the Avatar film. Magnificent Frigate birds fly low looking for fish, and ducks swim carelessly around.

Rail bird with red beak

The first leg of the tour was great, the river is dead calm and the gorgeous greenery around it is home to several bird species such as Rails, Herons, ground doves, etc; also turtles and small fish seen by the shores. As we advanced, the beauty of local Ceiba trees was mesmerizing, the way the roots grow in perfect balance.

On Video:

The Human Factor: Trash in the rivers

The Sosua river feels great for the first 300 meters as it is pristine private land, undeveloped; further on we started to find a lot of trash, some hanging higher than usual as the river swells and then recedes back down, leaving plastic everywhere. Large, fallen tree trunks carried by the river had to be avoided along the way, also another concern.

The deeper we sailed the more concerned we became of finding a way to fix this issue. The fisherman manning the boat said the trash source are the homes by the river between Sosua Abajo and Maranatha. Fixing the problem will take a big effort: to get proper handling of trash in these communities, enforce the law and raise awareness in the young and older folks about the river`s importance. We will try our best to create awareness.

This eco tour is recommended as part of the Bella Vista river, Martinico and Saltadero tour, 4 rivers worth visiting while in the North Coast. This one in particular allows the visitor to get fresh Tuna, Mahi Mahi and other interesting Caribbean fish, the fresh catch of the day direct from the fishermen.

How to Get There:

Finding Sosua river is easy, just take the main highway 5 and turn into Charamicos, then turn left into El Tablon where a young forest road leads down to the Fishermen village. There are many fishermen that would do the tour for about US$50; The location is great for photography and the fishermen are great people.

The post Sosua River – Rio Sosua Tour appeared first on Sosua Beach Dominican Republic.

We drove up the road through farmland deep into a region called Madre Vieja, where small villages welcome the visitor with a few sparsely scattered spots to get a refreshment or food. Cows and horses are the main stock, also chicken, gobblers and pigs. The natural landscape of this area offers mountain vistas like no other place, and there is electricity for as far as we could drive. Phone signal died halfway, so satellite would be the only choice.

Martinico River Photo Gallery

When we reached the Martinico a nice woman selling snacks welcomed us and helped us set up camp to fix our sandwiches and drinks; she has mamajuana bottles, beer and lays for sale. There is also a sort of cafeteria restaurant next to the river where ATV tours stop for a more varied menu.

The Martinico is beautiful, it has a blue/green hue and sits surrounded by tall, mature trees with plenty of lush green plants around it, quite favored by nature. There are decent sized fish in its waters, meaning it is not polluted. The depth varies from 1 foot to about 25 feet; swimmers can jump from a higher ground.

Saltadero River Photo Gallery

To reach the Saltadero we drove about 25 more minutes, taking the first right past Martinico river, then another right turn until we found the first left and drove forward towards a river bank past a new eco village project being built nearby and a great looking farm you can`t miss.

At the river bank you need to drive through a creek with pebble stones, any SUV can do it. Then drive about 300 meters until you find a steep where the wooden staircase leads down to the Saltadero waterfall.

This tour requires climbing down a long staircase made of branch wood, easy to go down but tiresome for the physically unfit when coming back up. The view past the Gazebo reveals a hidden treasure of the North Dominican Republic: A waterfall guarding a natural pool in the middle of pristine lands, hidden from civilization. We can only imagine what Taino people worshiped here.

On Video:

The Hydroelectric Dam

Just 7 minutes past Martinico we were told about another great spot for photos, the dam over the Yasica. This is a concrete dam 40 m high with a regulated flow of 12.2 m3/sec and a total reservoir volume of 105 MMC. The contribution area of the dam site is 197 km2.

The hydroelectric project has two turbines at the foot of the dam with a combined power of 14,000 KW and an annual generation of 31 million KW. The area to be irrigated is approximately 4,000 ha (63,600 acres) which is served by a counter reservoir located downstream of the dam.

The reservoir also supplies drinking water to Sabaneta de Yásica, Sosua, Puerto Plata; also controls flooding on the upper Jamao highway and the lower area of the river. This is the reason it is forbidden to use it as a personal pool, we could only take photos and enjoy the sightseeing.

The hydroelectric dam over the Yasica river

The dam is a great visit between the Martinico Saltadero rivers, please follow the local rules and do not leave anything behind when visiting this area as it is the main water supply, there are guards there to make sure nobody breaks the rules. This tour to Martinico Saltadero rivers can also be done with ATVs, available in Sosua via several concierge and tour operators including the Sosua Villa Rentals concierge service.

The post Martinico & Saltadero Rivers appeared first on Sosua Beach Dominican Republic.

In pure Dominican culture, some visitors cook in open pits made up of a few large rocks, while others go the BBQ way. Local cuisine specialties including Sancocho, Locrio, Creole Chicken, Pork Ribs, or Spaghetti are the menu items when at the river. Presidente beer is ever present, also Brugal Rum with or without Coke.

Bella Vista River in Photos:

A Relaxing Visual Experience

The Sosua Bella Vista River can be seen flowing down the small bridge on the main street, and flows along lined by centuries old mature trees that stand guard with large exposed roots; feeling more like a relaxing visual experience out of JK Rowland`s Lord of the Rings. Green moss in the rocks around it suggest we are visiting on the low season where the river bank is at a low, yet still the watercourse has a considerable flow rate.

The Sosua River Tour

A recommended eco tour of the North Coast region, the Bella Vista Sosua river was our first stop on a Saturday morning, just before the first locals arrived to the scene. Our next stop was the Martinico River, about 35 mins down the road; then we drove like 10 more minutes to the hydroelectric dam over the Yasica River. From here we drove back to visit the Sosua River, the one that ends on La Boca Beach next to Puerto Chiquito; this is the same river that starts in Bella Vista and extends for 9 kilometers.

On Video:

How to Get There:

Coming from Sosua, take highway 5 past Sosua Beach and turn left on the Maranatha entrance right before the bridge, and drive about 3.5 kilometers until you find the river, which is right on the highway over a small bridge. Turn right and you`ll see it right next to a Baseball diamond where local kids play. 

On Google Maps

GARMIN GPS: Latitude: 19.714422 | Longitude: -70.515514

The post Sosua Bella Vista River appeared first on Sosua Beach Dominican Republic.