"Barahona" Santa Cruz de Barahona by ValbyDK

Barahona is located in the south-western part of the Dominican Republic; about three hours drive from Santo Domingo. The City was founded in 1802 by French-Haitian General, Toussaint L'Overture, who believed the location was the perfect spot to build an alternate port to Santo Domingo's.

Barahona was once the informal capital of Dictator Trujillo's multimillion-dollar sugar industry, but after many sugar mills are closed, the City has had a hard time.

Barahona itself isn’t why people visit this area, but there are three very beautiful national parks nearby (Parque Nacional Isla Cabritos, Parque Nacional Bahoruco and Parque Nacional Jaragua). Barahona has a population of estimated 200000 today.

Langouste

I have visited Barahona twice (in 2004 and 2006), and both times I used the city as a stop on my way to the national parks.

In total I have only spent three days in Barahona (one day in 2004 and two days in 2006) and have not seen that much of the city. However I have only positive things to say about Barahona; the locals are very friendly and helpful and the area around the Malecón is quite nice.

The south-western part of the Dominican Republic is not an area where you will meet many other tourists, and during my stays in Barahona I have seen less than a handful.