Dominican Republic National Holidays

Here is a list of Dominican Republic national holidays; the only one that may affect your life on the resort is Easter. All of the other ones will just influence whether you should venture out on an excursion that day or not.

• January 1st: New Year’s Day

• All stores will be closed in villages and cities. New Year’s day will not affect tourists at resorts in Punta Cana at all – just not a great day to go on an excursion.

• January 6th: 3 Kings’ Day (Epiphany Day)

• Christian holiday – there will be limited closings of stores and all banks are closed.

• January 21st: Day of the Virgin of Altagracia

• The Virgin of La Altagracia (the Virgin of the Highest Grace) is the patron saint of the Dominican Republic – revered in a similar fashion to the Virgin Mary. Dominicans pray to her to cure their illnesses and solve the problems in their lives. On this day, thousands make a pilgrimage to the basilica in Higuey, home of the statue of the Virgin of La Altagracia. Unless you want to see this wonderful celebration, don’t plan a trip to Higuey on January 21st.

• January 26th: Duarte’s birthday

• Juan Pablo Duarte is the founder of the Dominican Republic. He established a dissident group, La Trinitaria, that helped to put an end to Haitian rule in 1838. There are limited store closings on this day, all over the Dominican Republic.

• February 27th: Dominican Independence Day

• Celebrates the day that the Dominican Republic won their independence, all stores and businesses are closed. As a tourist, you’re best to stay at your resort on this day.

• Easter (dates change from year to year)

• Easter is a very big Punta Cana holiday, as far as Dominican Republic national holidays goes, this is the biggest. Everything is closed (except hotels), meaning that all Dominicans are off work. Remember that all the beaches are public, so they will be packed over the course of this vacation. The Dominican government usually passes laws prohibiting water sports over the Easter vacation, so don’t plan on going on Jet Skis. This law seems to be changed from year to year and enforced to different degrees each year. Just go with the flow at your resort, if they let you use something – great , if they don’t – that’s life.

• May 1st: Labor Day (or May Day)

• Bank holiday and sporadic closings of businesses.

• Corpus Christi Day: (Dates change – June 18, 2006; June 10, 2007)

• Christian Holiday, expect sporadic closings of businesses on all Christian Dominican Republic national holidays.

• August 16th: Dominican Republic Restoration Day

• Expect sporadic closings of businesses.

• September 24th: Virgin Mercedes

• Everything will be closed.

• Novermber 6th: Dominican Constitution Day

• Limited closings of stores and businesses.

• December 25th: Christmas Day

• All businesses close on Christmas day. You'll have a great time at your hotel in Punta Cana on this Dominican Republic national holiday, but you don't want to try to go anywhere.