Tiny houses & cabins in Las Terrenas (Samaná)

Las Terrenas sits on the Samaná Peninsula behind coconut-palm beaches that curve for kilometres, a town that grew up around a French- and Italian-influenced expat community rather than a big resort chain. Eco bungalows sit in green, planted gardens rather than in rows along the sand, which keeps the pace here closer to a village than a beach strip — and from January to March, humpback whales pass close enough offshore to watch from the coast.

Getting here is unusually easy for the Dominican Republic's north coast: El Catey airport is just 20 minutes away, so there is little of the long transfer that other beach areas involve. Playa Bonita and Playa Cosón are the standout beaches nearby, and the El Limón waterfall makes for a half-day trip inland. November to April is the driest, calmest run of weather, and it overlaps neatly with whale-watching season at its start.