Quite by accident a few hundred years ago, Christopher Columbus blundered into the Caribbean, discovered the New World for Europe, and, as is often so reasonably said, one thing lead to another. In this case, the ‘one thing’ that came next was Columbus’s subsequent, exploratory voyages. Columbus visited many Caribbean islands during these journeys and one of those was to Hispaniola, the modern day home to Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

For those who vacation to the Caribbean and the Dominican Republic for sand and sun, many forget this part of the New World was the first to be seen by Europeans. Our villa near Playa Cofresí is actually very close to some of the first New World sites seen by Europeans. In fact, Columbus himself played a role in naming the region. Upon seeing a mountain with a foggy peak, Columbus called it Monte de Plata, since he thought it looked like it had a silvery top. Modern day Puerto Plata, meaning silver port, alludes to this early history.

La Vista is also very close to La Isabela, considered by many to be the first European settlement in the New World. While La Isabela itself did not survive to the modern day, its legacy lives on in Puerto Plata and, indeed, every modern nation in the Western Hemisphere. So, if you’re interested in a little historical sightseeing with your beach going, then La Vista and Playa Cofresí is the place you should be.