The Dominican Republic is a big island with a lot more than resorts on it, and families that are happy to rent a car or hire a driver get a very different trip. This is the version I would build for a family with school age kids who have already done the all inclusive week.
Santo Domingo
The Zona Colonial is the oldest European city in the Americas and it is more walkable than you would expect. Cobbled streets, the first cathedral in the New World, the Alcazar de Colon where Columbus’s son lived, and the Three Eyes caves park on the edge of the city with underground lakes you can take a raft across. Kids do well here for a day if you keep the museum stops short and the ice cream stops frequent. Stay in a small hotel inside the zone so you can walk everywhere.
Puerto Plata and the 27 waterfalls
On the north coast, Damajagua is the 27 waterfalls hike where you climb up through river canyons with a guide and then jump and slide back down. There are shorter versions with seven or twelve falls for younger kids and the guides are excellent. It is muddy, wet and one of the best days out in the whole Caribbean for kids over about eight. Puerto Plata itself has a cable car up Mount Isabel de Torres with a Christ statue and botanical gardens at the top.
Samana
From mid January to March humpback whales come to Samana Bay to breed and the whale watching boats get close. This is one of the great wildlife experiences that most people do not know is in the Caribbean. The Samana peninsula also has Playa Rincon, a long, wild beach with almost nothing on it, and El Limon waterfall, reached on horseback through the hills.
Jarabacoa
In the central mountains it is cool, green and full of rivers. Families come for white water rafting on the Yaque del Norte, which takes kids from about twelve, and for easier waterfall walks and horse rides. It feels like a different country from the coast.
Building the route
Fly into Santo Domingo, spend two nights in the Zona Colonial, drive north to Jarabacoa for two nights, on to Puerto Plata or Cabarete for the waterfalls and the beach, then finish in Samana if it is whale season. Ten to twelve days does it well. Roads are better than their reputation but driving at night is not something I would do. A driver for the whole loop is easier and not as expensive as you would think.
Planning Dominican Republic with kids? Start with the full Dominican Republic family travel guide, or send me the ages and the dates and I will come back with what is really available.
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