A Made Place

March 8, 2023

Amber Cove is one of a series of cruise ports in the Caribbean that have been developed fairly recently. These ports look the same, have the same shops, and have pretty names like Amber Cove and Mahogany Bay. They provide extra docking capacity for cruise ships and allow passengers to avoid gritty industrial ports or urban areas not safe or interesting for tourists. These new ports don’t rise to the level of Placemaking, and, unfortunately, they don’t provide an authentic experience for visitors.

Each of these ports is made up of a small, fake local village located at the end of a nice, new dock. Typically, you will have to go through some type of “duty-free” shop to get anywhere. The only way to get past the duty-free shop is through it - literally.  

Do you see that wall around it?

On the other side of the duty-free shop you will find the standard shopping village: jewelry stores, souvenir shops, t-shirt stores, a few bars, maybe a grill, a local band, some fountains, some trees, a little fake park, restrooms, and people trying to sell you things. At each of these made-up “places” you will find many of the same shops, selling the same merchandise. These shops always accept American dollars. How convenient.

Amber Cove is one of the newer places made for cruise ships. It is near the real town of Puerto Plata, but the town is not visible from Amber Cove. It is a gorgeous little cove or bay. There doesn’t seem to be much there other than the cruise dock and shopping village.

The beach is on the right in this photo, the over-water cabanas are on the left, as seen from our ship

Part of the village is a little (very little) jungle. You walk through it to get to the waterfront, where you can go to a small beach, rent various craft, and even rent an over-water cabana.

At the edge of the “jungle” is a fake little mountain, or maybe it is a fake Mayan ruin. It is covered in fake amber. Ken didn’t take a photo of it because it was so ridiculous.

Why is Amber Cove even here? It is a convenient jumping off point for numerous tours offered by cruise lines and by locals.

We had planned to enjoy our Ultimate Balcony Dinner - a gift from our travel agent (Thanks, Debbie!) - as we sailed away from Amber Cove. Our timing was good. Two waiters arrived at our cabin just before the ship sailed. They set up a beautiful table for us (and we got to keep the flowers). A professional photographer arrived to take some photos of us. This is the picture we selected:

Before we had finished our margaritas, our champagne arrived, along with a weird assortment of canapés.

We watched Amber Cove recede in the background as the ship sailed farther and farther away. The Dominican Republic is a beautiful country with majestic mountains.

Crab cake

Surf and Turf

By the time we finished, the stars were out and that amazing moon from last night was shining down on us and on the water.

We don’t possess the equipment or the know-how to take photos of the moon, or of the water at night. Trust me, it was memorable.

Today’s color is — can you guess? — amber!