Dominican Republic / Puerto Plata
Playa Sosúa
Playa Sosúa is an 806 m-long beach facing north-west, 700 m north of Sosúa (Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic). The sea averages 29.0 °C in September, its warmest month, and 26.0 °C in February; it stays at 21 °C or above all year.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at Playa Sosúa
Beach-day index 8.5/10 · Dominican Republic median 8.7
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 26.4 °C | 26.0 °C | 26.0 °C | 26.3 °C | 26.9 °C | 27.7 °C | 28.0 °C | 28.4 °C | 29.0 °C | 28.9 °C | 28.2 °C | 27.2 °C |
| High °C | 26° | 26° | 26° | 26° | 27° | 28° | 28° | 29° | 29° | 29° | 28° | 27° |
| Low °C | 25° | 25° | 24° | 25° | 26° | 27° | 27° | 28° | 28° | 27° | 27° | 26° |
| Rain mm | 53 | 31 | 40 | 53 | 90 | 58 | 67 | 79 | 88 | 90 | 105 | 57 |
| Cloud % | 45 | 42 | 47 | 52 | 63 | 56 | 50 | 50 | 53 | 54 | 53 | 46 |
| Wind m/s | 6.1 | 6.2 | 5.9 | 5.9 | 5.9 | 6.1 | 6.5 | 6.1 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.5 | 6.2 |
| Daylight h | 11.1 | 11.5 | 12.0 | 12.6 | 13.1 | 13.3 | 13.2 | 12.8 | 12.3 | 11.7 | 11.2 | 11.0 |
| Record high/low | 28°/22° | 28°/22° | 29°/22° | 30°/23° | 29°/24° | 30°/25° | 30°/26° | 30°/26° | 31°/26° | 31°/26° | 30°/24° | 29°/22° |
| Beach index | 8.8 | 9.0 | 8.9 | 8.7 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.6 | 8.5 | 8.4 | 8.7 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in June–April; February scores 9.0/10 with highs of 26 °C, sea at 26.0 °C and 31 mm of rain.
That matches the median for beaches in Dominican Republic in the same month.
Across the year the sea averages 27.4 °C, warmer than 84% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
November is the wettest month (105 mm) and February the driest (31 mm); the yearly total is about 810 mm.
Daylight runs from 11.0 hours in December to 13.3 hours in June; in mid-February the sun rises at 07:11 and sets at 18:41 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces north-west (305°). Open water fills about 22% of the horizon close by, which makes it a sheltered cove or bay.
The sun sets over the sea in March–September; in mid-June it goes down at 19:21 local time on a bearing of 295°.
Straight out to the north-west about 800 km of open sea lies before the next coast, enough for large swells to build. The beach is on an island of about 73,644 km².
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 23 m deep and 139 m at 3 km. Behind the beach the ground is about 63 m above sea level 500 m inland and 90 m at 1.5 km, so the beach is backed by steep slopes or cliffs.
Within 1 km, the land is 62% tree cover, 31% built-up land and 5% grassland (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a partly built-up setting. Water makes up 33% of that circle.
- Tree 62%
- Built 31%
- Grass 5%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Photos
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- 66Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 3Public toilets
- –Showers
- 6Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 46Hotels & guesthouses
- 4Grocery shops
- 1Pharmacies & clinics
- 3Cash machines
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 42 restaurants, 3 cafés and 21 bars. Accommodation: 46 hotels and guesthouses.
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Around the beach
Attractions & museums
- Museo Judio de Sosua museum 810 m N
- Castillo Mundo King museum 910 m E
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gregorio Luperon International Airport Puerto Plata | POP | 5.5 km | west |
| Cibao International Airport Santiago | STI | 40.4 km | south |
| Samaná El Catey International Airport Samana | AZS | 98.2 km | south-east |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 6 mapped car parks within 1 km.
2 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 26.7K residents); within 30 km there are 9 (about 213K).
Map and nearby beaches
Loading map…
Open in OpenStreetMap · Directions in Google Maps
- Playa Alicia800 m NCompare
Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 17.2 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w29072278; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Water body, status and length: Wikidata (CC0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2B_19QCB_20230319_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 8.1K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.