PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic

Sunscape the Beach, Punta Cana Click photo for larger image. Dominican Republic Entry requirements: A passport is the easiest method but is not required now. Tourists without a visa are admitted on a 15-day permit and must purchase a $10 tourist card, which must be surrendered upon leaving. An additional $300 is charged for stays of 16-90 days. Tourists with U.S. passports must also pay the $10 tourist tax, in cash, at the airport. Beginning Jan. 1, the U.S. government is requiring passports for Caribbean travel. More information: www.dominicanrepublic.com/Tourism/ or call the Dominican Republic Tourist Office in Miami at 1-305-444-4592.

Just as Christopher Columbus did in 1492, we discovered the Dominican Republic last month, and like the great explorer we found it enchanting and beautiful. Indeed it was a New World filled with marvelous vistas, blue-green water, gentle breezes and surprises.

We wanted a tropical island vacation in a country where our 15-year-old son, Dante, could use his increasingly fluent Spanish. Like all vacationers, we hoped for nice accommodations, great weather, varied cuisine and a relaxing, problem-free experience.

Aside from an unexpected brush with the edge of Tropical Storm Ernesto, our hopes were realized.

The all-inclusive Apple Vacations package we booked through the South Hills AAA office was a travel bargain, cheaper than other packages we considered for Mexico and other Caribbean islands.

Our resort, Sunscape the Beach, is on the easternmost tip of the island Columbus christened Hispanola, which is two-thirds Dominican Republic and one-third Haiti. The nonstop flights to and from Punta Cana International Airport took less than four hours.

Our arrival in the Dominican Republic went much smoother than that of Columbus, who ran the Santa Maria aground on Dec. 25, 1492. Dominican ladies in colorful island dress greeted each traveling party with "Hola!" and posed for pictures with all of the tourists. We breezed through immigration, paid the $10-per-person tourist tax and were quickly in an air-conditioned bus for the 60-minute ride to the resort in Playas Uvero Alto, Provincia La Altagracia.

Most of the trip offered up countryside. Eight million people are scattered throughout 19,000 square miles. The country produces sugar, cocoa, coffee, bananas and tobacco used to make the hand-rolled cigars that rival Cubans. We saw colorful, well-kept houses as well as, sadly, the shacks many Dominicans call home.

Billboards proclaim in Spanish that a new four-lane highway will soon be built, and construction of numerous buildings showed that economic development is occurring.

Tourism has grown into one of the island's primary industries, with 4 million visitors last year -- many of them from Europe. The country's Ministry of Tourism proclaims on its Web site -- www.dominicanrepublic.com/Tourism/ -- "For Dominicans there is only one season: Summer."

The average annual temperature fluctuates between 65 and 81 degrees, with humidity tempered by a nearly constant, gentle breeze. Cooler temperatures and less humidity are generally experienced between November and April, while the mountainous interior is always cooler than the rest of the country. Hurricanes buffet the island, on average, once every two years, generally striking the south of the country, usually in August and September.

The pool at Sunscape the Beach. Click photo for larger image.

The resort had more than 600 air-conditioned rooms, all within a few feet of a 3-foot-deep, free-form swimming pool -- complete with waterfalls and a swim-up bar -- that meandered from the lobby to the beach.

Everything was spotless -- our room, hotel hallways, restaurants, poolside rest rooms and the beach, where even seaweed was raked up and hauled away. Thatched-roof shelters called palapas lined the beach to provide shade.

Food of all types was plentiful -- from the amazing morning buffets to the 24-hour room service. The resort has six restaurants -- five a la carte and one buffet. And kids have their own Explorer's Club, a fully supervised program for children 3-12 years old.

There is a small casino, shops, an Internet Cafe and nightly theater shows featuring the performers who dance and supervise poolside games every day. Not to be missed is the Michael Jackson show, a standing-room-only extravaganza that included some terrific dancing.

Our package also included Sunfish sailing, kayaks, snorkeling and wind surfing. Horseback riding and ocean snorkeling were an extra charge, as was use of the health club/spa.

But our Dominican adventure became a little more challenging when Dante and Michael signed up to snorkel in the ocean, as we had done in earlier trips to Aruba and Mexico's Riviera de Maya.

Michael and Dante planned to go on Friday afternoon, but on Thursday night learned while surfing through 40 satellite channels that a storm named Ernesto was headed toward Haiti.

On Friday the normally glass-smooth ocean was dotted with whitecaps. The dive shop staff postponed the trip until the next day.

The ocean was a bit choppier on Saturday, but two resort employees took Michael, Dante and four other guests out in a 20-foot wooden motorboat. When they hit the first wave, they flew into the air and landed with a thud on the wooden seats. It was not fun. The blue sky was turning dark gray as we jumped into the water filled with colorful fish and coral.

Michael was looking underwater when he saw a huge wave lift Dante and other swimmers high into the air. The sky turned black, winds picked up to 20 mph, big waves crashed over the snorkel tubes and the rain was pouring hard. Michael and Dante had been in the water for only about a half hour; it was a struggle swimming against waves to get back to the boat. Even though the storm cut the snorkeling trip in half, everyone -- guides included -- was relieved to get back in the boat and soon back on shore.

Fortunately, other than some gray skies and sporadic rain, Ernesto did little to dampen our trip.

At the airport on our way home, we bought several items in the duty-free shops and the pictures taken with the friendly island women we met upon arrival. The photograph was $7 but worth much more, capturing as it did the colors, smiles, and warmth we discovered in the Dominican Republic.

We couldn't have been happier had we been Christopher Columbus.