Fortaleza de San Felipe

We visited Fortaleza de San Felipe, a 16th-century Spanish fortress turned museum—once protecting the coast from pirates and later serving as a political prison. Cool sea breezes drifted over weathered stone walls as lush green grass met the blue ocean, with our cruise ship, MSC World America, rising behind it—where history and modern travel meet. The grass is a bit slippery after the rain; one of our friends fell - so be careful and cautious!!

This is a historic 16th-century Spanish fortress in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. It is now a museum showcasing its role in defending the coast from pirates and invaders. There are original cannons and ancient weapons on site with a small museum inside detailing the fort's history as a military stronghold and subsequently a prison.

Great views of the lagoon - it was poetic i visited the place on my last day in Bacalar. I spent an hour there but you can go faster.

Not only is the first interesting and historically significant, you should go there just for the history alone, but there's a beautiful view and a great breeze off the water to keep things cool and comfortable. It was about 100 pesos and worth the price to get to see the views from the turrets. There is parking and there are public bathrooms too, and souvenir stalls too if you like that kind of thing.

Well maintain, nice to walk and not feel like a tour is going to ask for a fee or approach you. Beautiful place from puerto plata and full of a lot of potential.

Cool history, interesting place to visit and learn about the fort.

This fort is in San Felipe Park which is a short walk from the cruise ship port. The sidewalk is skinny in places so not accessible for wheelchairs. Once at the park it’s easy walking to get to the fort itself. Who wouldn’t like seeing a Spanish fort dating to the late 1500s which was built to defend against pirates. The fort was completed in 1577. There is a $2 per person fee and you get a headset so you can listen to the story of the fort. My headset didn’t work well. I think it was a bad cable or the audio port. It was fine as the fort is interesting with lots of things to look at and read. Like most of the Dominican, the fort could use money to fix things up. It’s a great place to get photos of the water, beaches and cruise ship port. There are public bathrooms in the fort.

The San Felipe Fort was a stop on our private tour of Puerto Plata. If you’ve been to San Juan and seen the large fort there, this is much smaller, but very similar in age and stone composition. Over 450 years old, it is on a cliff next to ocean so there are plenty of great views. You can also buy tickets to go through it for a half hour tour.