After a four year absence, we returned to the Caribbean earlier this month – Punta Cana, to be specific.

While our location within the area was technically Cap Cana, our resort ended up being a short walk to Juanillo Beach. A day trip there was a highlight of our first visit to the Dominican Republic in 2017.

While I’ve seen nicer white-sand beaches (such as Grace Bay in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos), I wasn’t going to turn my nose up at this.

We walked Juanillo to a point where one could see Cap Cana itself off in the distance.

As on that previous trip, tall, lanky palms and piercing aqua blue seas were abundant here.

Assuming it’s one of the area’s lovelier public beaches, with plenty of shaded spaces to suntan and relax along with a bar/grill where we dined on lobster, grouper ceviche and frozen cocktails for lunch.

This little hut further away from the shore caught my eye; it reminds me of something from Gilligan’s Island, even though I believe that was set in the “Pacific” rather than the Caribbean.

Even when strewn with algae, branches and other detritus, the sparkling blue of the skies and water renders this an idyllic view.

Thrown in some leaning palms and the view is arguably even better.

Walking back towards our resort and another horizon.

One could see what was technically the southern end of Juanillo Beach from our room’s deck (as well as the odd, castle-like structure to the right, part of the adjacent Sanctuary Cap Cana resort.)

While it’s usually sunny in Punta Cana, there was a passing storm midway through our trip; it was worth it for the brief rainbow afterwards.