Christmas in the Dominican Republic: the table, the holidays and the weather of a December at Riviera Bay

A Dominican Christmas is a long season built around one dinner, on the night of 24 December, and carried by music, visits and a calendar of public holidays. For someone who would spend December at Riviera Bay, in Cana Bay on the Bávaro side of Punta Cana, three practical questions follow: what is on the table, which days the country stops, and what the weather and the sea are like at that time of year. This page answers them from Dominican newspapers, the national holiday law and long-term climate records, then turns to how the season runs at Riviera Bay.

What is on a Dominican Christmas Eve table?

Pork, above all. A Dominican newspaper's list of seven dishes that do not go missing at Christmas starts with roast pork or lechón, marinated in an adobo of oregano, garlic and sour orange, and adds pasteles en hoja made with green plantain and yautía, ensalada rusa of potatoes, carrots, beetroot and mayonnaise, moro de guandules con coco (rice and pigeon peas cooked in coconut milk), telera, a long soft bread, pernil, and coquitos, fruit and Christmas sweets. Another paper notes that roast pork has held the centre of the table since colonial times, that more chicken is eaten in the south, and that pork dominates in the north and the capital.

Menus vary from house to house, so read the list as a pattern rather than a rule. For an owner hosting at home, it is also a shopping list: the pork, the pigeon peas and the telera are the things to order early in a week when everyone else is buying the same.

Which December days does the country stop?

The Dominican Republic has 12 national public holidays in 2026 under Law 139-97. That law moves most holidays to a Monday: one falling on a Tuesday or Wednesday goes back to the previous Monday, and one on a Thursday or Friday goes forward to the following Monday. A handful of dates are kept fixed for religious or patriotic reasons, and 25 December is one of them, along with 1 January. In 2026 Christmas Day falls on a Friday and stays there, so the long weekend runs from Friday to Sunday.

Three Kings' Day, 6 January, is different: it is movable, and in 2026 it was observed on Monday 5 January. Where it lands next January depends on the calendar the Ministry of Labour publishes for that year, so check it before planning around a closed office or bank.

What is the weather like at Christmas in Bávaro?

Warm, mostly dry, and breezy. The long-term climate averages for the Punta Cana weather station, from the national meteorological office for 1961 to 1990, give December a mean daily high of about 82.6°F and a mean low of about 72.1°F, with 3.1 in of rain on an average of 11 days. The drier season of the year is generally reckoned to run from 29 December to 30 April, so the holidays sit at its threshold, and the sea is still about 81°F in December.

The wind is the change a winter visitor notices. Modelled averages put December as the windiest month of the year in Punta Cana, at about 13.4 mph, with the breeze coming predominantly from the east, compared with about 10.2 mph in October, the calmest. On the Bávaro shore that tends to mean livelier water on some days, which is worth knowing for a swim with children or a morning on a boat.

What else fills the season?

Music, visits and late nights. A Dominican newspaper's account of the season describes aguinaldos, groups that go from house to house singing carols and playing instruments and are offered ginger tea or hot chocolate in return; the angelito, a gift exchange among friends, family or colleagues; and the Misa de Gallo, the midnight Mass of 24 December, after or before the dinner depending on the household. Children wait for the Three Kings on the night of 5 January, and the Vieja Belén, who keeps no fixed date, may bring a late present.

The same paper's reporting notes that some of these customs are fading in the cities, so a visitor should expect them unevenly rather than everywhere. What does not fade is the pace: the week between Christmas and the New Year is a time when families travel, gather and eat late, and a December plan at Riviera Bay works best when it follows that rhythm rather than fights it.

How does December run at Riviera Bay?

Riviera Bay is a development of 110 residences in Cana Bay with 2 pools, a beach club and rooftop terraces, set on the Hard Rock Golf Club, an 18-hole, par-72 course. Bávaro Beach is about 5 minutes by car, the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino about 5 minutes, and Punta Cana International Airport about 20 minutes, which matters in a week when flights and roads are at their busiest.

That makes the season easy to shape around the house. The Nochebuena dinner can be cooked and eaten at home, a holiday round of golf starts on site, and a beach morning needs only a short drive. An owner who lets the residence out for part of the year will also find December, with Christmas and the New Year in it, the month to reserve for themselves early, since every buyer from the north is making the same plan.

Common questions

What do Dominicans eat for Christmas?

The Nochebuena dinner on 24 December centres on roast pork or lechón, marinated with oregano, garlic and sour orange, with pasteles en hoja, ensalada rusa, moro de guandules con coco, telera bread, pernil and Christmas sweets. More chicken is eaten in the south.

Is Christmas Day a fixed holiday in the Dominican Republic?

Yes. Law 139-97 moves most holidays to a Monday but keeps 25 December fixed, along with 1 January. In 2026 Christmas Day falls on a Friday, one of 12 national public holidays that year.

How warm is it in Punta Cana at Christmas?

Long-term averages for the Punta Cana station give December a mean high of about 82.6°F and a mean low of about 72.1°F, with 3.1 in of rain over 11 days. The sea is about 81°F.

Is December windy in Punta Cana?

It is the windiest month on modelled averages, at about 13.4 mph, with the wind mostly from the east. October is the calmest, at about 10.2 mph.

How far is Riviera Bay from the beach and the airport?

Bávaro Beach is about 5 minutes by car and Punta Cana International Airport about 20 minutes. The residences sit on the Hard Rock Golf Club.