Descend into
The Three Eyes of Santo Domingo
A few minutes from the old colonial city, a stairway cut into the rock leads down into a collapsed cave where three still, turquoise lagoons sit beneath hanging limestone.
Read About Los Tres OjosMore of the Dominican Republic—The capital and the beaches of the south and east coasts.
This 360° panorama was captured on the stone terrace at the bottom of the stairway into Los Tres Ojos, inside Mirador del Este park in Santo Domingo Este, beside one of the cave lagoons.
The camera stands on the paved terrace at the foot of the stairs, with the railing in front of it and the cave mouth opening overhead. The limestone roof hangs low and pale, dripping with stalactites, and beneath it lies a lagoon so clear the bottom shows through in shades of turquoise. Stone steps climb away on both sides, and trees lean in over the lip of the sinkhole where the daylight comes through.
Los Tres Ojos, the Three Eyes, is a chain of lagoons inside a limestone cave system that partly collapsed long ago, leaving open shafts where the forest grows down toward the water. The name comes from the three lagoons visitors reach on foot. A fourth lies beyond, open to the sky, and is reached by a small boat across one of the lakes.
The caves are thought to have been known to the Taíno, the island’s people before the Spanish arrived, and today they sit inside Mirador del Este, a long park on the east bank of the Ozama River. They are one of the most visited sights in Santo Domingo, easy to combine with the Zona Colonial across the river.
How do you visit Los Tres Ojos? The park is in Santo Domingo Este, about ten minutes by taxi across the Ozama River from the Zona Colonial. A path and stone stairways lead down to the lagoons, and the full walk takes about an hour. The steps can be slippery, so wear shoes with grip. A small boat crosses one lagoon to reach the fourth, open to the sky.