The Dominican Republic's north coast is having a moment. Gregorio Luperón International Airport in Puerto Plata has grown 7.8% so far this year compared with 2025, and September — normally one of the slowest months in the Caribbean — arrivals were up 35%. That's not a blip; it's a wave of new air connections landing all at once.

Two markets are driving it. The first is Canada, long a loyal source of sun-seeking winter travellers to the DR, and now arriving in even higher volumes with strong load factors on flights into the North Coast. The second is South America, and specifically Argentina, which got a major boost when Copa Airlines plugged Puerto Plata into its Panama City hub. Copa began service in January, scaled up permanently from June 1, and has already moved more than 15,000 Argentines into the destination in under a year.

More seats are coming. Colombian low-cost carrier Wingo launched a Bogotá–Puerto Plata route on November 6, flying twice weekly on Mondays and Fridays through January 25, 2027. Then Canada's Flair Airlines joins the winter schedule with non-stop flights from Montreal starting December 18 and Toronto from December 19 — a big injection of low-cost capacity aimed squarely at the snowbird season.

Airport officials, speaking via Aerodom's Airports North Cluster, also flag 2027 as a growth year, with European long-haul carriers reportedly negotiating to begin operations at the terminal. If those deals land, Puerto Plata would gain a direct link to a market that currently mostly reaches the DR through Punta Cana in the east.

For travellers, the takeaway is simple: Puerto Plata is easier to reach than it has been in years, whether you're flying from Buenos Aires via Panama, Bogotá on Wingo, or non-stop from Montreal or Toronto on Flair. And unlike Punta Cana, the North Coast offers a different flavour of Dominican holiday — the Victorian-era centre of Puerto Plata city, the cable car up Pico Isabel de Torres, kite-surfing at Cabarete, and the resort hub of Sosúa and Playa Dorada all within a short drive. Cheaper competition on routes also tends to mean better fares, especially if you book early for the December-to-March high season.

If you've been priced out of the DR's better-known resorts or simply want the country's north, this winter is a good window to try it.