Fortaleza San Felipe

San Felipe was built in the 1560s to guard the harbour of Puerto Plata against the pirates and smugglers working this coast, and it is the oldest structure still standing on the north coast. It is small: a compact stone fort with thick walls, a dry moat, a handful of rooms and a platform of cannon facing the sea. Inside, a modest museum holds weapons, chains and objects from the fort's long life, including its later use as a prison. The setting is the point as much as the building, standing at the tip of the headland with the malecón running back into town, the Atlantic on one side and the harbour on the other, and Pico Isabel de Torres rising behind.

What you actually see

• The fort - the oldest surviving building on the north coast.
• The cannon platform - facing the harbour entrance.
• The small museum - weapons and objects from the fort's history.
• The headland setting - Atlantic, harbour and mountain in one view.

When to go

November to April is drier and calmer. Late afternoon is best, with the light on the water and the malecón filling as the heat drops. It takes under an hour, so it pairs with the cable car up Pico Isabel de Torres.

Honest expectations

It is genuinely small and the museum is modest; forty minutes covers it. Cruise days bring groups that fill the courtyard. There is little shade on the headland. Puerto Plata's malecón nearby is pleasant but the town has patchy stretches.

Nearby

The Puerto Plata cable car is ten minutes; the Victorian old town is behind the malecón.