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May 22, 2023

It’s All About The Aqua At Live Aqua Punta Cana

With pools at every turn and the ocean lapping at its beach, water lovers will

With pools at every turn and the ocean lapping at its beach, water lovers will love Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana, the first hotel by La Colección Resorts by Fiesta Americana outside of Mexico.

Pools abound at Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana.

Upon entering the massive tiered lobby at Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana, the first thing you’ll notice is the pool of dozens of smiling yellow rubber duckies floating about. It's just the first of many aqua appearances at this 347-room all-inclusive for adults. Those ducks hint at the opportunities to float away your worries during your stay.

Rubber ducks greet guests on the top level of Live Aqua Punta Cana's lobby.

Rubber duckies greet you in your room too, perhaps sitting on your king-size bed or on your outdoor lounge next to rolled towels and ready to take a dip with you. Guests on second- and third-floor rooms can float their ducks in the private whirlpools on their balconies. All first-floor rooms have both a jetted pool as well as share a swim-up pool that lines both sides of the residential buildings.

It's serene within Live Aqua's spacious rooms, which are done up in cream and taupe. King-size beds look out to the sunbeds and pool on your patio or balcony. Indoors you’ll have a couch, reading chair with footstool, and a table for two for in-room dining. Other features include a mini-fridge with included drinks and snacks, a large wall-mounted TV, and lots of storage space so you can keep the clean lines after you move in. You can choose your preferred selections from the pillow and aromatherapy menus to make the room your own.

A swim-up room, Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana.

The bathroom area is open to the rest of the room, with a long sink for two with peek-through spaces out to the sleeping and sitting areas. The toilet and shower are in separate spaces with smoked glass doors—the shower room is so large it has two rain showers (plus a handheld) so no one has to get cold during a shower for two.

Aqua Club guests have perks in addition to their swim-up pools, including butler service, à la carte breakfast with ocean views, and a VIP lounge that's also used for check-in (which includes a bliss-inducing welcome hand massage).

A swim-up pool at Live Aqua Punta Cana Beach Resort.

All guests at Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana can swim in and lounge beside five swimming pools—the main pool with a swim-up bar that's nearest the beach, plus four quiet rectangular pools that have fountain jets for an in-pool massage between cocktails. These four pools border the resort's central walkway which is covered with the pale flowers of the blue trumpet vine and provides a shady way to get almost everywhere on the property. There are also eight swim-up pools for Aqua Club guests just steps outside their room.

The main pool at Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana.

Other decorative pools provide welcoming cool sights and sounds, including the lobby's three tiers of pools and the shallow pools that border restaurant patios.

The beach at Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana.

The biggest pool—the ocean—is at the beach. Live Aqua's beach, at the foot of the rectangular property, is soft sand dotted with palapas that provide welcome shade for pairs of sunbeds. Bali beds are also available at an extra charge. On the Aqua Club side of the beach, you might be greeted with a fresh coconut—branded with the Live Aqua logo on its side—to sip while you decide whether to swim or just wade in the clear water. Drinks and snacks are delivered to you at your request, with servers attentive but unobtrusive.

While sargassum is a growing problem in the Atlantic, especially during the summer months, Live Aqua has a floating boom surrounding its beach to keep a large swimming area clear and to prevent the seaweed from washing ashore. The ocean here has a sandy bottom and mellow waves, ideal both for swimming lengths and for floating in the sun with a cocktail in hand.

The spa at Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana.

While you’d expect to find a spa at any five-star beach resort, Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana's goes further with a hydrotherapy section providing more aqua fun for water lovers.

The breeze comes through the slatted walls onto the spa's lounge chairs that surround the pool with its skylight. You can cool off from the sauna or the hot day in this pool which has multiple water features to relax your mind and your muscles. Tour the pool's circuit, which includes sloped bubble beds and fountains that thunder water from up high onto sore shoulders. You can also experience four different sensory showers, including one with aromatherapy, stretch out in the sauna, or take a slow stroll through the rounded stone footpath with water jets that target your legs and feet.

The spa has a wide range of treatments from top-notch therapists. You’ll find typical ones like hot stone and deep tissue massages done with expertise, and also more unusual therapies like a sensation fusion massage which combines Lomi Lomi, acupressure and Swedish techniques.

ATL Mexican restaurant, Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana.

La Colección and Live Aqua resorts are known for the quality of their food and beverage offerings. At Live Aqua Urban Resort San Miguel de Allende, for example, restaurants include the Mexican-Thai fusion Zibu Allende, created by celebrity chef Eduardo Palazuelosis, and the Spice Market with influences from China, India, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam.

During a week's stay at Live Aqua's Punta Cana all-inclusive, you’ll have difficulty repeating restaurants. This is especially unusual given this resort has just 347 rooms. And, unlike at most beach hotels, you don't have to make reservations for the specialty restaurants—there's no need to adhere to a schedule on your vacation if you don't want to.

Live Aqua Punta Cana has eight different restaurants, in addition to several bars which also serve food. Upstairs in the hotel's main building are the Italian Sospiro, Chez Rose for French cuisine, ATL for Mexican, plus the Compton St. sports bar. Downstairs are the Asian fusion Seishin, the main buffet restaurant called Loberi, the Cool Fever coffee shop, the lobby bar, and, often, an outdoor barbeque at dinner.

Close to the beach and above Live Aqua's main pool is the al fresco Huzar which serves Mediterranean cuisine (and, for Aqua Club guests, breakfast). Right next to the beach is the ceviche restaurant which has almost too many ceviche choices. Bars are also dotted throughout the property, often near Live Aqua's many pools.

The resort is in Uvero Alto, at Punta Cana's north end. It's a 40-minute drive to the airport with similar distances to several day excursions. They include seeing the area's hilly mountains with ziplines and the opportunity to learn about the Dominican Republic's sugarcane, coffee, cacao, tobacco, and fruits production. An exclusive and uncrowded excursion choice that's ideal for water lovers is visiting the Indigenous Eyes Ecological Park where you can swim in several crystal clear cenotes hidden within the subtropical forest.

Cenotes at Indigenous Eyes Eco Reserve, Punta Cana.