Piergiorgio, the “New Beach”
It is not everyday you hear about a new beach being “born” in your hometown, nor is it the first time this has happened here. In 2001, Mother Nature in all her glory decided to slowly create a new beach located in Sosua, located on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic. That beach today is the popular Playa Alicia. Now it appears she is up to her old tricks again and may have a second beach for us to enjoy.
Nature’s Creation of a New Beach in Sosua
The buzz and excitement over the past month or two has been the formation of a new beach in front of the La Puntilla de Piergiorgio Restaurant and Hotel, adjacent to the neighboring Playa Alicia. Recently, pictures have been posted all over social media, creating much interest and maybe some speculation as to the reasons of how this beach came about.
The Piergiorgio beach starting to get visitors.
Earlier this week, Rich and I decided to have dinner at Piergiorgio’s in order to take a few pictures. Currently, this is the only easy access to see the beach by land. As always, the views sitting atop the Sosua cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean were stunning. It was Labor Day, a national holiday in the Dominican Republic, so there were plenty of boats passing us by while we enjoyed watching another Dominican sunset.
The view from Sosua’s Piergiorgio Restaurant & Hotel
If you are planning to stop by the hotel in order to see the beach, there is a $10 USD fee per person to access their hotel. This is to help keep disruption to a minimum for their guests. The fee will be deducted from your bill if you plan on having dinner, or perhaps a few drinks.
The Natural Wonder of Playa Alicia
Playa Alicia today
Playa Alicia, also referred to as the “Waterfront Beach”, is located at the end of Calle Dr Rosen beside the Waterfront Restaurant in the town of Sosua. In order to reach the beach, there is a set of stairs which takes you down approximately 20 feet to sea-level.
In 2001, the residents of “El Batay” began to notice the ocean currents accumulating sand along the cliffs, which soon resulted in the formation of a small beach. Over the years, Playa Alicia has grown or widened to what we see today. It is a wonderful beach for swimming or relaxing by the ocean. Lounge chairs and umbrellas are available to rent. There is also a volleyball net setup to play a game or two.
What May Cause this New Beach to Form?
In the May 2nd, 2017 edition of the Dominican Today, this article was printed:
“Santo Domingo.- Geologist Osiris de Leon on Tuesday said the expansion of beaches as much as 50 meters in Dominican Republic’s north coast is the result of an emergence of the Caribbean tectonic plate combined with the low tide affected by the Moon.
He said the phenomenon is also occurring at the beaches of Buen Hombre, Montecristi (northwest), Portillo and Las Terrenas, in Samaná (northeast) and Sosua, Puerto Plata (north).
News of the ´growing beaches´ has fueled speculation of tectonic movements in the country where low magnitude tremors are common” ….more information to follow.
However, this is just one opinion.
Living in the DR for over five years now, we see certain areas of the coastline where the sand will shift. Depending on the time of year, climate, and ocean currents, it is quite common for sand to shift from one area to another, especially in the Puerto Plata region. It was a complete surprise when we first moved to Sosua to revisit a small, favourite beach of ours to find out it was mostly rock. The sand had shifted at least 50 feet. A few months later, it had all shifted back.
We experienced the same during family vacations to the Samana Peninsula. Depending on the time of year, the sand would shift and the shoreline would be completely different.
Over the next few months, it will be interesting to see if this “new beach” continues to grow, or perhaps the currents will change to reverse the process. I do know change is constant and only time will tell.
(Just to note: I will continue to follow-up on our new beach and update this blog for those that are interested).
-Cathy Regan.
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