Puerto Plata has resorts such as Playa Dorada and Costa Dorada, which are located east of the city proper. There are , hotel beds in the city. The first aerial tramway of the Caribbean is located in Puerto Plata, in which visitors can ride up to the Pico Isabel de Torres, a meter foot high mountain within the city.
During the first decades of the existence of the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo , the settlement was considered the main commercial and maritime port of the island. In , it was depopulated and destroyed by order of Philip III of Spain to counter raids by English privateers and pirates; a hundred years later, the city was repopulated with farmers from the Canary Islands. From to the city was under Haitian control. From on began the period of the republic, in which the city began to recover its maritime and commercial boom.
Beginning in , the current Puerto Plata began to be built. This explains the Victorian style of much of its current architecture. By the end of the 19th century, Puerto Plata had become important for its cultural, social, maritime, and economic development. The city sits on land that rises abruptly from the sea making it almost completely visible from the port. It is bordered on the north by the Atlantic Ocean and to the south and southwest by the hill Isabel de Torres.
The small bay around which the city was built provides a natural harbor. Puerto Plata is the largest city on the northern seaboard. The mountain Isabel de Torres is situated some 5 km to the southwest of the city of San Felipe.
Geographically it forms part of the Cordillera Septentrional, reaching a maximum height of m above sea level. The highway, upon leaving the city, continues west, passing the populated areas of San Marcos, Piedra Candela and El Cruce, arriving at a paved section that continues southeast and then leads directly to the top. The area surrounding Loma Isabel de Torres has been declared a National Monument with an area that covers approximately 20 km 2.
