Aquatic attractions on Dominican shores.

• Author: Holston, Mark
• Position: Dominican Republican National Aquarium

Although the island of Hispaniola is surrounded by some of the richest aquatic life to be found in the greater Caribbean, until recently an opportunity to experience up close the marvels of the sea was an impossibility for the eight million citizens of the Dominican Republic.

Today, just six years after it opened its doors, the country's National Aquarium has become one of the island nation's most popular domestic tourist attractions, drawing about forty thousand visitors a month to enjoy its diverse exhibits. Approximately 1.5 million visitors have gained admission to the Santo Domingo facility since its November 1990 debut, including initial record-setting months that twice topped 100,000. Dominican adults account for about 50 percent of all visitors, with the remaining amount split between Dominican students and foreign tourists.

The state-of-the-art facility, which will remind some visitors of Chicago's famed Shedd Aquarium, is located in the Sans Souci district of Santo Domingo, near the outlet of the Ozama River, the Lighthouse of Columbus, and the city's colonial zone, and between two maritime national parks, Litoral Sur Santo Domingo and SubMarino La Caleta.

With a capacity for 500,000 gallons of saltwater and 30,000 gallons of freshwater, the aquarium houses a total of eighty-eight exhibits, ranging in size from 30 to 300,000 gallons. Approximately three hundred...