I just spent this morning writing about some of my favorite eco-resorts around the globe for an upcoming column in Away.com. They include Cotton Tree Lodge deep in the heart of the jungle in southern Belize and Daintree Eco Lodge in the Daintree Rainforest outside of Port Douglas, Australia. Yes, they’re lush locales favored by monkeys and crocs. But what really separates these places from the more generic travel fodder is their partnership with locals who have lived there for centuries. At Daintree, you’re taking tours with Aborigine guides as you learn about Dreamtime while meditating next to a waterfall. Cotton Tree has a symbiotic relationship with local Mayan villages, so you can follow a guide into her thatched hut and learn how to create chocolate, tortillas, or try your hand at pottery.

Cut to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, which I’ve written about ad nauseum because it’s one of the Caribbean’s fastest growing destinations. On the east coast of the country, it was uninhabited forest, several sugar cane farms, and a strip of beach. Then helicopter pilot Frank Rainieri flew over it and realized this could be the next Cancun. That it is, my friends. A strip of beach devoid of history, with the only culture being artists on the beach selling Botero look-alikes to the hordes of charter tourists that fly in from New York, Boston, and Toronto. Sure, Oscar de la Renta might have a house overlooking the golf course at Punta Cana Resort, but the courses of La Romana are far more intriguing because the restaurants there actually serve authentic Dominican cooking. New York’s Washington Heights has far more Dominican flavor than Punta Cana.

If you want a beach that has a rich history in DR, head to the small village of Cabarate, about 15 miles east of Puerto Plata. Windsurfers and sailors know the town for its steady trade winds and a sheltered cove. For those who prefer land to sea, outfitters like Iguana Mama take mountain bikers and horseback riders on half-day guided rides through the interior past coffee plantations and cabbage fields, crossing rivers where villagers wash their laundry. The only people washing the laundry in Punta Cana are the imported workers slaving away at the all-inclusive resorts.