Jhon and I had been wanting to stay in the Live Aqua Beach Resort in Punta Cana for a while now, and this past weekend we finally did.
The Live Aqua is a small, adults-only resort that we think is perfect for couples. We saw a few couples celebrating anniversaries or having romantic dinners. The hotel does a good job of catering to these special occasions.
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Here’s How Much We Paid
We took advantage of a special price offered by American Express and paid $346.86 for the two of us to stay in a “Garden View King” room for one night. The room was very pretty, but more on that later.
Location
The Live Aqua is located in the Uvero Alto area, about a 39 minutes drive away from the Punta Cana international airport.
If you’re part of our travelers community, you know by now that Uvero Alto is a secluded area about half an hour away from Bavaro, where most attractions like Coco Bongo, Downtown Punta Cana, and Katmandu Park are located. You must take a taxi if you plan to explore outside the resort and go into town.
The Beach
If you watch our YouTube channel regularly, you know that the beach in Uvero Alto is not the prettiest. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a beautiful tropical beach, but Punta Cana has better-looking beaches in areas like Bavaro and Arena Gorda.
The sand in Uvero Alto is a darker brown, and it almost looks like it’s always wet. Since Uvero Alto’s location is more on the Atlantic Ocean than the Caribbean Sea side, the water can be rougher and darker.
This being said, the beach area in the Live Aqua was super well organized and clean. The sand was raked, so it was nice and even; the vegetation was nicely groomed.
There was very little seaweed during our visit, but the staff was busy picking up what little amount there was. Even though the sky was overcast and it had rained, the beach looked very pretty.
We’ve stayed at four resorts in Uvero Alto, and this was by far the best beach area we’ve seen; We give two thumbs up to the Live Aqua.
The Pools
The resort has excellent pool area coverage. There are five pools for general use; four are located halfway from the lobby to the beach.
They are rectangular in shape, and two of them are parallel to the other two. One half of the pool is shallow, and the other half is about waist deep for a 5 ’11 person; not very deep but enough to swim.
All four have swimming pool faucets for a nice water massage and relaxing waterfall sound. The surrounding area is beautiful; you feel like you’re in the middle of a tropical garden. There are plenty of chaise lounges and Balinese beds in these pools.
Closer to the beach, you’ll find the main pool, a bigger, deeper pool. Here you have a pool bar and music playing. The seating area is more limited than the smaller pools, and all the chaise lounges around the pool were taken, so we had to wake up early the following day to grab one.
The pools and beach are colder in winter, so keep that in mind if you like warm water.
The Amenities
The Live Aqua is what we’d call a boutique hotel, so it’s not heavy on amenities.
There’s a medium-sized, well-equipped gym with free weights, weight machines, treadmills, and a dedicated spinning area.
There is also a pretty-looking spa next to the lobby area and a sports bar called Compton Street; we had a fantastic drink after checking in and had lunch after checking out here. We tried the pizza and the ribs, and both were good.
There’s plenty of seating, two pool tables, and a darts board.
The Nightlife
The night we spent at the Live Aqua, the “Aqua del Mar” theater, didn’t open. The night entertainment advertised during the day took place outside by the coffee shop instead.
There was live music, a magic show, and then live music again. After dinner, people gathered in this area to watch the magician and dance to the music.
Many people also gathered around the “Strainer” bar, located under the lobby floor. This area is quite large, with plenty of seating options and servers taking drink orders.
You could hear the live music from here and still have a conversation. The drinks at this bar were super tasty; here, Ari tried the best piña colada he’s had in Punta Cana so far.
We thought all these people were waiting for the disco to open at 11 PM, but a few minutes after 11, there were just a couple of people at the disco. The music was super loud, and we only stayed briefly since we were tired.
The Food
We really liked the food during our stay. Breakfast at the “Liberi” buffet was super good, one of the best breakfasts we’ve tried in the resorts we’ve stayed in so far. The buffet is not super big, but it has an excellent variety.
The Live Aqua does the buffet differently from what we’ve experienced in most Punta Cana resorts. We’re not sure if we like it.
On our first day, the buffet only opened for breakfast. For lunch, we had to eat at one of two restaurants by the main pool, the Mediterranean or the cevichería, both of which are a la carte.
Lunch
We ate at the “Huzur” Mediterranean restaurant. The view from here is beautiful, but the food is just ok. We didn’t have to wait long at all for our food, and the staff was super friendly.
The “Miraflores” cevichería is on the opposite side of the pool, closer to the beach. We didn’t get to try it.
There was also a small grilled food buffet in the beach area. The food looked and smelled delicious.
We found ourselves missing the variety of a buffet for lunch. The next day, they told us that the buffet would open for lunch and that they open or close it depending on the resort’s occupancy.
Dinner
For dinner, the rest of the a la carte restaurants are open. There are four cuisine options. You don’t need a reservation to dine at any restaurant, so we decided to do a culinary tour.
First, we tried the Mexican. The restaurant was well decorated, the service was fast, the staff super friendly, and the food delicious. We tried the nachos, the fish tacos, and the tortilla soup; everything was super tasty.
Then we headed to the Italian restaurant. It was busier, and the service was slower. Our waitress was doing all she could; it seemed she was the only one taking orders for all tables. They had a small buffet of entrees, and the options we tried were good.
