Samaná, in full Santa Bárbara de Samaná, is a town and municipality in northeastern Dominican Republic and the capital of Samaná Province. It is on the northern coast of Samaná Bay. The town is an important tourism destination and the main center for whale-watching tours in the Caribbean region.

The Captaincy General of Santo Domingo was the first Capitancy in the New World, established by Spain in 1492 on the island of Hispaniola. The Capitancy, under the jurisdiction of the Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo, was granted administrative powers over the Spanish possessions in the Caribbean and most of its mainland coasts, making Santo Domingo the principal political entity of the early colonial period.