All roads in the Dominican town of Miches lead to the ocean.

One ends at Esmeralda, a white sand beach with clear blue water under which sits a coral reef visible from the shore. When you stand there, it feels as if you’ve leapt into a Caribbean travel poster — for a getaway to a place unspoiled by tourists.

That poster is going to get much more crowded. The Four Seasons is planning to open a 10-complex resort in 2019 called Tropicalia, its first in the Dominican Republic. The company is bypassing an already crowded market in Punta Cana and Puerto Plata for the chance for a foothold near Esmeralda Beach. The concept is a grand resort in a pristine setting. Miches, though, is best seen in its natural, unmanicured light, close to the humble people who have cultivated the area.

Miches is a town of 30,000, largely farmers and fishermen. The rhythms of the day are dictated by subsistence within this natural bounty. Most Micheros wake early and head out to fish. They also tend to plantains, yucca, chickens and the huge pigs they raise for their Christmas feasts.

“A Michero never starves,” said Yonattan Mercado, who was born there and works for the ministry of the environment. “They always have a crop, a chicken, something, and if they don’t, their neighbor does.”