In the pre-Columbian era, Juan Dolio was the site of a indigenous Arawak's settlement of the Taino people known as El Corral with its cemetery near the western end of the bay. The natural bay of the Playa Juan Dolio protected by the coral reef in front was used as a harbor for their canoes. Occasionally are still archaeological findings made in the center area of Juan Dolio.
Since the late nineteenth century the community of Juan Dolio was a section of the municipality of San José de los Llanos. On May 8, 1884, by Decree No. 2223, the communities of Juan Dolio and Guayacanes were segregated and added to the Maritime District of San Pedro de Macoris.
The legal foundation of the tourist destination Juan Dolio, began with the enactment of Decree No. 3133 of January 23, 1973, which sets the limits and extension of the area populated by fishermen and farmers. During the late 1980s Juan Dolio became one of the first tourist resorts in the country and an exclusive destination for mainly European tourists. Later the business concept of an All-inclusive resort offered by the various hotels lead to a tourist boom and the construction of new hotels in the western part of Juan Dolio, Villas Del Mar. In 1995 the hotels in Juan Dolio had a daily average of 5,500 tourists. After Hurricane Georges devastated Juan Dolio in 1998, many of the hotel chains moved their business further east where the new tourist destination Bavaro-Punta Cana was just built from the ground. The owners of the damaged resorts in Juan Dolio since then have problems attracting new business partners and most of the beach hotels were closed. Some of the older hotels were demolished and became development sites for real estate projects.
Since 2006 Juan Dolio is part of the municipality of Guayacanes, the latest district in the San Pedro de Macorís Province, created by Law No. 203-06 of May 3, 2006. Formally established in December 2007, the town council of Guayacanes is now also
