Dominican Republic Trip Report

Be sure to also see the photos that accompany this trip report. They're in a separate post entitled "Dominican Republic Photos".

I had been saving up Delta SkyMiles points via my credit card for several years and now had enough miles for two tickets to the Caribbean. It was February, high season for the Caribbean, so prospects of nonreving weren't good anyway. Now was the time to cash in the miles. We would be able to fly confirmed!

I started searching for available award seats and determined wherever I could find seats is where we would go. That ended up being Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. I booked the tickets and soon found that the Dominican Republic was booming as a destination because of the many affordable all-inclusive resorts and a diversity of activities. It has a mountain range with the highest peak in the Caribbean and there is an abundance of adventure sports and tours to choose from. Santo Domingo is on the south coast which is Caribbean. There are hotels and resorts from Boca Chica, just west of Santo Domingo to Punta Cana on the Southeastern tip of the island. In the mean-time we invited another couple, my wife's sister and her husband to come along. They accepted and I helped them with the purchase of their tickets.

As I started to search for accommodations, I wondered if there might be any affordable villas. We had stayed in a private villa with a pool on St. John in the U.S. Virgin islands and loved it. To my delight there were very nice, very affordable villas. There was just one problem. They were on the North Coast of the island, the Atlantic side and the Dominican Republic is no small island. It would be 5 hours or so to drive and conditions were poor. I received recommendations to take a bus. They were nice and very affordable but it would require a taxi from the airport to the bus station and then another taxi from the bus station to the villa. I found some pretty amazing villas. Some came with a maid for the day who would cook for you. So I ran the dilemma by the others. Should we stay close to where we were flying in or go for the villa and endure the extra travel. Everyone wanted the villa.

After much research and stress over whether to drive or take the bus, I opted to rent a car for the much better rate in Santo Domingo and drive. That way we would also have a car the whole time and another must-do excursion would be a day-trip to Samana Bay. We would be there in the middle of whale watching season! But our flight did not arrive until the afternoon and it would be dark before we arrived at our home just east of Sosua. I was ready for the adventure until I received stern warnings from forum participants on DR1 not to do it (DR1 is by far the most helpful Web site for Dominican Republic information). I was advised by those who had been living there for years that not even they attempted that drive at night and I would be putting us at serious risk. There were no lights, suspension-ripping pot holes, crazy drivers, and wandering animals. So we ended up driving over to Boca Chica to stay one night and rising early the next morning to make the drive in the daylight.

Upon arriving at the Villa, we were weary from the journey, but the home did not disappoint. It was a new three-bedroom, two-bath with marble floors and a nice little in ground pool. There was a covered patio just outside the back door and adjacent to the pool. The back yard was completely private with bushy palms all around it. There was a hammock and the little building that housed the pool equipment and a washing machine even had an outdoor shower on the side. About the only disadvantage to the home was that electricity in the Dominica Republic is unreliable and intermittent. The house actually had a battery back up system but only the lights and a few outlets worked on it. The water heater had a switch to turn on an off and we ended up having a few chilly showers. The one day my wife and I had the house to ourselves, we just used the outside shower in the afternoon when it was in the sun.

We recuperated the day after our arrival by lounging around the house and pool. We took a stroll to the beach that was close to the house and came across a spa where the girls set up a massage for the next day. Then we found our way to the beach for a couple hours of sun-bathing. It was a beautiful beach. I ventured out for one short dip but the waves were a bit strong.

We ate, shopped, and bought groceries in Sosua. It's a pretty nice little touristy town with a lot of shops and restaurants. The beach is at Sosua bay and is protected by a reef so the water is very calm. The back side of the beach is completely shaded and small booths with little restaurants and shops run the complete length of the beach. Expect to be accosted frequently by vendors and don't buy anything in the shops without offering a lower price. The first one they offer may be two to three times more than what they'll take. There are a couple of nice size discos in Sosua. We went to check them out and while we did not feel unsafe, we found them a little seedy for our taste. Prostitutes were numerous. Ladies, don't expect them not to flirt with your husbands just because you're present. Caberete is the next town to the east and is a big wind-surfing/kite-boarding destination. I read that it has a lot of young people and a good night life but we only drove through it a couple of times.
The whale watching was the highlight for me. A late start and a wrong turn put us into Samana too late to catch the last excursion. It had already filled up so we had to get an inexpensive hotel and go out on the first one the next morning. But even after dealing with that frustration, it was worth it. We saw several come to the surface on our first stop. When we ventured out to the next stop we saw them breach. There were two of them. I think the male was showing off for the female. They come to the Caribbean to mate and Samana Bay is a premier spot. If you go, call ahead for reservations to one of the outfits recommended on DR1. There's a lot on info on the whales there too.

Looking back, if I had it to do over again, I'd have stayed in an all inclusive on the south coast and visited the north when I could have flown into Puerto Plata or Santiago. We spent way too much time in the car and it was stressful. There are motor bikes and scooters everywhere. There aren't really any lanes and to pass, other drivers just crowd into the middle and go. A stretch on the way to Samana that lasted for a few miles was pot-hole-hell.
For research I got a Dominican Republic "Directions" pocket guide. It's from the Rough Guide Series. I also got a large plastic coated map from Berndtson & Berndtson. I ordered both of them from Amazon.

I found the villa listed on Vacation Rentals by Owner (VRBO) (VRBO).

Be sure to also see the photos that accompany this trip report. They're in a separate post entitled "Dominican Republic Photos".

Other web sites are:
DR1
Alf's Tours
Active Cabarete
Ocean World<A HREF="http://www.dominicana.com.do/" TARGET=_blank>
Dominicana.com</A><A HREF="http://www.dominicanrepublic.com/" TARGET=_blank>
DominicanRepublic.com</A><A HREF="http://www.hispaniola.com/" TARGET=_blank>
Hispaniola.com</A>
Iguana Mama
Samana
Sosua
Sosua Life
<A HREF="http://www.popreport.com/" TARGET=_blank>Puerto
Plata Report</A>