Dominican Republic Vacation??

[SLO-BOB]

I'm considering a trip to Cabarete or Punta Cana. It's going to be a solo man vacation. I'm looking for a short week to chill on a beach, unwind, maybe some windsurfing or sailing, snorkling, etc. I heard DR is a fun place to go. I'm thinking about going in 3 weeks. Any thoughts?

[Flatbutt1]

GO! The DR is a great place to chill. Cabarete is a real tourist spot so be prepared for all the other visitors. Be wary of two night clubs Crystals and the Boheme, they are fronts for prostitution.

Also be prepared to negotiate for everything that is not part of any resort deal you might have. It is a very poor country and people work for everything.

If you're a drinking man sample the local rum Don Ro.

DO NOT drink unbottled water or use ice that you're not sure of. You will be sorry.

And man is it ever HOT and HUMID.

But I've been a dozen times and have never had a bad time.

[p911dad]

My family has gone several times to Boca Chica(south coast) and Puerto Plata(north coast). Always had a great time. Breugal Rum is another fine local rum and el Presidente is the local brew. The locals in my experience are very nice people and have always been accomodating. Like FlatButt says, do not drink the water(don't even brush your teeth with it!) and the only pure ice cubes have a hole(I don't remember-too much Cuba Libre!)or a uniform bubble in the middle(never cracked ice)- or you will be sorry for days(pack the imodium). My last advice-in the casino do not play pota de oro! most crooked game in the place! A gal in my office just came back from Punta Cana and said she would go back, had a great time.

[Joeaksa]

Another vote for Boca Chica... and as noted above, do NOT drink the local water.

[Joeaksa]

Wayne,

The locals bodies get used to some of the organisms but still they have issues with it at times. As well and many drink bottled water along with the tourists.

While its bad here in the DR, its much worse in places like India and Pakistan. Last time I was in Bombay (Mumbai) one ice cube in a coke was all it took and I was down for the count for 3-4 days. Did not move out of the bed unless it was to crap everything including the meal I had in 1993 out of my body. Only massive antibotics finally worked to get me out of there.

Looking closer to home, in Guymas Mexico the water is fine to drink for most of us (I grew up in Mexico as a kid for 4 years so am pretty used to it) but if you go to Mazatlan, a few hundred clicks down the coast, their water is terrible and would not drink it on a bet.

Joe

[Jims5543]

Make sure you request the Rush Limbaugh package deal. You get a bottle of Viagra and the Hotel Concierge gives you your pick of teenage hookers.


My neighbor goes there every couple of years, he loves it there, I can ask him for some tips. His family from Europe meets him there for vacation. Its a huge destination with Europeans.

[Porsche_monkey]

I prefer the Mayan Riviera.

[Zef]

Originally Posted by PBH

I prefer the Mayan Riviera.

+1 on Mayan Riviera...A friend of us is a nurse who is working in DR and warn us than the sanitarian conditions there is the worst she saw during all her career...I was there one time (Punta Cana) and all my family was sick...Definitly a no-no for us...

[Porsche_monkey]

I always got the feeling I was unwelcome and unappreciatd by the locals in DR. I never got that feeling in Mexico.

[North Coast Cab]

I was in Punta Cana recently and concur with most of what has been said. I personally would only stay at a larger high end resort and have heard complaints from many who stayed at places that were well below expectations. We stayed at the Bahi Principe and it was a very nice palce, all-inclusive and they had a water filtration system and we had no issues there.

That said, 99% of the people there spoke Spanish with vacationers primarily from South America and Spain. It didn't pose a major probelm, just didn't really socialize with anyone else on the trip. Waiters and bartenders spoke English, but the rest of the service people did not.

[stomachmonkey]

You also need to watch things like salads. A resort should be fine but out in the local places they are using the local water to wash it.

[tcar]

With bottled water: make SURE that the seal on the top has NOT been broken. Seriously.

Pretty easy to pick empty bottles out of the trash, refill them out of the tap and sell to tourists.

If you only buy 'fizzy' or carbonated water you're safe.

Salads are risky anywhere in the country.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Bob, My daughter was in the D.R. for a vacation two summers ago and had a great time. She highly recommended it for a vacation. She said she avoided the water too...even the water at the resort...."be safe, not sorry - its vacation!".

OTOH, my girlfriend and I were in Cozumel this past May and had a wonderful time. We went because we found an unbelieveably cheap package deal. I think it was 6/7 days/nights accomodations and flight for under $1000. Meals included! Almost too cheap but we had awonderful time. The thatched suites were pretty and ours was right on the water. Rained like a monster once or twice and didn't leak a drop. Beachs were clean and pretty. All in all, I'd heartily suggest going. Here's pix....try not to notice the pudgy guy in the photos...that's me!

View from our room balcony the first night:



A beach side view of the place:


Away from the beach it looked like this:


A short ferry ride to the mainland for an excursion to Xel-Ha ("Shell-Ha" - more or less). Its too beautiful for words. Loved it there:


Another shot of Xel-Ha. Snorkeling is great, lots of fish. Scuba must be good too, I just don't do it. Food? EXCELLENT, I thought:

[kasi]

Check out "Casa de Campo" one of the best resorts in the hole Caribbean they even have there own Airport
in La Romana
It is so big you need a golf cart to get around

http://www.casadecampo.com.do/

[SLO-BOB]

Thanks everyone for the tips. I fly out tomorrow for the week. This winter has really been a killer. I NEED this! I'm staying at a B&B in Sosua. I'm not really into all inclusive. I want to wander and get a feel for the DR. My plan is to get up every morning at 6am and walk for a few hours before people get up. I do that everywhere I travel - very nice and quiet usually. I have a motorcycle reserved for the duration to get around. Yeah - I've heard it's nuts. I'll check it out. I'm also signed up for some downhill (tame I'm sure) mountain bike tours. My main goal, other than killing some (a LOT of) El Presidentes and chilling on the beach, is to check out marinas and sailboats. I may buy and port there. It's my in-between, 6 weeks a winter, solution until I can relocate south - away from winter hell, which will be two years from now.

I'm on a self imposed computer/phone/electronic device hiatus until I get back. I haven't not opened a laptop on a daily basis for years. It will be weird. See you next week!

[SXSMAN]

Have fun and bring back some cigars .

Ummm yeah.......sitting in a chair , watching the sun go down on the water , smoking a fine cigar and having a rum on the rocks , basking in the fading light of the day .

Doesn't suck to be you .

Pics , lots of pics .

SxS

[SLO-BOB]

Okay - I broke my word. I'm online in DR. My phone won't work here so I communicate with my family via e-mail. Let me just say, where I am staying is a whore house. No, not my hotel. The whole town - Sosua. I've never seen so many fat old white men with young black girls in my life. I can't go down the street or sit in a bar without being propositioned (or is it solicited?) every 5 minutes. I'm not complaining believe it or not. It is what it is. But, I would NEVER bring a family (hell, even a girlfriend) here. Cabarete seems a little nicer, but not much. Fortunately, I met a very nice woman from London to hang with. No, not like that. She knows the area and I know nothing. Plus she speaks the language. That in itself really helps. I've met a lot of cool people through here and overall, despite the man-action, i'm having a good time. Just be forewarned, if you want to come here and not go whoring, you might want to camp out at an all-inclusive resort, which I typically shy away from.

[Jims5543]

I was not too far off was I ????

Originally Posted by Jim Cesiro

Make sure you request the Rush Limbaugh package deal. You get a bottle of Viagra and the Hotel Concierge gives you your pick of teenage hookers.

[SLO-BOB]

Originally Posted by Jim Cesiro

I was not too far off was I ????

Actually, you were. What you should have said was that you need to check the little box next to the area that says you don't wan't the Limbaugh package when you register- otherwise it's "all inclusive".

I shouldn't have bothered with the phrase guide either. Turns out Hola! means "Lets F*#k." Oddly enough, so does every other spanish phrase I've tried to turn.

[Flatbutt1]

Bob, their dialect is highly colloquial. They use alot of slang in their spanish. Whats the current exchange rate?