Recent content by ronks

What is the hottest place in the DR? I am referring to consistent temperature, not spikes, which can happen anywhere. This should factor in all seasons of the year.

I have been reading the DR1 posts for years and have always been interested in how expats have fared investing in CDs or other instruments in the DR. When I first tuned into DR1 in 2003, there had been a huge bank blowout due to corruption, etc. and people lost a lot of money. And this was...

I would like to know if travelers cheques are still accepted at the casa de cambios? Is there a discount as compared to cash? If so, how much? Thanks.

My original introduction to the DR came through Marko, and I could not have been more fortunate, since his little bar/ hotel/ watering hole for expats is about as all-inclusive as one can hope for as a jumping off point. In November 2003, He picked me up at the airport and I settled in for a...

I have been trying to research the incidence of Diabetes in the DR but have not come up with very useful demographic statistics. I am working with a close friend who is a specialist (Endocrinologist) to develop a peer to peer (p2p) program for education and self-care among Native Americans. He...

I have been tuning into the weather news for some years and have the northcoast on my list, since it always seems to get hit by hurricanes. My question is how do you expats protect yourselves from these potentially lethal storms? I would hope that you would plan to overbuild in preparation for...

Can we begin again? I actually found this thread VERY INFORMATIVE up to the point that the dispute broke out over the wording of certain posts. As case in point, I would have never considered Cabrera if it were not for this thread. Is it possible to clean up this thread and leave the...

I was just reading with interest the post about the best place on the North Coast to live. One of the suggestions was Cabrera which interested me. When I did a search for hotels in Cabrera, I came up with the more expensive ones, which do not suit my budget. I am looking for a longer term...

Good people I have spent some time in Sosua a few years ago and am again considering an extended stay. Last year I posted an inquiry about condo rentals and thanks to peoples' generous response, I was able to narrow the field. However, due to computer problems, I lost the links and cannot...

It has been a few years since I was last in the DR, and it seemed at the time that the prices of things were fairly reasonable if one lives modestly. I remember paying around $25-$30 per day for a clean middle scale hotel in Sosua and Barahona. And probably $10-$20 per day for food. I...

I visited the DR on several different occasions in the last 5 years and had an overall good experience. The one thing that I found very difficult to get used to was the black-outs. Reading the posts a month or so back I saw that these are now more frequent and last longer. Imagining the...

Good people, I was just in the DR for 3 weeks in September. I had planned to stay for 2.5 months but the weather was tooooo hot. I thought that September would start to cool down but I was wrong. What are the coolest months in the DR? As I recall from past experience in the Caribbean, that...

Good people When I was in the DR in Jan. my traveler's checks were worth less than their face value. Usually by 1 or 2 pesos which can add up if you are changing thousands of dollars over time. Currently what is the difference between real U.S. currency and a traveler's check? I will be...

Good people, does anyone have any experience staying in Sanchez on the Semana Penninsula. I cannot afford more than $20 to $25 per night for accommodations, and most of the listings that I have read for Las Terrenas and Samana begin around $40 low season. I don't need a condo on the beach or...

Good people, On this trip to the DR, I will very likely find my way over to the Samana Pennisula and would like information about the better towns to explore there with the best chance of finding a community that has a good mixture of Dominicans and expats and also that has good services and...