Expat communities ?

samana and las terranas would be a little problematic for health care

sosua, Residential Hispaniola

Just outside cabarete we have a place there and love it

Actually Las Terrenas is not bad for health care except for highly specialsed medicine, even so the Capital is only two and a half hours away by car. Beware, however, gated communities are magnets for thieves, the dwellings usually have very little physical protection and the guards seem to be all too bribe-able. Yes there are a lot of french here, I speak french but manage very well not using it. These people who like gated communities and housing estates always make me think of a comment by Crocodile Dundee about the New Yorkers all liking each other!

Hi:
My wife and I are from northern NY State, near the Canadian border about 75 miles southeast of Montreal. We purchased a condo at Don Cesar Residencias, in Las Terrenas, about 4 years ago.You can check out Don Cesar on the Web. We had previously vacationed in many locations around the country. Las Terrenas has a large French population, along with many Italians, Germans, Dutch, Swiss, Americans, English and Dominicans. This heavy European influence allows many goods and services which you may not find in other parts and the DR. Also unlike Punta Cana or Bavaro , where there are many very large all inclusive resorts, Las Terrenas has a number of smaller more personalized hotels. There are also an abudance of local and European owned restaurants in town. You also have the choice of many and probably some of the best beaches in the country. You are about 2hrs.15mins from Las Americas Airport SD and about 45 min from El Catey International Airport ( located between Sanchez and Nagua).
Unfortunately no US flights come in there at this time but that may change in the not to distant future. Additionally once the new highway extends into Las Terrenas an additional 20-30 mins will be cut off the trip to Santo Domingo. You may finds areas of the country with pockets of ex-pats and supports groups but part of the experience is mixing with many cultures. Check out Las Terranas. Fly into Santo Domingo and drive to Las Terranas. I can recommend a few places to stay, Colibri, Allesi, Kari Beach Resort, Allegro Beach Res

Residential Hispaniola in Sosua is a save, wunderfull place. The managment is honest and serious. We had the best experiences with them.

I would suggest Sosua or Caberrette for everything you are looking for in your above post. I would also suggest renting a place first to get a feel for each location and be very careful when buying a property in DR, BE VERY CAREFUL.
My thoughts on the other areas are

Bavaro is nice but is very spread out and caters more to all inclusive tourists so not so sure how a rental would work out because I see many cacant apts while driving around out there

Las Terrenas is very beautiful but remote from alot of things,Living out there it would help if you speak French or Italian.

Costambar is nice and quiet but I always hear of robberies in and around there(Hear about I have no personal knowledge) other than that it is a nice area and very close to Puerto Plata.

Puerto Plata has some very nice areas and is not as touristy as Costambar or Sosua and Caberette, I lived in Puerto Plata for 2 years and I really liked it there.

Specific to your query, look at the condos in Cofres?, Ocean World area.
For expat community visit Luper?n, as well. Little Margaritavillish, but future bright.
see Lupern in the Dominican Republic for lots of leads.

Good Infrastructure

badpiece33 said:

Las Terrenas is very beautiful but remote from alot of things,Living out there it would help if you speak French or Italian.

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Have you shopped at 'Lindo' supermarket lately?
Have you ever eaten a wholesome true Bavarian dish at "Schmankerl Stadl" (+ Bavarian beer, of course) ?
Have you been to Ralph's shop (German goodies) or "Punto Italiano" (good place to buy good Gorgonzola dulce)?

And: LT hardly ever has blackouts. :bunny:

So, no (longer) need to drive to SFdM or SD.

BTW, it would also help the French if they tried to learn some Spanish... :tired:

donP

My wife and I live just north of Pittsburgh, (originally from Philly). We recently purchased a condo in El Cortecito, (Punta Cana). Feel free to contact me privately and I'll share my thoughts and any information I can.

I'd think hard before committing to a gated community. They sound great but in my experience you could find yourself entering into a little bubble world of micro politics, and then you are stuck with these people, forever.aranoid:

Change for the Worse

Anastacio said:

gated community___ entering into a little bubble world of micro politics, and then you are stuck with these people, forever.aranoid:

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Or worse, because of the fluctuation in those communities.
So your friendly neighbour of today could be a noisy and unpleasant bastard tomorrow.

donP