Expat hangouts in Puerto Plata?

Where in Puerto Plata are you?

Playa Dorada - Hemingways Bar and Grill
Malecon - Tam Tams,
Cofresi - Chris & Mady's Restaurant

In the city, a block north of Central Park is Sam's Bar. A hangout for some of the longtime expat characters in town. Not open too late at night as most are 3 sheets to the wind fairly early.

POP Visitor said:

3 sheets to the wind, brilliant expression!

What's not too late?

Is it a just-show-up-and-have-a-chat type of place, for all ages & types, any day of the week?

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Sam's bar, located in the Hotel Castilla, is a place to experience at least once. It is Puerto Plata's oldest hotel, built in the late 1800's. Not much has been updated since then except for maybe some indoor plumbing. Usually 4-6 PM the local expat characters stop in after work. Most are ready to stagger home by 8PM. Food served is a mix of Dominican and Gringo fare. Prices are reasonable. Good place for an American breakfast.

belmont said:

Sam's bar, located in the Hotel Castilla, is a place to experience at least once. It is Puerto Plata's oldest hotel, built in the late 1800's. Not much has been updated since then except for maybe some indoor plumbing. Usually 4-6 PM the local expat characters stop in after work. Most are ready to stagger home by 8PM. Food served is a mix of Dominican and Gringo fare. Prices are reasonable. Good place for an American breakfast.

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Excellent American breakfast, whenever we were in PP. That was the place for breakfast. I was supposed to fly home 9-11-01 in the afternoon, and I was eating breakfast watching the big screen, when all the news starting breaking in about the attacks.

Needless to say, there was no flight.....(for another 7 days).......

We spent the day going back and forth from Sams Bar, and Duane + Annas Bar...(not there anymore)......

Incredible day I'll never forget...........

if you come to sosua just drop by Calle Pedro Clisante.....

The real answer is that there isn't anywhere of the sort you envisage in Puerto Plata. Nowhere where you can go and expect to find a group of English-speaking ex-pats. Just a few at Sam's, very friendly, but lost in their own world of ex-pat gossip and booze.

You could try Sos?a where more ex-pats are concentrated within a smaller area. If you are a single lady you might not fancy the longish trip back to Playa Dorada after dark so I suggest going at midday by publico, cost you 45 pesos or 90 pesos if you buy both front seats (= one front seat LOL), walk along the beach path, then go to the restaurant area in Pedro Clisante for a meal or just a drink, and head back home around 6.00pm. Everything is easy walking distance in Sos?a and safe enough if you stick to the busy main streets.

A return trip to Sos?a by Playa Dorada taxi would be very expensive. Maybe 2000 pesos return? (Someone help me out here). But that would give you the option of staying in Sos?a after dark when things start to liven up and still have a safe ride home.