Punta-Cana: stuff TODO?

Wow!
Punta Cana is a kingdom of all inclusive resorts, the activity most done there is to chill amongst the many other tourists enjoying a cheap vacation. The local life is limited, boat rental = no, car rental = really bad idea. Trip to Capital = long drive and bad idea if driving.
To find a good resort go to Reviews of Hotels, Flights and Vacation Rentals - TripAdvisor and read the reviews. You can learn the best resorts and where the lettuce makes you sick and why to use dollars for currency and so on. Local clubs are tourist clubs and therefore not local.
Take your friend to Cabarete or Las Terenas or Samana. It's real there.

The East coast section of DR1 has a frequently asked questions thread with tons of info for you.
The East coast is real too. :bunny:

RV429 said:

Wow!
Punta Cana is a kingdom of all inclusive resorts, the activity most done there is to chill amongst the many other tourists enjoying a cheap vacation. The local life is limited, boat rental = no, car rental = really bad idea. Trip to Capital = long drive and bad idea if driving.
To find a good resort go to Reviews of Hotels, Flights and Vacation Rentals - TripAdvisor and read the reviews. You can learn the best resorts and where the lettuce makes you sick and why to use dollars for currency and so on. Local clubs are tourist clubs and therefore not local.
Take your friend to Cabarete or Las Terenas or Samana. It's real there.

Click to expand...

What's "Wow!" about my question?? I know what all-inclusive hotel is, and I'm going for 5* only (so, I hope that I won't be ****ting my pants throughout the week because of bad lettuce). BUT, I want some variety like driving around to some place on my own. A couple of hundred KM's is perfect trip for me. I saw a couple of videos on utube "classicos sosua" and that's kind of place I'd like to find. I don't care if there are a lot of tourists or if it's tourist only, all I care is that it should be some kind of club like classicos and it shouldn't be in my hotel (I want to make some trip there).
I've been to mexico, I've been to cuba and it was totally OK to drive around, see some nature, take some pics, stop by near ocean for a refreshing swim etc. Why is that a bad idea in DR? In Cuba I made 300-400km long drives and I was even driving at night on my way back - no problem with me. Obviously it's not a highway there by western standard, but it's ok with me, I don't drive fast anyways. So, why do you say it's not a good idea?

The girl that's going with me was kind of my GF (one of many) for a couple of weeks only and it was almost 10 years ago when I met her in my university. By coincidence I met her like half a year ago and we exchanged contacts. I found out that she was going to DR and I was also thinking about it. So, we decided to go together, we booked single bed room for both of us. This girl comes from Europe and I'll meet her at the Punta-Cana airport. I'll rent a car and we'll drive for the first day. The same evening I'm planning to make a ride to a club similar to classicos. I see somebody suggested Las Terenas. Is there kind of place that I'm talking about? It's around 150km from Bavaro and that's perfect distance for a first time ride.

The East coast section of DR1 has a frequently asked questions thread with tons of info for you.
The East coast is real too.

Click to expand...

No joke it's real. Is there some place in DR that's not real?
Can u post some link to that EastCoast FAQ. It seems that this site has quite bad navigation, I wasn't able to find any faq at all.

The advice given about going to the North Coast instead of the East Coast is valid based upon you initial post. On the North Coast you have the variety of Purto Plata, Sosua, Cabarete all the way out to Las Terrenas. The East Coast will be much more like being on a cruise ship that never moves with nothing like the variety on the North Coast. Since you already booked there this time, I will let others fill you in on the details of what is possible in that area. I do suggest that you try the north coast if you happen to decide to return to the DR in the future.

If you feel safe driving in a place where traffic rules are often ignored, then go for it. Since you are willing to drive long distances, then you might find something you like, but be very careful about the driving and where you go. Driving back at night from Las Terrenas to your resort after a night of partying is definitely a bad idea.

Have a look here

Things to Do in Punta Cana - Punta Cana Attractions - TripAdvisor

"No joke it's real. Is there some place in DR that's not real?
Can u post some link to that EastCoast FAQ. It seems that this site has quite bad navigation, I wasn't able to find any faq at all."

I apologize mltrom I do not know how to post a link. If you look to the far right of your post on this thread you will see east coast. Click on that. It will take you to the east coast section of the message board. There is a sticky thread for the east coast there. Click on that. It will give you information for the east coast.
Yes, all places in the DR are real. That part of my answer was referring to the poster before me. Many posters on DR1 do not understand why anyone would go to an A1 resort.
Good luck and have fun exploring!

To the OP. Most that go to Punta Cana go for one reason, to relax at the beach, pool and indulge in the " all-inclusive" offerings. Some will travel outside the resort to look around and experience the local life, although in Punta Cana there is not much in the way of that. Of course there restaurants, clubs, a few shops etc,, and they mainly service the tourists. However there are some excursions available that are very good. One in particular (wont say name) has a very good excursion that takes you on a tour of the area outside of Punta Cana. A chance to see the Basilica in Higuey, Macao beach, cigar factory etc,, is a very good way to have a look around. You stated that you are staying at a five star resort. You mentioned Barcelo Palace Deluxe. This resort is very nice, quite large but I am not sure if it is a five star resort. The Hard Rock maybe closer to a five star but then again what one thinks is a five star maybe a 3 star to someone else. Unfortunately the Punta Cana area maybe not be the best place to be based while trying to drive around and see the island. Not for nothing though if I was paying to stay in a five star resort ( and I have ) I seriously doubt I would be leaving the resort that often, maybe a local tour as I mentioned above but I pretty much would have my arse planted and enjoy my surroundings. Happy travels..

I totally agree with Keep... by far, many times over, the vast majority of visitors to P.C. are A.I. visitors, and (unfortunately) the majority of those never leave the walls of the resort. BUT... I was really happy and encouraged to find that there is a growing number of intrepid adventurers who are renting in the condos and exploring the area. During our (too short) one week stay, we got to meet 6 or 8 different couples/groups who were doing that. Nice to see, and encouraging for possible future growth of the area.