8 days in November

have you looked at a map?

your 3 spots are quite apart... and hard to travel to.

Jarabacoa is close to Santiago (1M people).... your friend will be able to get you around there linguistically.

Samana is scenic, beaches type scenic for the most part

they tell me Baharona is nice but isolated

Let the others chime in......

try Rio san juan, cabrera and Samana... that'll keep you moving and is easily navigated by public transportation

How are we supposed to know what you want to do or where you want to do it? Look at a map. Santiago is 2 hours from Puerto Plata in the north and 2 hours from Santo Domingo in the south. This is a big island with no air transport. Going anywhere involves driving yourself or hopping on a bus. The Samana area is 4 hours from SD. To get there from the Santiago area add a couple of hours riding and a couple of hours standing around and transferring between bus companies. If you want to travel around, a lot of your time is going to be eaten up doing just that...travelling. Wherever you go, you need to travel back to SD when it's time to go home. If you go to Samana, you'll spend the better part of two days going and coming back.

Maybe save Samana for another trip and concentrate on either the south coast or the interior. The further away from SD you venture the more time you'll devote to getting there and back. You decide how much time you want to spend on the bus. Once you know that, use google to find activities to do in the area that you will be in. Or do the reverse, figure out what you want to do and then figure out how long it will take to get there to do that.

Your questions are asking other people to make a value judgement on your behalf and we don't know you. This is why you are not getting the answers you are looking for. You're asking the impossible. You should spend some time reading a travel site dedicated to the DR and put together your own trip rather than asking others to do it for you.

gas said:

I think you misunderstood. I know where each spot is and have no intention of going to all of 'em, at least in one trip. It was basically, which one of the three. Jaracaboa interests me the most but where do I go after 2 or 3 days that's within a reasonable distance? That's the kind of question I was posing. Sorry if I didn't clarify that.

Click to expand...

Understood now

all the more reason to look at my suggestion
Rio San Juan - Cabrera - Samana...

easy to do 2-3 days in each...maybe more in Samana -- LT, Samana proper and las Galeras

these are affordable, not too touristy and pretty parts of the country
The New World's oldest lighthouse is there

You can boat from RSJ... sightseeing or fishing....

easy transportation between the towns

los Gringos for a meal....o/s RSJ
la Catalina in Cabrera for a nice place to stay (just over $100/night)

My vote for you is the Samana area

Seeing that you will be with a local lady friend during your trip you might rethink renting a car. Driving from SD to Jarabocao isnt that bad and from Jarabacoa to Samana is easily done if you drive via Santiago-Puerto Plata etc. Perhaps stay at Sosua-Cabarnete. Its one road.. From Samana to SD is one new fast road.

I vote for Samana !!!!!!!!! :laugh::laugh::laugh:

Just kidding gas !

There are several posters from Jaracoaba, they should be able to help you find an area not too far to keep you interest for another couple of days.

Would you be interested in going to Santiago after Jarabacoa?

But you will be with a lady friend whom you have a relationship with. Can't she hold your interest for 8 days in one or two places ? :bandit:

Also, keep in mind, your lady may not be interest in going from places to places every 2-3 days since she is a local (especially using public transportation !).

From Jarabacoa, go around Santiago and take the Moca road over the mountain..... breathtakingly pretty

That deposits you a Sabaneta.... turn right and you're in RSJ in less than an hour

Total trip ?? maybe 3hrs... by car

Publico.... much longer...

once out of SD, the driving is better, as said earlier

There is plenty to see and do in Jarabacoa to keep you busy. I would recommend renting a car, but you could also hire a driver, as you suggest, to take you around.

Check out:

Salto de Jimenoa
From the town, it’s only a 20-minute drive to this waterfall and hydroelectric dam, but this side trip will take a couple of hours. Adults will enjoy the amazing mountain views, and children will thrill at crossing the three swinging hanging bridges to get to the waterfall and views of the powerful Yaque del Norte River.

River rafting & tubing
Adrenaline flows when tourists on well-organized river rafting excursions plow down the level-2 rapids of the Yaque del Norte River in Jarabacoa. These waters are cool all year round and tourists (minimum age is 14) need to wear the wetsuits and helmets that are provided. Reservations should be made at least one day in advance. Local operators also provide oversized inner tubes for “tubing”. This less daring excursion takes tourists to ride the tamer waters of the river.

Coffee plantations
Take the Caf? de Monte Alto tour or visit acclaimed writer Julia Alvarez’s sustainable coffee plantation (Caf? Altagracia) in Los Dajaos in the Jarabacoa mountains. Partake in a coffee tasting and learn what makes really good coffee.

Butterflies of Jarabacoa
Rancho Baiguate provides a challenge for photographers at its Mariposario, or butterfly house. Take home the shapes, designs and colors of these tropical butterflies in your digital photos.

And one of my personal favourites… the Catedral de Bambu, up the mountain from Manabao. This is not a real church, just a natural formation of very tall bamboo trees that create a cathedral-like area on a low mountain.
If you are in Jarabacoa on a Sunday, also be part of the Sunday 9am mass at the Cistercian Monastery, where the priests sing Gregorian chants.

In Santiago, visit the Centro Leon. Closed on Mondays.