Sosua

so true!

That is so true!

I like shopping in Sosua but can?t stand those guys along that road by the beach. The only thing to do is go shopping with a Dominican and thereby not get screwed on the price of what you?re buying. You would think they would figure out that that type of pressure doesn?t work, it just turns people off. And also you would think they would realize that they should add a little variety to their stores since so many of them have the exact same stuff or variations on the theme.

jeez, I can remember when Sosua in the wintertime was deserted, and you could skinny dip there.

Sorry you got the real "tourist" treatment.

Frankly, Sosua is the Boca Chica of the North Shore, but with a little more class, IMO...It is intense, and the idea is to have fun, get laid, get drunk and party on dude!...

Yet, there are places families can go and have a relatively quiet time...Just take some insider knowledge..

Hb

When I don't want to get bothered I look at my shoes when I walk. If they start talking to me I say no habla espanol, then no habla englais, then no blah blah German.

Works every time.

So you were bothered that they were trying to get your 25 pesos for a beach chair? That is $1.40 US and you would have been comfortable and they would have served you drinks. These are nice people that are just trying their best to make a living. Stop and chat next time and you may feel that way. Tourism is a big industry in Sosua.

If you think that they are bad there, try Jamaica. When I get off that Island I can relax and NOT have to continue saying, I don't want to hear reggae, I don't your gonga, I aint your buddy twenty times in 2 minutes every two minutes.

Easyest way to have a good time in Sosua is to not be too annoying and not be too easily annoyed.

You may want to try Aruba. That is the only place in the carribean I don't remember being bothered.

So far I happen to like Sosua the best of the North Coast.

Regards,
Scott

These people are just trying to make a living. I agree that they are a little agressive. I will have a talk to them and try to pursuade them to use knives or guns to take the money from tourists to feed their families.

Becky and the beach vendors

Hi Becky. I hear you loud and clear on the airport dudes. You have to remember that it is ok to say no. Don't feel guilted. Laborers here make about $200RD per day if they land a really good job, min wage is somewhere around $2500RD per month....so the tipping that they expect for the 5' trip from the door to the cab is excessive, and yes they are pushy.

As for the beach vendors, again, annoying as hell, but believe it or not much better than they were even a year ago. The thing with that is....it isn't unique to this island. Recently went on a cruise and hit 5 other islands in the caribbean...all the flea market type places are the same. "Special price", "today only"...

I think you may have had a better time if you had rented a chair, kicked back and let the beach boys bring you beer all day

marc

Just say "NO". Plus a slow moving "NO" gesture using your index finger usually gets the desired results.

Bottom line, it puts food in their mouth.

re Marc
With this sentence :

"I think you may have had a better time if you had rented a chair, kicked back and let the beach boys bring you beer all day "

You almost made me call the travel agency to order my thir trip this winter. Thats the way to enjoy life down there.

Shopping

For starters, Eddy...what an ignorant post! I mean, sarcastic to the point of ignorance! As for the people down there....yes they are annoying, but the thing is....they also know that they will not be seeing you again, and this is the one time that they may "have at you" and it (as said before)is the way they feed thier families. It does get to you...even if you are a seasoned traveller, but you just have to realize that this is part of the parcel.....like if you go to England.....it's probably not worth it to bitch about the rain. HB....two minutes for unnessary roughness.....just gotta give one to Boca Chica....LOL...Skinny dip in sosua, I would of liked to have visited the DR 30 yrs ago, and seen how things were back then!

Whaddya mean two minutes?? I hardly touched the guy!!!


As for skinny dipping, done that at Sosua! I mean, there was nobody there! January? Not a soul. Dominicans didn't go to the beach since it was "wintertime" !! So we had the beach to ourselves.

At places like Punta Ruc?a you could have done it up until a few years ago.

I wonder, too, about the pushiness of our "Sky Caps" but I am afraid that I can't offer a quick fix. Education in Attention to the Client is an obvious solution, but that require some intelligent thought and that is way beyond the ken of this government: Which, announced yesterday that the NGOs and others were now going to be taxed.!! Yeah, right! Since all the legislators have their own "private" NGO, I'll bet that flies.
Where is that list of 9,000 people that bought expensive cars and their tax returns???Hummmm..

Oh doug, see what you made me do? Now I am on a rant!!

HB

To deal with vendors, slowly waggle your index finger back and forth (as Robert advised) while saying "no soy turista" (I am not a tourist) while you keep walking.

(Turista is pronounced tu-RIS-tah)

Marc

I was trying to tell her the same thing about spending the buck forty on a chair and have the guy bring you beers all day. That was in my own convoluted way of course. Hell I even requested that they only bring pretty women to sit near me and to put the uglies all the way on the other side

Oh well. I think the way to spend time in the DR is to NOT be too annoying and NOT be too easily annoyed.

Regards
Scott

Sosua and Beach vendors and beach bathrooms

Boy...some real controversy here! It can be annoying when you are constantly hounded by the vendors but the important thing to remember is that they are trying to make a living. I encountered one fellow just outside our hotel - the Casa Marina- who made a rude comment about us being Canadian....because we would not pay 25.00 dollars for a small plastic resin picture frame. The next time we passed by to walk down the street he came out with a big smile on his face asking us to come inside and I looked him square in the eye and said...why would I want to go in your store...I am a cheap Canadian...remember? I was very close to blasting him in the store when he was rude but figured ...it can not be an easy way to make a living and he probably gets as frustrated with the selling game....as we do with the bartering/buying game.

At Sosua beach, I spoke with one vendor after haggling over fridge magnets and asked why they do not just put prices on things. His reply was that they had tried that tactic and people would pick something up and if it had a 50 peso price on it, they would say.."I'll give you 25!" so they gave up and went back to the haggling.

I found it difficult when I went shopping with a bunch of ladies...they (the vendors) seemed to be more aggressive then. Also I am blonde and they seem to like blonde gals....I was polite and firm with them and left with a smile...even though I felt like screeching at them. It would be a hard way to make a living and the toughest fish in the pond, survives.

The waitress at our resort earned 115.US every 15 days and worked with one day off every two weeks...how many of us in North America would do that? They are a hard working people trying to eke out an existence. I know it must disgust them at the hotels when they see all of the food that is wasted by the tourists....it bothered me!

The baggage fellows at the airport do need to be taken to task for their attitudes but again, one can say "no" even though they do carry your bag. We did a trip to the cable car and had a "guide" who unbeknownst to us, was not working for the company that operated the cable car....and after our 10 minute jaunt at the top of the mountain, announced that we owed him $25.00 US! Much to his surprise, we argued and said that he should have told us right up front that he was expecting money for his services, silly us thinking he was part of the fare to go to the top!(100 pesos). I felt bad and gave him a tip, but nothing close to what he wanted. So anyone doing that tour, be aware!

As for the washrooms, the new ones are owned by German people and they are clean and there is paper...you pay 5 pesos for these as well and sometimes with the change in food and water....you are happy to have that facility there and are glad to pay the 5 pesos! The voice of experience here! Someone makes a living doing what they do in the cleaning of the washrooms and monitoring the facilities.

A males perspective of things is different from that of the female (*smirk* ) that is quite evident from the postings! Hope you enjoy yourself more next time Becky!

Just a thought.

I wonder where those beach johns are emptying their effluent?
I do not know of any sewage facilities ?n the beach"..

Just a question.

HB

Doug

Eddy was not trying to be ignorant. He has lived in Sosua for (correct me if I'm wrong Eddy) 20 years and loves the Dominican people. If you lived there and dealt with trying to feed hungry babies, you might resort to the same desperate measures. Eddy was just trying to make this point, at least they are making an honest living.

Cheers

The finger wag

The <b>finger wag</b> is something that should be documented in all travel litterature on the DR! It is critical for the sanity of even the local resident who ventures out to walk down the beach, or the main street in Sosua. It is like the "force", and vendors are powerless against it. Even Dominicans are aware of its powers, and use it frequently.

About the bathrooms: ever seen a "free" bathroom used by hundreds of people each day? Not pretty. Those new bathrooms kick ass, super clean, and the price is the same for everyone. Imagine if you had to barter for a bano! The smart money wouldn't be on the person with their legs crossed, that's for sure.

HB - The sewage undoubtedly goes to the same high-tech treatment facility used by all of Charamicos.

marc

Beach banos and sewage treatment

Hi Marc, my husband and some of his pals did some diving in Sosua Bay and saw some rather unusual items on the bottom of the bay....so not sure about the treatment of sewage. I will just say that the items were of a feminine nature and do not decompose too quickly, evidently. Sorry to say but true. There was also a lot of material off Casa Marina Beach as well.

Deb

Travelwizz

Not sure if "wizz" means the same thing as back home, but kind of suiting for where the thread is heading....lol.

Charamicos is the poor section of Sosua, so my comment on their high-tech treatment facility was in jest. The Dominicans treat the ocean as their trash barrel. A woman I work with once saw her neighbor run out and throw all her trash into the large drainage canal behind her house. This canal funnels water through PP when there are heavy rains. Why did she do it? She was tired of waiting for the garbage truck I guess...

The power plant I work at has a full time crew just to clean trash from the beach and the intakes. It is sick. It breaks my heart to hear stories like yours...but it does not surprise me.

marc

Anybody who knows for a fact that the sewer goes right into the water at Sosua beach ?