You must go on a trip to Saona!!
Hi, we just got back from DR on Tuesday, had an amazing time. We stayed in Playa Dorada (also on the North coast) and there were plenty of worthwhile trips to go on. The main one in particular that would be good for you, especially as you're on honeymoon, is a trip to the island of Saona. Its a small tropical island just off the south coast of DR in the Caribbean Sea. We booked the trip through our rep (Thomas Cook) and it cost $225 (about ?130), yes expensive i know but it was worth every penny! You have to fly to the south on a small plane (about 18 seats), you travel out to the Caribbean Sea by speedboats, have a few hours and lunch on the island, beautiful beach, powdery white sand and turqoise blue waters. After that you take a large katamaran back to the port on DR and then fly back to the north again by small plane. You do see other things on the way and visit a couple of other places but i wouldn't like to spoil the surprises! This was a wonderful day trip, we really did feel like we were in paradise. I would DEFINATELY recommend it!
We also went on the "Monster Trucks" - this was also good, travelling through villages, up the mountains and through rivers and streams. You really do see how some of the Dominican people live. It really opens your eyes.
Another amazing day we had was when we went to Ocean World (there's a lot of links on these forums for it). We did the Dolphin and Sea Lion encounters, had a tour of the park (saw other animals e.g. tigers, sharks, sting rays, parrotts, tucans, tropical fish) we also did snorkelling in the man made tropical coral reef and had lunch included. This cost $125, probably about ?60-?70. Again definately worth the money. We were "touched" by the animals, especially the Dolphins and Sea Lions, they were so gentle & friendly. We felt so lucky to be able to meet and interact with such animals. It was just amazing!
I could go on all day about all the wonderful things we saw and did, but i better not! There are a lot more trips you can do e.g white water rafting, outback safari, other beach/island trips, cultural city tours etc.
You must leave resort and see the real Dominican Republic, these people that stay by the pool all holiday won't enjoy it half as much as people that do the tours and see the countryside and the real way of life over there.
Have a brilliant holiday, im sure you will do. (Lets hope the weather improves a bit though!!)