family moving to Samana peninsula

noel

New member
Dec 29, 2004
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Hi everybody,

We are a family of 4 (2 kids: 14 and 2). Our short stay so far (3 weeks) in the DR has confirmed our desire to pursue our goal of building a modest house on the Samana peninsula and moving there. We have been staying in Santiago the last few weeks, and we like it a lot, but we realize now that we want to be more out in the "wild", and of course, near the ocean.

So our current goal is to find a place to rent in Samana, where we'll stay while we scout out property to buy and building possibilities. From what I've read so far, it seems like the town of Samana or Las Terrenas might be the best place to stay. Ultimately, we are thinking of building in Las Galeras.

Our biggest issue is high speed Internet. My wife and I both work over the Internet and need this. Verizon is unhelpful with telling whether/where DSL service is available out there.

We are assuming (based on experiences in Santiago, and the general consensus that things are much cheaper in Samana) that it should be no problem to meet our goal of renting something with 3-4 bedrooms, furnished with utilities included, for under 15,000 pesos.

Question for those in the know: Are we better off just hopping on a bus to Samana (the town) and looking around when we are there? Is everything via agents (like here) or is it possible to rent through owners? And any recommendations about which spot is best to stay in?

To anticipate other questions: We've ruled out school for our 14 year old daughter. She tried a (private) Spanish-only school here, but (a) there was a lot of English spoken, so little hope that she would actually learn Spanish, and (b) they were even farther behind her academic level than the US school, if you can believe it (she's Russian).

As for lifestyle, we are totally fine with "rustic". We are on a tight budget, we are not on vacation.

We speak very little Spanish (but are working on it), and a smattering of French. My wife and daughter are fluent Russian speakers, although I don't see that helping.

Any and all advice much appreciated! We're thinking of making our trip in a couple of days.
 

noel

New member
Dec 29, 2004
26
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0
Just curious -- did I do something wrong that caused this message to appear? I've seen it before. Or does it just occur on a regular basis, without regard to thread content? :nervous:

Timex said:
And Welcome to Samana!!!

...etc.
 

Lambada

Gold
Mar 4, 2004
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www.ginniebedggood.com
Like a sort of norvovirus message? ;) Don't think you did anything wrong, noel, & if the Moderator is trying to get a message across.........well, didn't really work, did it? You've probably got all the info you need from Chirimoya. You could also try emailing mountainannie.......she is in Las Terrenas at present, doing some voluntary teaching. She isn't on the Board much so an email (search for a post by her & click on name for link to email) is probably going to be more effective than a PM.
 

Timex

Bronze
May 9, 2002
726
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NOEL
Just curious -- did I do something wrong that caused this message to appear? I've seen it before. Or does it just occur on a regular basis, without regard to thread content?

I was just saying welcome.
Saw you had 8 posts, and assumed, you were new to the Island & DR1.

I also saw were you are in Santiago, but your goal was Samana.
So I assumed again.

Again, I you wish all the success in the world, on your endeavor.

Tim H.:smoke:
 

noel

New member
Dec 29, 2004
26
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0
Timex said:
NOEL
I was just saying welcome.
...

OK, thanks! It seemed like an automated message, and I thought maybe the reminders about reading FAQs indicated that I had somehow asked something so commonplace that I was being gently reprimanded to go and do my homework first. :nervous:
 

sweetdbt

Bronze
Sep 17, 2004
1,574
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You were!

noel said:
OK, thanks! It seemed like an automated message, and I thought maybe the reminders about reading FAQs indicated that I had somehow asked something so commonplace that I was being gently reprimanded to go and do my homework first. :nervous:

But in a positive and friendly way. ;)
 

tonisusan

New member
Feb 7, 2005
9
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0
noel said:
Hi everybody,

We are a family of 4 (2 kids: 14 and 2). Our short stay so far (3 weeks) in the DR has confirmed our desire to pursue our goal of building a modest house on the Samana peninsula and moving there. We have been staying in Santiago the last few weeks, and we like it a lot, but we realize now that we want to be more out in the "wild", and of course, near the ocean.

So our current goal is to find a place to rent in Samana, where we'll stay while we scout out property to buy and building possibilities. From what I've read so far, it seems like the town of Samana or Las Terrenas might be the best place to stay. Ultimately, we are thinking of building in Las Galeras.

Our biggest issue is high speed Internet. My wife and I both work over the Internet and need this. Verizon is unhelpful with telling whether/where DSL service is available out there.



We are assuming (based on experiences in Santiago, and the general consensus that things are much cheaper in Samana) that it should be no problem to meet our goal of renting something with 3-4 bedrooms, furnished with utilities included, for under 15,000 pesos.

Question for those in the know: Are we better off just hopping on a bus to Samana (the town) and looking around when we are there? Is everything via agents (like here) or is it possible to rent through owners? And any recommendations about which spot is best to stay in?

To anticipate other questions: We've ruled out school for our 14 year old daughter. She tried a (private) Spanish-only school here, but (a) there was a lot of English spoken, so little hope that she would actually learn Spanish, and (b) they were even farther behind her academic level than the US school, if you can believe it (she's Russian).

As for lifestyle, we are totally fine with "rustic". We are on a tight budget, we are not on vacation.

We speak very little Spanish (but are working on it), and a smattering of French. My wife and daughter are fluent Russian speakers, although I don't see that helping.

Any and all advice much appreciated! We're thinking of making our trip in a couple of days.

Hi
I am in Las terrenas & renting whilst i build my house. Its high season here & long term rentals are real hard to come by. You will not get anything like you want for that kind of money here currently!! Even for a 1 bed apartment (serviced) & with a pool available rents are around US 500-600 per month currently.
I would think that Samana itself would be a better bet but even so be aware it is avery busy time even there with it being "whale watching" season too. After end March prices may drop a little
Good luck & happy hunting