infos on DR harbours

Hello, I will sail in the waters of the DR infrom the beginning of february with a german siling-school yacht,(60ft length, 10 ft draft) I would like to get nautical informations about the harbuor of Luperon and Boca Chica Marina / Puerto de Andres.For Boca Chica I would also like to get a contact address of the marine, I may have to stay there for a couple of days,approx903-06 Feb. Hope you can help me, Yours Dieter Koppenhagen

Dear Dieter,

I hope that other people on this board can be of more help, but until then I hope the following might prove useful.

Not too long ago I stumbled across a travel log by a group of Americans who had sailed the caribbeans. They were totally enthused with Luperon Harbour and the beauty and the people of the Dominican Republic. I have added the link to their home page, as I thought you might want to contact them and get the information you requested.

If not, then reading their travel log would definitely be an appetizer for your own trip.

Ich w?nsche Ihnen eine gute Reise.

Regards, Susanne

The marina in Boca Chica is "Club Nautico de Santo Domingo, Inc., San Andres 6. Phone (809)685-4940, fax (809) 523-6524.

Luparon, Samina and the club in Boca Chica are popular stop overs for sailers en route from Puerta Rico and islands south to the Bahamas or the United States, although Boca Chica is out of the way.

Luperon is on a beautiful protected bay but you will have to anchor away from the dock and use the dingy to go in. Although it is a village far off the beaten path (land beaten path that is) there are always a large number of sail boats anchored there. There is also a new hotel, small dock and restaurant the west side of the bay and I do not know if you can dock there and connect with electricity and phone lines if you need them.

The entrance to the bay is difficult and poorly marked. Under no circumstances try to go in at night.

My charts of the area are in the yacht, docked in Monti Cristi, two hours away from my home and I do not plan to go up there until next week. Send me an Email and I will answer your nautical questions after I check the charts but I do not remember seeing anything up there with a 10' draft. Most sailboats I have seen in the bay were in the 30 to 45 ft. range.

You may also consider traveling to the East Coast (Punta Cana). There is an excellent facility there, the Punta Cana Marina. It has hotel facilities, an excellent restaurant, and mooring facilities. Plus for its security. You can leave your boat there and tour the country with peace of mind.

Offers migration facilities, customs, swimming pool, electricity, cable TV, telephone service, potable water, diesel and gasoline. You need notify 24 hours in advance of your estimated time of arrival.

For more information, contact Manolo Despradel at marina@puntacana.com or Tel. 809 221-2262

DR1, I have been into Punta Cana marina several times and, although I agree with you on the quality of the marina, hotel and restaurant, I do am not sure that the channel is 10 feet deep. Also, the entrance to Luperon is a piece of cake compared to going into the Punta Cana harbor. Although Punta Cana is better marked, it is narrow and twisting between reefs. The marina is fairly new and I do not think that the chanel is marked on most charts.

However!!! If you are making the run on water from Luperon to Samana to Boca Chica and your vessel has a draft shallow enough to get into Punta Cana, I highly recommend a stop over there. It is one of the few ports in the Dominican Republic where you are not hustled and pay a premium (about double the legal price) for fuel, the beach side restaurant over the water with the glass (or plexiglass) floor inserts, allowing you to look down into the cristal clear, night lighted water is a very nice atmosphere to go with an excellant meal.

And, the last time I stopped over there, June of 1998, while my wife and I were enjoying all of this, the yacht was being fueled for Samana, and my captain, fishing off the dock, hooked into a very nice Snook.

The dock crew are helpful and friendly and do not try to rip you off. What more can you ask when you are crusing?

Re: Cruising Guide to DR

Dieter,

You need to get a copy of THE GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO PASSAGES SOUTH, by Bruce Van Sant. It is available from Cruising Guide Publications, P.O. Box 1017, Dunedin, Fl. 34697-1017 Telephone (813) 733-5322...Fax (813) 734-8179 The author has cruised this area extensively as this book is considered to be "the Bible" by many sailboaters who have used it. Although I used it to bring my powerboat down from Florida, the info applies to ANY boat and the book contains a lot of shoreside information that is vitally important.

As a former sailboat owner and fully licensed Ocean Master I can attest to the quality of the publication, charts, etc. Also, with a 10' draft, you are going to have trouble with some of the harbors and anchorages here. Good Luck. Andy

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