Which resorts in POP are good for first DR trip?

Perhaps Casa Marina Beach or Reef in Sosua would be a better choice, as most of the POP resorts are isolated, whereas Casa Marina is right in the heart of Sosua, a town that is a lot more interesting than Puerto Plata.
The POP airport is in Sosua, BTW.
The resort may not be the very best, but it is good with nice beaches and good enough food, besides, if you get tired of eating there, you can just wander out into town.

I agree with Rocky
We stayed at the Jack Tar in Jan....the resort is older but very clean and the rooms were dry and moderately priced,infact it was priced cheaper than most.
However we found ourselves in Sosua most of the time.So what was saved in Hotel costs was eaten up in taxi fares.
Not to mention you are on a time schedule to get back to your hotel before you actually want to.
Sosua also puts you closer to Cabarete which you may find has more to offer in the way of activities both day and night.
Hifiman

if you want the bnorth coast, i think you need to make a choice as to just taking it easy and not worrying about anything....and missing the feeling of the life of the area kinda....or

trying to get a little better feel of the life and sacrificing convienence in your accomodations.....because you know that many people want and will try to take advantage of you as a tourist, when you wander outside of the Playa Dorado complex to TRY and sample the local,life.....because you cant really walk to it from the complex.

there is one hotel in Sosua that may be able to offer a beach and the ammenities of the RESORT life and still be in town to sample "life" ...ie shops, bars, discos, people ect ., but it is kinda exspensive

its the SOSUA BAY HOTEL..... there are other hotles there that are nice, but yiou have to walk to a public beach that has a ton of street vendors who will hound you( or MAY hound you)...

if you go to a resort you wont have to deal with the vendors while you kick back on the beach or at the pool.

I think there is something to be said for getting a room at playa dorado and having everything taken care of...food games, servants to go fetch things, and when you walk out on the beach , you have a mile of beach in each direction, with little if no vendors....thats nice!!!!!

Sosua beach in sheltered and small..its great for sunning and swimming, but lacks the ambiance of the carribean look


good luck

bob

laurapasinifan said:

I think there is something to be said for getting a room at playa dorado and having everything taken care of...food games, servants to go fetch things, and when you walk out on the beach , you have a mile of beach in each direction, with little if no vendors....thats nice!!!!!

Sosua beach in sheltered and small..its great for sunning and swimming, but lacks the ambiance of the carribean look


good luck

bob

Click to expand...

That's the whole point of staying in Casa Marina.
You get the benefits of the all inclusive resort, and the easy access to the town, when you want to go out.
Casa Marina has access to 2 beaches, and there are 4 more in the Sosua area.
Also, as an added bonus the ocean water is cleaner in Sosua.

I myself have always stayed at Playa Dorada and I do leave the resort I found myself at Sosua beach a lot! I didn't spend to much as I took the gua gua over to Sosua. The beach at Playa Dorada is okay and Sosua beach much nicer. I've been to Cabarete as well which is nice but yes more pricey I found.
I would suggest Sosua it's fun and the beach is great!!

I will be going in July to Breezes Puerto Plata which is between Cabarete and Sosua which I thought was perfect. My family is going as well and I wanted them to get off the resort and explore a little of the DR
Just my thoughts

*ahem*
Sosua by the Sea Boutique Beach Resort
*ahem*

I have been on any other beach in Sosua than the public beach. It is a nice beach as far as swimming goes. the water is very clear and when the waves crashes on the beach the water is clear agin in an instant!! thats the sign of a clean beach to me!!!!

but the area is carribean looking. I think the long open beaches where the sand goes way back from the water is the most desriable .

marco: is the beach you suggest east of Sosua public beach? around the corner and past the watefront!( which is all rock cliffs!)

bob

From West to East, starting at the main bay beach, then there's "new Beach/Playa Amelia" that developed a few years ago, in front of the Waterfront hotel, accessed by a staircase from Casa Marina Reef.
Then comes the main Casa Marina Beach, followed by the Larimar beach, just a few hundred feet farther, then the General's beach, another few hundred feet farther, then Playa Chiquita, approx. 1 mile farther.
I am not including Puerto Chiquito's beach, as it is not clean enough to swim in.

doesnt Sosua Bay Hotel have a beach?...it has to be very close if not closer to the public beach than the waterfronts!

I just went and checked a photo I have posted here...look on page 15 of the media gallery the phot rob and laura( not my gfs name!!) is me and my GF .

directly behind us in the distance is the end of the public beach and the small beach that belongs to one of the hotels. and then the non beach shoreline starts! Is that big hotel next to my head in between me and my gf the Sosua bay Hotel, or Casa Marina?...i think the hotel on the other side of my head is the waterfront.....

let me know what you think( and dont mention anything about my mug or bald head pleae!! ha ha ha)

http://dr1.com/media/cgi-bin/media...._Photos&image=cropped tand b2.JPG&img=224&tt=

bob

This Hotel is a fantastic place to go (Beach or Reef), you have so many options. We have stayed at both, on several occasions and loved it. We have also stayed at Sosua by the Sea three times and the location of all of them are excellent.

While staying at the CM Reef and/orBeach we just walked a little over to the left (facing the ocean) and had some excellent (if not exotic, our choice) meals at the Waterfront.

The location is top notch, you can walk to all kinds of places literally within minutes (and safely) like Rocky's, the Supermarket, the Pharmacy (which I had to do on my own on one of our trips when Hubby got really sick and it was dark).

It's a fun place, give it a try and if you are on a budget, but still want to venture out, most places have a happy hour (or two), including the Waterfront, which, for the last 4-5 years has been 4 'till 6 and the drinks were 2 for 1, and as Rocky said, the beach has really developed (watching it grow every year was a beautiful sight).

By the way, the Waterfront also has a hotel (motel). Don't know what the rooms are like but it is also an option.

Ok.
That pic was taken near the Western end of the beach, and the buildings in the background are all part of the Sosua Bay hotel, evidently a while back and less completed than it is now.
The Sosua Bay hotel is thus named, as it is on the rocks, at the eastern end of the beach, known as Sosua Bay Beach, or, the main beach, or the public beach, all one and the same.
All the other beaches I mentioned are East of that beach, and you cannot see the Waterfront from that vantage point.

ok..thanks for the clarification...the waterfront must have a very small beach!!!! I went for some tube ride by a vendor off the Sosua public beach and we went around the corner, and it seemed like it was all bluff and rocky once you get out of sightof what you see in that picture I posted.

that picture was taken in september or october 2005.

bob

hey here is another about the same time......

http://dr1.com/media/cgi-bin/media....er_Photos&image=sosua beach 2.JPG&img=208&tt=

now marco give me a run down of the hotels you see there on the end from right to left

thanks...bob

missing my friend

I have been going to D.R for a number of years and have made a lot of friends there. On my recent visit my friend martin gave me his email address and i have mislaid it and unfortunatly i cannot get hold of him i have tried all methods he works in the plaza in the playa dorada complex in his own shop martin place gift shop (second floor). If anyone can help that would be greatly appreciated. ???????:ermm: :ermm:

laurapasinifan said:

hey here is another about the same time......

http://dr1.com/media/cgi-bin/media....er_Photos&image=sosua beach 2.JPG&img=208&tt=

now marco give me a run down of the hotels you see there on the end from right to left

thanks...bob

Click to expand...

All Sosua Bay Hotel, although they do have names for the different buildings, but all part of the same complex.
If you were 100 feet in the air, from that same vantage point, you would also see La Puntilla PierGirogio at the foremost left hand part of the picture.

you HAVE to be able to see the waterfront hotel, if you could see the Piergioro!!!!!


where is the hotel you recomend?

down around the corner past the piergioro?

bob

If you look at the rectangle that says "HOTEL CASA MARINA", the Waterfront hotel is right beneath that rectangle, therefore not visible from the main beach.
If you look at the circle that says "PARKPLATZ STRAND" (Beach Parking), the fairly straight coastal line above it is where the Sosua Bay Hotel is. Beyond that, is the PierGirogio point.
Which hotel that I recommend are you refering to?

thanks...from driving to both the waterfront and the piergorgo i THOUGHT the waterfront was closer to Sosua beach than the other hotel

thanks for the clarification....I recognize that straight wall of the waterfront parking..... there is a big hotel near the waterfront parking that is undergoing renovations ..correct?

what would the name of that be,....or was?

bob

If you are refering to the condos that were built accross the street from the Waterfront, to the West, they are completed now and inhabited.