Advice for potential 1st timer

msands

New member
Sep 10, 2006
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Thinking about Santiago or POP for a Wed-Sun vacation next month to decompress from work. Kind of know what to expect from POP, but looking at Santiago for something different.

Hoping for a nice mix of party & downtime. Meeting interesting people & visiting new places (no McDonalds!) are the fun part of traveling for me. I also prefer the idea of hitting on sexy Santiago hotties vs repelling Sosua skank ho's.

So, nice place to stay? anything special going on next month? how far to the beach for a day? is a car needed? must-do's or places to check out while I'm there? anything else?

Not necessarily on a tight budget, but not afraid to rough it either. Also, although it's rusty, yo hablo espanol muy bien...para un gringo.

Ok, boys. Share the wisdom! I'll make you proud.
 
Santiago is great but it is not touristy and you will need to know where to go. I used to hate Santiago because I didn't know my way around to all the cities party spots but now I love it. I think renting a car and doing it the hard way is the best way to learn Santiago.
 

Ricardo900

Silver
Jul 12, 2004
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Like Mr. badpiece said, it's not a real touristy city, so you can get bored during the day time, and confused and lost at night, unless you know people to show you around. You can easily find yourself sitting in a bar alone looking around and if you don't know the terrain, it could be a bar in a not so nice area. But if you are looking for an adventure go for it. You should consider making Sosua your base of operation and hoofing it to Santiago on the weekend for parties.
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
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Your plans are interesting.

Unfortunately, Santiago is not a tourist city whereyou can cruise around and see "available" young things to talk to. People work or study, and then they play.

Your list of {Places to go} will certainly include:
Francifol
Tribeca
Ahi Bar
Baja
and a few more that "Badpiece" or AZB can supply.

Good luck with your hunting.

As for the beach, Caribe Tours has a bus leaving every hour for Sosúa, a d on the weekends you might want to try Jarabacoa for river swimming.

You can drive to any of the nice beaches in less than two hours...

HB
 

Rocky

Honorificabilitudinitatibus
Apr 4, 2002
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www.rockysbar.com
Unless you speak Spanish very well, Santiago's going to be a bust for you.
They have skank hos too, you know.
Sosua is your best choice, and instead of hanging around the Europa hotel on main street, go into the Dominican barrios and hang out there.
 

msands

New member
Sep 10, 2006
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Thank y'all for the quick replies!

I may have gotten the wrong impression of Santiago from other threads. Sounds like it may be a better place to live than to visit??

My Spanish is pretty good having lived in PR for a few yrs, but I won't be there long enough to make 50 new best friends. So, side trip to STI may be the way to go.

Other q's
Q: White water rafting in Jarabacoa, worth it? I think I've read the water is pretty infested?

Q: Can you describe the Sosua barrios deal? is it 'colmados with Presidente and domino games'?

BTW, I didn't mean to offend anyone's town with the skank ho reference...may have read too much into other posts. No worries, I've traveled all over and I'm sure I've seen worse ;>)