Safety issues outside resorts

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BrianK

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Aug 26, 2009
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Can anyone tell me about any personal safety issues if I were to get a hotel in the main area of Sosua and be able to enjoy walking around by myself to the beaches, casinos, etc. rather than stay at one of the resorts and never go out on the town at night.
 

mike l

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Sep 4, 2007
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Can anyone tell me about any personal safety issues if I were to get a hotel in the main area of Sosua and be able to enjoy walking around by myself to the beaches, casinos, etc. rather than stay at one of the resorts and never go out on the town at night.

You will be completley safe as there are police for tourists but you won't need them.

I live right in the heart of town and pass by the all inclusives every day and kind of chuckle a little bit about why you guys don't walk around and see what's here...I do not know who gives out this advice but Sosua now has never been safer as I have not read about anything basically that would deter anyone from this.

Two years ago there was a pick pocket problem for all of 3 weeks.

Just don't bring your laptop if you plan on having guests over and falling asleep.

Come on down and have some fun in the Sun!
 

BrianK

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Appreciate it. I was talking to a guy a work with that went to Punta Cana and he mentioned that he was warned about issues there and I was curious if Sosua had any issues.
 

Kyle

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Jun 2, 2006
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it's all a plan to get you to spend your money on the resorts and none in town.

make sense ?

heed the advice of the wise ones grasshopper....
 
May 24, 2009
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BrianK you have nothing to fear; Kyle is correct. The resorts don't want you to leave and spend your money outside - it's very simple. Mike's advice for being careful about having a guest in your room is wise - that's the only real problem you might encounter, so lock away any valuables if that is likely. Sosua is great, but also try to take a trip to Cabarete (15 min taxi) for a night out.
 

BrianK

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Thanks again for the info. My plan is to stay in Sosua for 2 or 3 weeks next March. I have been working as a civilian contactor in Iraq and will get a federal income tax break (pay no federal) if I am out of the USA for a year. But I want to leave earlier due to the stress. I heard from a guy over here the Dominican Republic was a great place and was inexpensive. Which is what I need due to the length of time I will need to stay. But since I will be by myself, I wanted to know about any security/safety issues.
 

abe

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Foreign Earned Income Exemption

The DR might be the perfect place to decompress, however, I would seek expert advice re: the tax break you are counting on.

While I have used it to shelter income used abroad (and to get credit for income taxes paid to another country), I am not certain that coming to the DR and leaving the place where you work is going to be the correct way to qualify for that exemption.

Check it out before you make the decision to come to the DR for the wrong reasons.

Good luck.
 
May 24, 2009
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cost of living

BrianK, one other thing I'd like to add (and apologies in advance for appearing negative, as on occasion providers of info. and advice on this forum have been criticized for) but the cost of living here is not necessarily as low as people are led to believe.

It certainly can be, if you base yourself in an apartment for example where electricity and security are already factored into your monthly rent, but people often make the mistake of underestimating these costs - plus the real cost of some food and drink here.

If you eat chicken and rice as do the Dominicans and drink rum, you can get away with an inexpensive monthly grocery bill. If you want the 'comforts of home" and buy imported items, then you will find your grocery bill to be perhaps even more than your homeland. It should not put you off coming here, it's a great place to live, it's just that some things cost up to 5x what you might pay in Canada, the USA and the UK, like electricity for example.

all the best, Clare
 

El Tigre

El Tigre de DR1 - Moderator
Jan 23, 2003
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Please don't generalize

If you eat chicken and rice as do the Dominicans and drink rum, you can get away with an inexpensive monthly grocery bill. If you want the 'comforts of home" and buy imported items, then you will find your grocery bill to be perhaps even more than your homeland.

I know many Dominicans in the DR that do not eat rice and if they do it's prob once a month. You should say SOME or THE MAJORITY if you will.

But a long the lines of living expenses BrianK, swellsurfcampcabarete has a point on the cost of living. If you want imported stuff get ready to pay. For example, I was once charged $15 USD for a grey goose, cranberry at one of Santiago's most "prestigious" lounges.:ermm:
 
May 24, 2009
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El Tigre, in fact I was trying to make the point about imported and non-imported foods. Working class Dominicans eat the following in an average week; chicken and rice 3 times, meat and rice twice, pork and rice twice, soup 3 or 4 times, bacalou and platanos many times each week. My staff have just given me that information.

The point is that these foods are cheap for them to buy, it was not about insulting them.
 

Black Dog

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May 29, 2009
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Just going back to the safety issue and people not coming out of the AI hotels. I have a number of good friends that are holiday reps and most of them are hard working people doing a tough job, however, they can double or triple their income by selling excursions so their sales pitch at welcome meetings goes like this

"Don't go wandering around outside of the hotel on your own, especially at night. The Dominican people are lovely but it's a very poor country and there is a lot of petty crime against tourists. Having said that, it's a beautiful island and it would be a shame not to see some of it whilst you're here so why not book some of our trips and you can explore the beautiful DR in complete safety but only book trips through your rep because the little offices outside of the hotel don't have propper insurance cover"

And this is why so many tourists don't leave the hotel, and I have heard this sales pitch myself over and over!!!!

Advice, get out and about and enjoy your vacation. Take the same basic precautions that you would in any major town or city anywhere else in the world and you shouldn't have any problems!!
 

BrianK

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Aug 26, 2009
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I do not plan on having a rep. I was just going to come down, get a hotel, drink domestic beer, eat when I'm hungry and relax. Maybe snorkle some.
 

iangillis

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black dog, that was almost word-for-word the sales pitch we got from TC at Casa Marina! I guess there'll be people in every group who fall for it and stay on the resort and only book trips through their rep.... but being from the UK myself, I personally believe anyone traveling a third of the way round the world and not even bothering to researcvh a little of where they're going (or at least seek out a site like this) then they deserve to get ripped by the travel agency and live in ignorance of the wonders beyond the hotel walls.
 

El Tigre

El Tigre de DR1 - Moderator
Jan 23, 2003
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El Tigre, in fact I was trying to make the point about imported and non-imported foods. Working class Dominicans eat the following in an average week; chicken and rice 3 times, meat and rice twice, pork and rice twice, soup 3 or 4 times, bacalou and platanos many times each week. My staff have just given me that information.

The point is that these foods are cheap for them to buy, it was not about insulting them.

Gotcha. And I wasn't implying you were insulting. Just making it clear. Some folks get outta hand around here:cheeky:
 

SantiagoDR

The "REAL" SantiagoDR
Jan 12, 2006
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Please don't generalize

I know many Dominicans in the DR that do not eat rice and if they do it's prob once a month. You should say SOME or THE MAJORITY if you will.....

Generally Dominicans eat chicken, rice and beans!

Americans eat Turkey for Thanksgiving.. opsss, I meant some or most eat Turkey!

BOTH statement are TRUE!

Shyte, feels like I'm back in school being taught English!


Don
 

Black Dog

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May 29, 2009
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black dog, that was almost word-for-word the sales pitch we got from TC at Casa Marina! I guess there'll be people in every group who fall for it and stay on the resort and only book trips through their rep.... but being from the UK myself, I personally believe anyone traveling a third of the way round the world and not even bothering to researcvh a little of where they're going (or at least seek out a site like this) then they deserve to get ripped by the travel agency and live in ignorance of the wonders beyond the hotel walls.

And it's so short sighted of the tour companies because when you get home your conversation with your friends will go like this

How was your holiday?
Great?
What's the DR like?
Lovely but you can't go out of your hotel because it's dangerous!

Who the hell hearing that would then book to bring their family here? We ALWAYS got out and about from hotels, we would ask a local person working at the hotel what areas we should go to and which we should avoid and off we go. I can state this hand on heart, I feel safer walking around Sosua at 11pm than I did walking around Newquay in Cornwall at 11pm!
 

rsg

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Oct 21, 2008
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I was back in NY a few weeks ago for a wedding and i started to talk to a friend i have not seen in a few years, so we chat and i mention that i do business in the DR and that i spend about two weeks a month there, so my friend tells me how him and his wife just spent a week at a resort in puerto plata and how they loved it so much. I asked him what they did or seen and he told me that the hotel explained to them how dangerous the area was and to not venture outside the grounds unless on a hotel excursian. they were led to believe that they would be robbed or even kidnaped if they left the resort..
 
May 24, 2009
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It is dangerous; dangerous for the profits of the big hotel corps who make huge profits on the often Dominican produced merchandise they sell the tourists at 500% mark-up. With the very low prices of the A.I. packages, when you consider that flights are included + accommodation + food + drinks, these poor companies have to make a buck somewhere.
 
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