How do locals handle this heat? i just returned from Las Terrenas / The capital...

[ZC1]

I come from the US where AC is common. The heat this week was unbearable . Just oppressive! how do expats or locals handle it ?? I mean the carritos, comedores and colmados never have ac. I undertand the economic reality of having an AC is Rep dom but jesus ! lol .
As a an american we always seek the sun but I can see now why people hate the noon time sun !!
 

whats your trick ?? and is AC THAT much more expensive here ??? with the world getting hotter what will give ??

Those who live in the Mountains or the Beach are fine. Those of us in the city have brain damage from the heat

 

[william webster]

I live on a cliff with the Trade Winds blowing all the time.

When they blow hot - I put a fan at the end of my bed

Done

 

[Blueceo]

It's easy... AC in the house, AC in the car, AC in the office and if the restaurant, bar or business doesn't have AC, then I go on to the next one. The only time I don't have AC is at the beach, and then you just jump in and cool off. Being a Gringo from the States I like everything cool with AC and my water hot for showers..... lol

 

[ROLLOUT]

This is still not warm really. Locals are used to it just like I am getting used to it. I dislike heat and dread the summer every year but I am acclimated now. No way will I go in a Pool or the ocean in the winter, way too cold!!
Stay out of the sun as much as possible, drink lots of beer, put a damp cloth around your neck. Always be around a fan or Ac...
I found drinking alcohol made me much warmer, so one huge upside to not drinking anymore, I don’t get he heat flashes like I did with alcohol.

Good luck bc heat sucks it imo. 

There, fixed it for ya.

 

[cobraboy]

THIS IS SIMPLY AN OBSERVATION.... a lot of negative Nancy saying " If you can't take the heat"... PLEASE.

I am in my mid 20's and travel ( and will continue) to DR several times a year and explore the various regions on DR. I was simply wondering how do locals do it and never wearing shorts.

It was something of culture shock how people just carry on with what I would consider "oppressive" heat. That is all. I am not here to change anyone or anything and don't care to.

My Dominican mami never wants to go to the beach before 3 and I usually wanna seize the day and head out ...now it makes sense. I am ALWAYS sweating ... yet never saw any one else sweat LOL.

THanks your for POSITIVE feedback guys. I like to keep it local and cheap when i go... so I am always in the carritos, colmados & comedores and drinks

It depends on where you are from, where you are physically aclimated.

I'm from Tampa, and the DR is warmer in winter and cooler in summer that where I am from (except the SW; it's HOT).

Years ago I got transferred from Tampa in mid July. I arrived in Chicago and everybody was complaining about the heat. I didn't think it was hot or humid at all. In fact, I thought the temps and weather were wonderul. THEN winter came, and while I about died in the dry cold and snow---I never thoiught I'd get chapped niopples---locals were acting like the weather was nothing. Three years later I got transferred back to Tampa in July...and about died. It took two months to become re-aclimated.

So I can see how someone from "up north" parachuting into the DR as summer begins might think it's hot.

 

[CristoRey]

It was something of culture shock how people just carry on with what I would consider "oppressive" heat.

No one wants you to feel "oppressed"
Perhaps you can find a nice air conditioned "safe space" to spend these hot days
indoors and away from people like me :cheeky:

 

[JasonD]

I have full time job with central A/C. my cars have a/c and my bedroom has a/c. My gym has central a/c. I stay away from sun and take vitamin D pills. I feel no heat here at all. so if you are going to move here, try not to live like poor people.
Poverty sucks all over the world.
AZB

Exactly and Amen!

 

[JD Jones]

I have A/C in my house...... set at 80 degrees, Mainly to remove humidity. I only run one A/C at a time, depending which room I'm in.

My vehicles all have A/C set on low.

End result is I'm never hot, never cold. Uniformity works for me.

My electric bill has never it 2K, so I must be doing something right.

 

[JasonD]

but then i am not a greasy chunk of fat wrapped in a thick blankie of adipose tissue all around. i hate AC and banned it from our house so far.

I can't still go beyond this grotesque comment. " A greasy chunk of fat?"

Wow!!!

 

[Ret.Cop]

The question was "how Dominicans deal with the heat". Simple, they say "Coño, que calor no? Préstame una fría". And play dominoes in the shadow.

 

[NALs]

Santo Domingo can feel like a furnice. If you drive out of the city in the late afternoon/evening with the windows half down, by the time you’re on the kilometros on autopista Duarte you can actually feel the air cool down in a matter of minutes. 

The capital is also warmer than Santiago, especially in the mornings, evenings, and nights. 7am in Santiago you will be comfortable, that same time in Santo Domingo you’re sweating like a dog unless you have some A/C. 

 

[Chirimoya]

It's been 20 years and I still can't wear my hair loose. I'm in awe of all the women who manage it without looking hot and bothered.

 

[AlterEgo]

It's been 20 years and I still can't wear my hair loose. I'm in awe of all the women who manage it without looking hot and bothered.

 I know!  My hair is always pulled into a ponytail or bun.  Then my sisters-in-law show up with long hair down, jeans, long sleeve tops, sometimes even a sweater!  

We were so enjoying the weather in February, and all the Dominicans around us were acting like it was below zero.  

 

[rogerramjet1]

It doesn't snow here. full. stop.

Finding a parking space in the shade here is a life skill.

it snows in every country, even the DR. sheeesh what do they teach kids these days?

 

[bob saunders]

it snows in every country, even the DR. sheeesh what do they teach kids these days?

iT DOESNT SNOW IN 99.9 PERCENT OF THE COUNTRY.

 

[NALs]

Ok, so its not snow, but for the Caribbean it might as well be.

Valle Nuevo National Park, near Constanza, in the winter. Its very easy to tell that these guys never left the island. Look at them, they became children.

[video=youtube;YSH_5gt6rmE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSH_5gt6rmE[/video]

 

[NALs]

Another one from Valle Nuevo. Ok, not snow, but close in the only island in the Caribbean where this happens every winter.

[video=youtube;_AGZmYSBGNI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AGZmYSBGNI[/video]

I hope these couple of posts help refresh this burning thread. lol

 

[Natu]

Santo Domingo can feel like a furnice. If you drive out of the city in the late afternoon/evening with the windows half down, by the time you’re on the kilometros on autopista Duarte you can actually feel the air cool down in a matter of minutes. 

The capital is also warmer than Santiago, especially in the mornings, evenings, and nights. 7am in Santiago you will be comfortable, that same time in Santo Domingo you’re sweating like a dog unless you have some A/C. 

Santiago can be cooler than Santo Domingo in winter times, but in Summer time Santiago is a frying pan, even hotter than Santo Domingo. At least we have the trade winds on our side, but in early august/late July, Santiago's Valley becomes a living hell due to the mountains blocking the temperature regulating trade winds from the caribbean sea.

Now, the hottest part of the country and probably the whole caribbean is the southwest of the DR. Temperatures can reach insane high's like 39 C and 40 C.

 

[Celt202]

it snows in every country, even the DR. sheeesh what do they teach kids these days?

When there's a dusting in one of the high valleys it doesn't last very long.

That's close enough to statistical zero for me.

If I want ice I'll stick my head in the freezer.

 

[Ecoman1949]

When there's a dusting in one of the high valleys it doesn't last very long.

That's close enough to statistical zero for me.

If I want ice I'll stick my head in the freezer.

So what your saying is I should hold off from bringing my alpine ski gear with me when I move down permanently. Damn! I was actually looking forward to carving the slopes on Pico Duarte and checking out the snow bunnies. Truth is skiing doesn’t have the same appeal it once had for me. I’d be on the slopes at -25 and actually enjoy it. Now I prefer 25 degrees plus, palm trees and sandy beaches and I have many favourites beaches in the DR. They have indoor ski slopes in the Middle East so anything is possible. Maybe an indoor ski slope in the DR? Could a rink and NHL franchise be far behind? Go Santo Domingo Diablos! Ja Ja Ja.

As for sticking my head in the freezer to cool down. Not necessary in my neck of the woods. I can get in a boat, locate an inshore grounded iceberg, and remove a big chunk of thousand year old pure frozen ice to put in my dark rum and coke. Maybe I can start an import business and import iceberg ice to the DR.