If you want peace and quiet with little activity, except going to the beach everyday go to Las Galeras. Getting from Las Galeras to Limon Falls in about a 45-60 minute ride by taxi. This will be costly unless there is a tour originating out of Las Galeras that will provide transportation. LT has many choices for drinks and dinner. It also has many more options for hotels. Yes LT is busier than Las Galeras. There isn't many tourist areas in the DR that aren't. LT is a nice blend of locals and ex-pats, mainly Europeans. It has a beach town vibe but also this is real world and not an all-inclusive atmosphere. I would look into the Villa Mariposa in LT. It is located down a side road about a 5-7 walk to the beach. This is a very private, self contained small villas around a pool. It is quiet, very good security and ambiance. The prices, I think, are fairly reasonable and as I said it is less than a 10 minute walk to the beach and the "Fishermen's Village of bars and restaurants. If you can afford to spend a little more I would check out Hotel Aliesi or Hotel Colbri on Playa Las Ballenas. If you are interested primarily into the beach these are both great locations. Hotel Colibri is on the nicest stretch of beach in LT. Are you flying from Canada or the US/ If you are flying from Canada you can find a flight in AZS (El Catey /Juan Bosch International Airport. If you are flying in from the US you will have to fly into SDQ, Santo Domingo. From the airport in Santo Domingo it is not an easy connection to either LT or even worse to get to Las Galeras, which is literally at the end of the road on the Samana Peninsula. You will need to connect with a bus or hire a private taxi to get your from the airport to the Northeast coast. This will cost $180usd each way. If you are flying in from Canada into El Catey it is less the 30 minutes to LT and will cost you about $70 for a taxi. The bus option from Santo Domingo to LT is not easy to connect to. First you need to arrive in Santo Domingo early enough in the day to be able to get through the airport and get to the bus station adjacent to the beginning of the Santo Domingo/ Samana highway. From here you can pick up the bus, which originates in the city and will take you non stop to LT. It's about a 3 hour ride. To get from SDQ to the bus depot you will need to take a taxi to get there. It's about $30-40 total. So it is not really easy to get from the airport in Santo Domingo to the Samana Peninsula, especially if this is your first time to the DR and you are not familiar with the terrain or speak the language. It really does make a huge difference of where you are flying into. I hope I did not discourage you but travelling to LT or LG could take a better part of a day coming and going and will not leave much time to relax. If you are flying from Canada into El Catey it is an easy trip to LT. Las Galeras in about an hour and fifteen minutes further down the road. I know you don't want to rent a car but it may be a better option from SDQ. It is about a 2-2hour 30 minute door to door. If you need any additional advise, just ask. Good luck and good travels.
- Thread starter jessies3
- Start date
Las Galeras v Las Terrenas
If you want peace and quiet with little activity, except going to the beach everyday go to Las Galeras. Getting from Las Galeras to Limon Falls in about a 45-60 minute ride by taxi. This will be costly unless there is a tour originating out of Las Galeras that will provide transportation. LT has many choices for drinks and dinner. It also has many more options for hotels. Yes LT is busier than Las Galeras. There isn't many tourist areas in the DR that aren't. LT is a nice blend of locals and ex-pats, mainly Europeans. It has a beach town vibe but also this is real world and not an all-inclusive atmosphere. I would look into the Villa Mariposa in LT. It is located down a side road about a 5-7 walk to the beach. This is a very private, self contained small villas around a pool. It is quiet, very good security and ambiance. The prices, I think, are fairly reasonable and as I said it is less than a 10 minute walk to the beach and the "Fishermen's Village of bars and restaurants. If you can afford to spend a little more I would check out Hotel Aliesi or Hotel Colbri on Playa Las Ballenas. If you are interested primarily into the beach these are both great locations. Hotel Colibri is on the nicest stretch of beach in LT. Are you flying from Canada or the US/ If you are flying from Canada you can find a flight in AZS (El Catey /Juan Bosch International Airport. If you are flying in from the US you will have to fly into SDQ, Santo Domingo. From the airport in Santo Domingo it is not an easy connection to either LT or even worse to get to Las Galeras, which is literally at the end of the road on the Samana Peninsula. You will need to connect with a bus or hire a private taxi to get your from the airport to the Northeast coast. This will cost $180usd each way. If you are flying in from Canada into El Catey it is less the 30 minutes to LT and will cost you about $70 for a taxi. The bus option from Santo Domingo to LT is not easy to connect to. First you need to arrive in Santo Domingo early enough in the day to be able to get through the airport and get to the bus station adjacent to the beginning of the Santo Domingo/ Samana highway. From here you can pick up the bus, which originates in the city and will take you non stop to LT. It's about a 3 hour ride. To get from SDQ to the bus depot you will need to take a taxi to get there. It's about $30-40 total. So it is not really easy to get from the airport in Santo Domingo to the Samana Peninsula, especially if this is your first time to the DR and you are not familiar with the terrain or speak the language. It really does make a huge difference of where you are flying into. I hope I did not discourage you but travelling to LT or LG could take a better part of a day coming and going and will not leave much time to relax. If you are flying from Canada into El Catey it is an easy trip to LT. Las Galeras in about an hour and fifteen minutes further down the road. I know you don't want to rent a car but it may be a better option from SDQ. It is about a 2-2hour 30 minute door to door. If you need any additional advise, just ask. Good luck and good travels.
Thank you for the great advice. Yes lt seems like the better option is LT and then a night in las galeras to experience the beaches by boat. We are aware of the long trip from Santo Domingo and will hire a car. We speak Spanish but would rather take the fastest route instead of the bus. The hotel youvrecommended sounds great. I will look into this.
The beach in front of Hotel Colibri two weeks ago:
[video=vimeo;256462470]https://vimeo.com/256462470[/video]
We will be "test based" in Hotel Colibri on an early April tour.
My video didn't show, even with the correct BBCodes:
https://vimeo.com/256462470
Seems now posting the link with just BBCode works.
I am staying at the Costarena in Las Terranas as we speak! I have vacationed in both Las Terranas and Las Galeras over the years and they both have their individual attributes. LT has the better beaches, hands down, and LG, Limon, and Samana are easily accessible from here. The large guagua, bus that you can board from either the capitol or the parade [bus station] at the entrance to the Samana Highway will transport you here without a problem and will cost you less dineros. The vistas along the route are stunning! Another good family hotel is the Colbri. I love this place and I know you will too. Happy travels!