1st time to The Dominican Republic

[ju10prd]

Hello everyone, my wife and myself will be making our 1st trip to the Dominican Republic in July. We will be there 2 weeks. It's sort or a business trip that we extended into a mini vacation. We will be in Santo Domingo. Did some research the last few months before finding this page. I WAS excited about visiting Boca Chica(My wife has never left our city, yet alone the country) but I've recently been reading and it seems like it's a place to avoid? I was told that Juan Dolio(sp?) was a better choice. I would love ANY hints/tips/advice/suggestions. Places to go, places to avoid, things to see so that we don't stick out like sore thumbs. Also, I would like to bring Pure White Hennessy back to the states. How does that work? What is a Duty free store?

Assuming the business side of your trip will be in Santo Domingo and assuming you may be involved with the business side of things, it might be a good idea to choose with care a comfortable hotel with plenty of amenities in the event your wife will be left alone for periods. Santo Domingo will be somewhat different for her for sure and it is not a place to go wandering around for the uninitiated. Normally one would suggest a stay in one of the better hotels in Zona Colonial, but perhaps a larger hotel more centrally located catering for businessmen and tourists may be a better choice. A lot will depend how and where your business will take place.

As for some vacation time, discount Boca Chica and Juan Dolio has it's limitation too. Bayahibe as suggested is probably a good choice for your first trip to a beach resort in the country other wise head a bit further east to Bavaro and Punta Cana where there is a wide choice of hotels and resorts. If you choose either resort area it might also be a good idea to fly in to Santo Domingo and out from Punta Cana (or even La Romana).

Dufry, the duty free concession in DR (https://www.dufry.com/en ) may be able to help you more on product availability at their concessions in DR, but my experience is that they focus on rums and whiskeys for drinkers.

 

[Hector L]

Avoid Boca Chica at all costs.  It is dirty and filled with whores, drugs, thieves, vendors who won't take no for an answer.

 

[dada4w]

Assuming the business side of your trip will be in Santo Domingo and assuming you may be involved with the business side of things, it might be a good idea to choose with care a comfortable hotel with plenty of amenities in the event your wife will be left alone for periods. Santo Domingo will be somewhat different for her for sure and it is not a place to go wandering around for the uninitiated. Normally one would suggest a stay in one of the better hotels in Zona Colonial, but perhaps a larger hotel more centrally located catering for businessmen and tourists may be a better choice. A lot will depend how and where your business will take place.

As for some vacation time, discount Boca Chica and Juan Dolio has it's limitation too. Bayahibe as suggested is probably a good choice for your first trip to a beach resort in the country other wise head a bit further east to Bavaro and Punta Cana where there is a wide choice of hotels and resorts. If you choose either resort area it might also be a good idea to fly in to Santo Domingo and out from Punta Cana (or even La Romana).

Dufry, the duty free concession in DR (https://www.dufry.com/en ) may be able to help you more on product availability at their concessions in DR, but my experience is that they focus on rums and whiskeys for drinkers.

Thank you so much....she still gets lost when she leaves home NOW so I don't expect her to roam free while I'm away lol. What's the estimated travel time from Santo Domingo to Bayahibe or Punta Canta? We live in Houston and with traffic sometimes it's 2 hours just to get to the other side of town. I've never been to DR and wanted to see how it compared in size to Houston.

 

[dada4w]

Avoid Boca Chica at all costs.  It is dirty and filled with whores, drugs, thieves, vendors who won't take no for an answer.

Now I see why I got nasty looks from Co-workers when I said I wanted to take the Mrs to Boca Chica lol

 

[irishpaddy]

you can get Hennessy Blanca in most liquor places in Santo Domingo for between $50 and $85...big difference ...so shop around ....DUTY FREE at the airport is a complete rip off
Boca Chica is not as bad as some people make out ...you can have a relaxing day at the beach there ...the BO CANA restaurant on the beach is very nice and has good food ...naturally weekends can be a busy time
as for the sellers on the beach ...if you show no interest they will leave you alone ...if you choose to show some interest ..you will be tortured ...so a quck firm ..." no thankyou" will stop the sales pitch

 

[dada4w]

you can get Hennessy Blanca in most liquor places in Santo Domingo for between $50 and $85...big difference ...so shop around ....DUTY FREE at the airport is a complete rip off
Boca Chica is not as bad as some people make out ...you can have a relaxing day at the beach there ...the BO CANA restaurant on the beach is very nice and has good food ...naturally weekends can be a busy time
as for the sellers on the beach ...if you show no interest they will leave you alone ...if you choose to show some interest ..you will be tortured ...so a quck firm ..." no thankyou" will stop the sales pitch

I guess most of it is just common sense as with any big city......be aware of your surroundings. We won't be out late partying or anything. Thanks for the info, all of this is very helpful and making me less nervous about our trip.

 

[ju10prd]

Thank you so much....she still gets lost when she leaves home NOW so I don't expect her to roam free while I'm away lol. What's the estimated travel time from Santo Domingo to Bayahibe or Punta Canta? We live in Houston and with traffic sometimes it's 2 hours just to get to the other side of town. I've never been to DR and wanted to see how it compared in size to Houston.

Assuming you are not leaving at rush hour in the evening, then say comfortably 2 hours to Bayahibe and 3 to Bavaro by car.

Have you researched Santo Domingo hotels close to where your business will be conducted?

 

[dada4w]

Assuming you are not leaving at rush hour in the evening, then say comfortably 2 hours to Bayahibe and 3 to Bavaro by car.

Have you researched Santo Domingo hotels close to where your business will be conducted?

Right now I'm thinking they will put us up in the Court Yard Marriott....nothing fancy. Close to the National Palace.

 

[NALs]

OP, forget Boca Chica or Juan Dolio. Go straight for Isla Saona. Your wife will not believe her eyes (and neither will you, lol).

Some companies do offer excursions to Saona, which is a wise thing to do.

[video=youtube;6iXFAFGxpiU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iXFAFGxpiU[/video]

 

[dada4w]

OP, forget Boca Chica or Juan Dolio. Go straight for Isla Saona. Your wife will not believe her eyes (and neither will you, lol).

Some companies do offer excursions to Saona, which is a wise thing to do.

[video=youtube;6iXFAFGxpiU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iXFAFGxpiU[/video]

Wow. Nice We will be in country from July 16th to the 29th...I'm gonna try to take advantage of all of this.

 

[cavok]

If you go to Bayahibe, you'll be going right past Altos de Chavon in La Romana near Casa de Campo. Very popular tourist town. It's a recreation of a 16th century Mediterranean Village with a lot of nice restaurants. Worth looking into.

 

[Xavier_Onassis]

Altos de Chavon is delightful. Great scenery, fabulous architecture.

 

[cavok]

Punta Cana/Bavaro has beautiful beaches and fantastic all-inclusive resorts but, unless you are planning on staying in one of the all-inclusive resorts, I would not recommend going there. Public beach access is very limited and there is very little to see or do otherwise.

 

[Joe Boots]

You can buy Hennessy White in the Duty Free in DR on your return trip. I have not found a good deal yet apparently the DR liquor stores know the value. Its expensive like 50$ USD they put in bag and you take as carry on. If you are doing a layover in the states. Make sure you have room in your luggage. Because they wont allow duty free as carry on on the transfer flight. I learned the hard way. Also Old Juan Dolio is the place to go that has several nice bar restaurants by the water. New Juan Dolio you have to take all your beach stuff with you. Also Guayacanes is very nice and quiet. Restaurant Pescadore is very peaceful. There are others. Boca is a good starting point and very lively but many vendors will be working. At first will be nice then afterwards you will want some beach time relatively not bothered. "No Molestar Por Favor". "No Gracias". Guayacanes is just past Boca Chica before Juan Dolio. That section of beach is the longest on the island I believe. About 15km in all. Take a Google earth virtual tour before going you will be better oriented. While in the Capital common sites are El Conde that stretches between Parkeo Independencia and Parkeo Colon. Take a nice slow walk. There is the Museo Humanos near the central bank. It has been refurbished I believe. You can see the car the assassins were in who shot Trujillo.

 

[dada4w]

You can buy Hennessy White in the Duty Free in DR on your return trip. I have not found a good deal yet apparently the DR liquor stores know the value. Its expensive like 50$ USD they put in bag and you take as carry on. If you are doing a layover in the states. Make sure you have room in your luggage. Because they wont allow duty free as carry on on the transfer flight. I learned the hard way. Also Old Juan Dolio is the place to go that has several nice bar restaurants by the water. New Juan Dolio you have to take all your beach stuff with you. Also Guayacanes is very nice and quiet. Restaurant Pescadore is very peaceful. There are others. Boca is a good starting point and very lively but many vendors will be working. At first will be nice then afterwards you will want some beach time relatively not bothered. "No Molestar Por Favor". "No Gracias".

That's what I figured lol.....they would find out the value and the price would go up....so basically the cost of regular hennessy here in the states....that's fine, I plan on giving them as gifts this year. I'm super excited. How is the food? Never had Dominican food, not a fan of Carbs, but it's vacation so what the heck.....I'll indulge.

 

[dada4w]

Just did a google maps search....nice.

 

[Joe Boots]

Museum of the Dominican Man

 

[Joe Boots]

Food varies. I would stick with the local cuisine. The fried fish are seasoned excellent "Beware the Bones!". I always like the bandana plates. The Flag so to speak. Rice beans and small salad, with stew Chicken, Beef, Pork, depends what is available. Roasted chicken is seasoned to a new level and always tasty. Sometimes some places are a bit on the dry side but hot sauce, or the beans wet it up nicely. If you go to old Juan Doilio Don Pedros wings are small but tasty. If you get homesick for that favorite.

 

[cavok]

That's what I figured lol.....they would find out the value and the price would go up....so basically the cost of regular hennessy here in the states....that's fine, I plan on giving them as gifts this year. I'm super excited. How is the food? Never had Dominican food, not a fan of Carbs, but it's vacation so what the heck.....I'll indulge.

Prepare for carbo overload. Lots of rice, beans, guandules, potatoes, yuca, pasta, platanos, bread, etc.

 

[mofongoloco]

Wow. Nice We will be in country from July 16th to the 29th...I'm gonna try to take advantage of all of this.

Don't tell locals when you are leaving. Lie if you must. 

Boca chica is a dump.  Been to Galveston more times than I care to admit. Although tiny by comparison and Caribbean there are similarities. Both kind of dumpy, both way past their prime.  Both trying to make a come back.  It is a quick jaunt from the east end of the capital. Most of the business areas are in the west. 

Get uber app before for you leave. Better, safer, cheaper than taxis. 

Decent shopping for your wife within a few blocks of parque colon.  Small designer shops. 

Anybody you don't already know who says "my fren" definitely isn't your friend. 

Make sure you go to the Columbus brother house. It's interesting and Dominicans take great pride in their patrimony. They love to tell you how they were first in the americas for just about everything. Street,  church, hospital. The list goes on.  Just don't tell them that Spain left them and dry, twice. They love Spain. Haiti...not so much

Let us know how your trip goes.