trip report... samana peninsula 2010

Thanks to all for the help and guidance that made our trip special

After missing out on a vacation last year the wife and I decided to spend 2 weeks this year in beautiful samana. One in las galeras which was a new spot for us, and one a return visit to las terrenas. We flew into SDQ (still no flights to el catay from US) and rented a suzuki gran vitara. Thanks to all who advised the suv, it was very much needed and appreciated and i cannot imagine doing some of the things we did in anything less. Rented from europcar via the net and the car was a bit dinged up but sound. make sure you take pictures if the car has some dings and scratches. We lost our ticket detailing the dings and when we returned I felt like a criminal as i believe they thought we did some of the damage and a few pictures would have been nice to show them. I still haven't gotten the full cost of this but it was much more than the base price i paid online even though we declined the CDW insurance because our CC covers.

The drive to las galeras was uneventful and the roads much better than anticipated and with all the work still going on i can imagine it to get even better in the future. The only mishap was a wrong turn in samana town because there is a sign as you first get into town that directs you to turn left fot LG. Don't make this turn, the road is crowded and awful and immediately made us glad we had the suv! Stay straight through the malecon, even though it is a longer way the road is much better. We were hustling to get through samana before nightfall and only had a small stretch of driving in the dark, which was not so bad.

Our place in LG was a villa (el castille) rented through JuanyLolo. They were very helpful and checkin was a breeze. I thought for the money ($360/week with AC) the villa was a good deal. It was very quiet (right next to el marinique which was not open at the time) had nice ocean breezes and definately close to town center. We settled in and walked to the luisitania for some tasty pizza, found some brugal at the local colmado and came back to rest after a long day of travel.

off to work more later with some pics

The villa serena did look nice. We walked to it by the shoreside trying to reach la playita one day. The two small hotels/b&b's beside us looked nice also(la isleta and el marinique) the owners of el marinique arrived the day before we left town but we did get to chat with them and they are very knowledgable and helpful. I think andy and nicole have been in LG for 20plus years and i hear nicole is a great cook and i can imagine they would be awesome hosts. Ron is right in his assessment of the two places. LG is very laid back but i think LT has better beaches and amenities. The ocean was very rough while we were there so we didn't get to visit playa madama or fronton only after we went to boca el diablo one day did we discover it is only a 45 min walk to fronton from there and it was too late to go and have time to enjoy. la playita and playa las galeras were nice as well but it seemed there are more venders and such and after letting them know we were not interested we were able to relax a bit. We were able to drive our vehicle to playa rincon one day but the beach is very littered. i am not sure if the stuff washes up from elsewhere or if it is mostly local trash but it was a definate turnoff. i would hope someone cleans it up before the busy season. we also went past rincon town into the hills and the road was not so bad. i was pleasantly surprised how far we were able to go and the people there seemed very friendly and surprised to see us we did quads one day and were going to go farther but it was raining and we detoured to laguna saluda, hung out for awhile and called it a day. Overall i would recommend LG for those wanting a relaxing retreat, it is not difficult to drive there or if you wish to not drive everything is walkable or easily reached, just not as convenient as LT. Almost forgot to mention el cabito! what a marvelous meal and experience. enjoyed talking to Johns and Catherine and the food is also very good and reasonably priced. a must do in LG. more later, ben