La Boca -Gone!

appleman

New member
Dec 18, 2003
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I just received these photos of A developer razing the LaBoca restaurants. What a loss. I had heard that the land was sold and could possibly involve loss of LaBoca, but I certainly did not expect anything like this so soon. A true Dominican experience has been bulldozed for another tacky artificial DR tourist destination. (pix follow in next post).
 
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appleman

New member
Dec 18, 2003
304
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Here are the pictures

Here are the pictures referred to from my first post above. (Sorry, I forgot how to post the pictures for a while. I guess I couldn't think straight after seeing this).


<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52718479@N05/9316641089/" title="965354_10153017139730627_1692577543_o by appleman bob, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2818/9316641089_ba583df162_c.jpg" width="800" height="598" alt="965354_10153017139730627_1692577543_o"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52718479@N05/9319430146/" title="1077320_10153017139625627_867339669_o by appleman bob, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7333/9319430146_f1ab3f063a_c.jpg" width="800" height="598" alt="1077320_10153017139625627_867339669_o"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52718479@N05/9319428344/" title="1073802_10153017148540627_1177422255_o by appleman bob, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7285/9319428344_a90caa429a_c.jpg" width="800" height="598" alt="1073802_10153017148540627_1177422255_o"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52718479@N05/9319430572/" title="1073296_10153017152070627_148254966_o by appleman bob, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5486/9319430572_a51e347630_c.jpg" width="800" height="598" alt="1073296_10153017152070627_148254966_o"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52718479@N05/9316639449/" title="457358_10153017152735627_1281323135_o by appleman bob, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7328/9316639449_72c448791b_c.jpg" width="800" height="598" alt="457358_10153017152735627_1281323135_o"></a>
 

Man?el

Member
Jul 22, 2012
222
8
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Never got to try it out, bummer.
Maybe they'll open in a different location like mojito bar did.
 
Aug 21, 2007
3,043
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Breaks my heart. It was one of my authentic go-to places that I would enjoy and also take vacationers.

Paved paradise and put up a parking lot.

Lindsed
 

hammerdown

Bronze
Apr 29, 2005
1,466
107
63
maybe they could set up on the opposite river bank

That would be nice, but would put it too far to travel, when compared to other places. You would need to go to Veragua, and make a left at the cruze de pina, (just after la bomba) then follow a pretty bad road to the end. Then you would need to walk about 10-15 min to reach la boca.

The great thing about La Boca was that you could drive right up to it, and the road wasn't too long or too bad, except after a rainfall.
 

flyinroom

Silver
Aug 26, 2012
3,796
683
113
Call me picky...(I am.)
But I have always worried a bit about the condition of the kitchens in places like that...
For drinks I'm sure I would have loved it.
 

appleman

New member
Dec 18, 2003
304
11
0
Anybody has pictures to show how it looked before the demolition?


Here are a few pictures of LaBoca before the demolition.

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windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
5,966
113
[video=youtube;tvtJPs8IDgU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvtJPs8IDgU[/video]


A sad day for Cabarete.
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
5,966
113
It used to be a big time Sunday party location with the locals. You know, you have to work tomorrow so let's get drunk today. Not so much recently and now never again.
 

sicknote

New member
Jun 9, 2009
74
6
0
We went yesterday,,Thursday just after the demolition,apparently by Russians with many local police.... we go regurlarly with the dogs or to have a drink and chill out, we spoke to my friend Wilson who runs the jungle tours and one of the bars and he rekons thay the road is a public access and cannot be closed , he was still trading off the beach in a new area with food and drinks and he said he will be there on sunday maybe a little smaller but nevertheless STILL THERE as he says he has lots of friends who support him , ,,,,fortunately he can get there by river,,,,,lol,,,WE WILL BE GOING ON SUNDAY to show support and still have a chill out , if the security tell you no access tell em ,,no espaniol and just drive to the normal area,,,,,,,,,,,the more people that still go the better for la boca as I believe they are trying to make the area at the and a national park then everyone has a access to it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,good luck
 

ADECA

New member
Apr 22, 2009
60
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0
The La Boca story has been evolving for months. It started when private security employed by the intended buyers of the proerty attempted to block the access road, apparently with the connivance of Canoa the Cabarete sindico. Calls to the reprentative of Ministry of Tourism and Environment resulted in the blockade being lifted, with the representative of the intended buyers being informed that they would not be permitted to eliminate the public access. At least as of very recently the investors had not purchased the property and had determined that they would not do so unless the two restaurant shacks located on the pubicly owned strip of land by the river could be removed. The investors had previously reached an agreement with Wilson Zapete to accept compensation for him to vacate, but they had not been able to reach agreement with the other shack owner, Christino. With the failure to close the road to pressure a resolution, the investors began a campaign with a public meeting to convince the community that potential benefits for the community, including jobs and investor contributions to community works would be lost if the shack owners were not convinced to vacate. This convinced some in the community but others rallied behind the shack owners. All this was a side show while negotiations continued between the investors and the shack owners, resulting in an agreed compensation payment of RD$2 million for them to vacate.

Whether the land purchase and the project will proceed remains to be seen. The representative of the owners had revealed that the plan called for closing the current access road that follows the coast line and creating another well south of that with a foot path leading from the point where the road would end at the river to the mouth of the river. Moving the access road from its current location would free up that land to build high-end ocean front villas. But the current position of the provincial representatives of tourism and the environment is that the current access road is a public road that has existed for 40 years and they will not agree to it being relocated. The area is also classified as somewhat protected due to mangroves and sand dunes that are not supposed to be touched. But these are the current positions of provincial level officials. If all these constraints are respected, there may be no latitude for anything like the project the investors had in mind. But as investors in this area have learned, for the right price one can get permits from the higher ups in Santo Domingo to violate almost any building regulation.

MITUR has classified the area as a recreational area, and one can still go there to fish or kitesurf or boating, but it has lost the attraction as a place to spend a lazy afternoon with meals and drink. Since the restaurants were on the public land bordering the river without any official authorization and they were vacated voluntarily by the proprietors, there was nothing that officials could have done to maintain the status quo regarding the provision of public service to visitors to La Boca.

From here there are two possible scenarios. The investors decide to proceed with a plan they present to the government, or they conclude that there are too many constraints and it is not worthwhile proceeding. The fact that they agreed to pay RD$2 million to eliminate the shacks suggests they remain confident they can overcome constraints and get permits to build. In that scenario one hopes that the authorities will condition permit approval on the restoration of public services for visitors to La Boca. If the investors abandon their plans, MITUR should consider granting a concession for the restoration of restaurant services on public land with proper sanitation requirements.
 

FritoBandito

Bronze
Dec 19, 2009
681
34
0
Where was that located? Out near Sabaneta, and up the river, from the jungle boat dock, where it meets the ocean? If so, I know exactly where it was.
 

whirleybird

Silver
Feb 27, 2006
3,264
322
83
which side of the river is this happening as to me it is not clear either? The La Boca I know and visit regurlarly is accessed via the turn to Paraiso del Sol or through Jardin Deportivo? Is this the place that has been demolished or is it on the other side of the river mouth?
 
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