I was in DR between March 5 and March 15 with a couple of friends, this was their first time to DR, I?m Dominican. We arrive at night on the 5th, on March 6 I show them Sto. Dgo and the trip really began on March 7 when we leave in the morning to Samana from Santo Domingo. This is what we did:
March 7: Arrive at Samana around 1:00 PM, accommodate ourselves in an apartment in the town, have a lunch and off we go to Playa Rinc?n, really a beautiful unspoiled beach, is worth to visit, spend the afternoon there, in the way back we made a little stop at Las Galeras beach to take some photos then return to have dinner in Samana town.
March 8: In the morning went to figure out the whale watching excursion, the one that is with Kim Bedall was full already, but found another tour really nice boat similar size as the one of Kim Bedall, we spoke with the guy that runs the ship so we have a really good deal, we pay RD$1000 per person (this include the trip to Cayo Levantado and drinks, but no meal), Dominican price, even my friends pay that, I was with my dad and he is a Dominican that really knows how to bargain. The excursion is amazing, just waiting for the whales to come out of the water, some of them where even down the ship for a moment, saw 3 whales at the same time, a wonderful experience, really worth it. After seeing the whales we went to Cayo Levantado, there we have lunch, fried fresh fish with moro de guandules
, really nice and only cost us around RD$200 per person. Then we enjoy the beach at Cayo Levantado, we had an amazing time, sun bathing and everything. Just perfect!! Over there we made the contact for the trip to Los Haitises for the next day. We return to Samana around 4:00 PM, but that wasn?t the end of the day yet, after that we then decide to go to the waterfall ?El Lim?n?, horses and mules to get there and for a little part you have to go on foot, I just wanted to arrive to the waterfall and see if it really was worth it, because my horse really try to kill me like 3 times, what a ride!!! But at the end was really amazing, is breath taking the view of the waterfall, the pictures doesn?t make them justice and is a refreshing bath (the cell phone of my dad accompany him to the waterfall, he forgot he had it with him, I really don?t know how it work again the next day, the expression of my dad?s face when he realize he still had the cell phone with him as a KODAK moment if you know what I mean), the only problem was the way back, at the end we spent RD$1150 for the horses and mules plus tips for 5 persons. We arrive at Samana town around 9:00 PM and we just stopped at a restaurant called ?Camilo? for dinner and then back to the apartment.
March 9: The trip to Las Haitises was at 9:30 AM, in a small boat, only us in the boat, the sea was really calm that morning, my mom as a pure Dominican made Pasta that morning to have lunch at Los Haitises. One of my friends just told me about the trip to Los Haitises: ?This is National Geographic in real life?, the enjoy it, the beauty of Los Haitises is unique. We had lunch at a stop that is made for that, is just at the entrance of one of the big caves there called it ?Cueva Arena?. My mom was right the Pasta was really good with really good croissants we bought that morning was just perfect. We return to the town around 2:00 PM. The cost was RD$1250 per person for the trip, really worth it. We bought a couple of coke and off we go to find a really cool beach to spend the rest of the afternoon, we found one that was really, really great, the only problem is that you have to cross to rivers to get to it but if you a really good vehicle you can do it, the name of the beach is ?El Valle? (The Valley), in this beach was no one, the waves of the beach was really good, is not white sand but who cares we had the beach only for us and there is a river that end in the beach, oh GOD that was a plus, we spend the afternoon just there, hearing music and just having an amazing time. BTW this beach is really close to the town. We return to the town around 7:00 PM, take a shower and prepare dinner, we ate at the apartment that night, then we went out for some ice cream.
March 10: We leave to Puerto Plata taking the coast to see the view, in the way we stop to buy some SODA (this is made with coconut, I don?t know how to explain what it is, but is really good), we also made a stop at Cabrera just to take some pictures, the view of the coast was really beautiful. Before arriving to POP we make a stop at Playa Grande, really big waves, not for me that I?m not a good swimmer, but the beach is really impressive, we had lunch there at the beach, really good service and the meal was spectacular, the fried fish was to die for, also the shrimps and the Langostinos (forgot the word in English). After relaxing on the beach we took the road again to POP, before arriving at POP we made a stop first at Laguna El Gri-Gri (called this way because of the trees surround it), then another stop in Cabarete, good beach but too many people and very touristy, I can?t believe that this town belongs mostly to foreigners, didn?t like it, as I said too many people, my friends thought the same thing after enjoying the beaches where we were the only one?s, they said that I spoiled them, my friend told me if the trip began in that beach she really would enjoy it because is not that crowded as the beaches in Miami but since the other beaches she wouldn?t look at other beaches with the same eye anymore, we only make a really short stop at Cabarete, since we didn?t like it just look at it and return to the road. Ok, finally arrive at POP around 5:00 PM, we stay at the Sunshine Hotel in town, nice rooms with air conditioning at a good price. We just take a bath and then visit some friends of my dad at POP and then drive to see POP at night (the fort need more lighting), found a place to have dinner (a bit expensive but we were at POP, we expect that) and then back to the Hotel to sleep.
March 11: Took the road in 8:00 AM to go to Punta Rusia but first we had to go to the ruins of the first city: ?La Isabela? and also to Bah?a Luper?n. Our first stop was at the Bay, we found a guy and bargain with him to take little trip around the bay, for the 5 of us we paid a total of RD$1200 and the boat was a really nice one, the bay is just amazing, a lot of boats also, was a good time. The guy told us about a place to eat called ?La Encenada?, is a beach, where the food is really good and cheap. During our little tour in the Bay, me and my friends look at a boat that we fell in love with, the guy told us that cost around 1.5 millions US, we then set it as our goal, buy a boat like that one an sail around the world (we can dream and we are still young ). After the Bay we went to the ruins of the city, good visit to know about it, the museum is not that great and if they keep treating the stuff like our guide was treating them they will definitely won?t last too much. There the guy told us that to get to the beach ?La Encenada?is difficult because had to cross a river and in those days the sand was moved and probably we had to take another way, but we didn?t desist, we went to take a look at the river, a guy help us a guide in the river walking in front of us and require to put the 4x4 mode, this was really exiting for my friends, they said this trip was one of the more amazing trips they had ever have in their life (and they travel a lot!!), after the river was more road to travel, we arrive around 3:00 PM to La Encenada, another amazing beach, we arrange the lunch with one of the womens that were there and then take a swim, the water was warm as is not deep at all, another amazing beach with almost nobody there. After the relaxing bath at the beach we had lunch, what lunch!! Was great!! We had 2 nice lobsters, crab (cook in dominican style), pulpo (forgot the word in English), 4 fried fish, moro the guandules, fried plantains and fried plantains, all that food for 5 people and only cost us RD$1600, and that was the best food in our entire trip, was really good and we ate until we were full. GREAT. Ok, after that amazing meal we went to Punta Rusia, we wold it love to go to Cayo Arena but we didn?t plan very well and it was too late for it, I really prefer the other beach, ?La Encenada? is really close to Punta Rusia, I think Punta Rusia is turning too touristy. We just take a look and decide to return to POP. We return to POP around 7:00 PM, went to the hotel, take a bath and relax, we were really tired. Had dinner around 10:00 PM at the hotel, then to bed.
March 12: We leave early to Santo Domingo, made a short stop in Santiago, one of my friends was born in Santiago but left the country when he was 3(he?s actually French, he just born here), his father was the founder of the Alianze Francaise in Santiago so he want to take a look and say hi to some people. Have a meal at Plaza Jacaranda and arrive at Santo Domingo in the afternoon. We went to my house and then take a nap and went out at night with some of my Dominican friends, we first went to Taboo Bambu and then to RED to have something to eat, we didn?t spent a lot of time, my friends are not the type that like partying around.
March 13: Wake up late and then off we go to the Cave of Wonders (La Cueva de Las Maravillas), near La Romana. The place is really amazing, the tour inside the cave is between 30 - 45 minutes, definitely a place to go. After that had a meal at a little beach in Romana called ?La Caleta?, not very nice but the meal was ok, expensive for a meal on the beach and was only fried fish. Well after that we return to Sto. Dgo., then we had a little shopping at Multi Centro of coffee and certain stuff to bring with us to the US.
March 14: We went to Mercado Modelo and then to El Conde, my friends bought some jewelry in Larimar and Amber, have a lunch of fast food in El Conde and then we went to La Feria Ganadera, there was a fair of agricultural stuff and farm animals, really nice, my friends took a lot of picture of all the animals, really nice horses and cows, they also saw big pigs, was a nice day at the Fair and very Dominican. After that we make a stop at the business of my dad for the Rum and then went back to the house to make the bags and have a nice bath until the night. In the night we had a BBQ at my brothers apartments in El Malecon they live in the 4th floor and is the last one so we went to the roof, a really nice night.
March 15: Return to Atlanta, back to class again Spring Break is over.
The entire trip for my friends with all the shopping of good jewelry, the accommodations, the gas, all the tours and meals was around US$300 (a little bit less) per person
The trip was fantastic and my friends love it. :classic:
Remember that all this was because they were with Dominicans, we knew how to bargain, especially my dad, he went with us, and they pay like Dominicans. Is always better to go around DR with a Dominican that knows how to get around and someone you trust and that is willing to go with you, these were friends of my here at Atlanta, where I?m living for the moment (I?m studying here), so we decide to go to DR for the Spring Break and have fun (I actually had to go to DR because the wedding of my best friend and they decide to come with me). We had a blast!!!!
Johy
PS. Sorry for the English, but is late and this is a long post and I?m not checking the grammar.
Hope it works.
March 7: Arrive at Samana around 1:00 PM, accommodate ourselves in an apartment in the town, have a lunch and off we go to Playa Rinc?n, really a beautiful unspoiled beach, is worth to visit, spend the afternoon there, in the way back we made a little stop at Las Galeras beach to take some photos then return to have dinner in Samana town.
March 8: In the morning went to figure out the whale watching excursion, the one that is with Kim Bedall was full already, but found another tour really nice boat similar size as the one of Kim Bedall, we spoke with the guy that runs the ship so we have a really good deal, we pay RD$1000 per person (this include the trip to Cayo Levantado and drinks, but no meal), Dominican price, even my friends pay that, I was with my dad and he is a Dominican that really knows how to bargain. The excursion is amazing, just waiting for the whales to come out of the water, some of them where even down the ship for a moment, saw 3 whales at the same time, a wonderful experience, really worth it. After seeing the whales we went to Cayo Levantado, there we have lunch, fried fresh fish with moro de guandules
, really nice and only cost us around RD$200 per person. Then we enjoy the beach at Cayo Levantado, we had an amazing time, sun bathing and everything. Just perfect!! Over there we made the contact for the trip to Los Haitises for the next day. We return to Samana around 4:00 PM, but that wasn?t the end of the day yet, after that we then decide to go to the waterfall ?El Lim?n?, horses and mules to get there and for a little part you have to go on foot, I just wanted to arrive to the waterfall and see if it really was worth it, because my horse really try to kill me like 3 times, what a ride!!! But at the end was really amazing, is breath taking the view of the waterfall, the pictures doesn?t make them justice and is a refreshing bath (the cell phone of my dad accompany him to the waterfall, he forgot he had it with him, I really don?t know how it work again the next day, the expression of my dad?s face when he realize he still had the cell phone with him as a KODAK moment if you know what I mean), the only problem was the way back, at the end we spent RD$1150 for the horses and mules plus tips for 5 persons. We arrive at Samana town around 9:00 PM and we just stopped at a restaurant called ?Camilo? for dinner and then back to the apartment.March 9: The trip to Las Haitises was at 9:30 AM, in a small boat, only us in the boat, the sea was really calm that morning, my mom as a pure Dominican made Pasta that morning to have lunch at Los Haitises. One of my friends just told me about the trip to Los Haitises: ?This is National Geographic in real life?, the enjoy it, the beauty of Los Haitises is unique. We had lunch at a stop that is made for that, is just at the entrance of one of the big caves there called it ?Cueva Arena?. My mom was right the Pasta was really good with really good croissants we bought that morning was just perfect. We return to the town around 2:00 PM. The cost was RD$1250 per person for the trip, really worth it. We bought a couple of coke and off we go to find a really cool beach to spend the rest of the afternoon, we found one that was really, really great, the only problem is that you have to cross to rivers to get to it but if you a really good vehicle you can do it, the name of the beach is ?El Valle? (The Valley), in this beach was no one, the waves of the beach was really good, is not white sand but who cares we had the beach only for us and there is a river that end in the beach, oh GOD that was a plus, we spend the afternoon just there, hearing music and just having an amazing time. BTW this beach is really close to the town. We return to the town around 7:00 PM, take a shower and prepare dinner, we ate at the apartment that night, then we went out for some ice cream.
March 10: We leave to Puerto Plata taking the coast to see the view, in the way we stop to buy some SODA (this is made with coconut, I don?t know how to explain what it is, but is really good), we also made a stop at Cabrera just to take some pictures, the view of the coast was really beautiful. Before arriving to POP we make a stop at Playa Grande, really big waves, not for me that I?m not a good swimmer, but the beach is really impressive, we had lunch there at the beach, really good service and the meal was spectacular, the fried fish was to die for, also the shrimps and the Langostinos (forgot the word in English). After relaxing on the beach we took the road again to POP, before arriving at POP we made a stop first at Laguna El Gri-Gri (called this way because of the trees surround it), then another stop in Cabarete, good beach but too many people and very touristy, I can?t believe that this town belongs mostly to foreigners, didn?t like it, as I said too many people, my friends thought the same thing after enjoying the beaches where we were the only one?s, they said that I spoiled them, my friend told me if the trip began in that beach she really would enjoy it because is not that crowded as the beaches in Miami but since the other beaches she wouldn?t look at other beaches with the same eye anymore, we only make a really short stop at Cabarete, since we didn?t like it just look at it and return to the road. Ok, finally arrive at POP around 5:00 PM, we stay at the Sunshine Hotel in town, nice rooms with air conditioning at a good price. We just take a bath and then visit some friends of my dad at POP and then drive to see POP at night (the fort need more lighting), found a place to have dinner (a bit expensive but we were at POP, we expect that) and then back to the Hotel to sleep.
March 11: Took the road in 8:00 AM to go to Punta Rusia but first we had to go to the ruins of the first city: ?La Isabela? and also to Bah?a Luper?n. Our first stop was at the Bay, we found a guy and bargain with him to take little trip around the bay, for the 5 of us we paid a total of RD$1200 and the boat was a really nice one, the bay is just amazing, a lot of boats also, was a good time. The guy told us about a place to eat called ?La Encenada?, is a beach, where the food is really good and cheap. During our little tour in the Bay, me and my friends look at a boat that we fell in love with, the guy told us that cost around 1.5 millions US, we then set it as our goal, buy a boat like that one an sail around the world (we can dream and we are still young
). After the Bay we went to the ruins of the city, good visit to know about it, the museum is not that great and if they keep treating the stuff like our guide was treating them they will definitely won?t last too much. There the guy told us that to get to the beach ?La Encenada?is difficult because had to cross a river and in those days the sand was moved and probably we had to take another way, but we didn?t desist, we went to take a look at the river, a guy help us a guide in the river walking in front of us and require to put the 4x4 mode, this was really exiting for my friends, they said this trip was one of the more amazing trips they had ever have in their life (and they travel a lot!!), after the river was more road to travel, we arrive around 3:00 PM to La Encenada, another amazing beach, we arrange the lunch with one of the womens that were there and then take a swim, the water was warm as is not deep at all, another amazing beach with almost nobody there. After the relaxing bath at the beach we had lunch, what lunch!! Was great!! We had 2 nice lobsters, crab (cook in dominican style), pulpo (forgot the word in English), 4 fried fish, moro the guandules, fried plantains and fried plantains, all that food for 5 people and only cost us RD$1600, and that was the best food in our entire trip, was really good and we ate until we were full. GREAT. Ok, after that amazing meal we went to Punta Rusia, we wold it love to go to Cayo Arena but we didn?t plan very well and it was too late for it, I really prefer the other beach, ?La Encenada? is really close to Punta Rusia, I think Punta Rusia is turning too touristy. We just take a look and decide to return to POP. We return to POP around 7:00 PM, went to the hotel, take a bath and relax, we were really tired. Had dinner around 10:00 PM at the hotel, then to bed. March 12: We leave early to Santo Domingo, made a short stop in Santiago, one of my friends was born in Santiago but left the country when he was 3(he?s actually French, he just born here), his father was the founder of the Alianze Francaise in Santiago so he want to take a look and say hi to some people. Have a meal at Plaza Jacaranda and arrive at Santo Domingo in the afternoon. We went to my house and then take a nap and went out at night with some of my Dominican friends, we first went to Taboo Bambu and then to RED to have something to eat, we didn?t spent a lot of time, my friends are not the type that like partying around.
March 13: Wake up late and then off we go to the Cave of Wonders (La Cueva de Las Maravillas), near La Romana. The place is really amazing, the tour inside the cave is between 30 - 45 minutes, definitely a place to go. After that had a meal at a little beach in Romana called ?La Caleta?, not very nice but the meal was ok, expensive for a meal on the beach and was only fried fish. Well after that we return to Sto. Dgo., then we had a little shopping at Multi Centro of coffee and certain stuff to bring with us to the US.
March 14: We went to Mercado Modelo and then to El Conde, my friends bought some jewelry in Larimar and Amber, have a lunch of fast food in El Conde and then we went to La Feria Ganadera, there was a fair of agricultural stuff and farm animals, really nice, my friends took a lot of picture of all the animals, really nice horses and cows, they also saw big pigs, was a nice day at the Fair and very Dominican. After that we make a stop at the business of my dad for the Rum and then went back to the house to make the bags and have a nice bath until the night. In the night we had a BBQ at my brothers apartments in El Malecon they live in the 4th floor and is the last one so we went to the roof, a really nice night.
March 15: Return to Atlanta, back to class again
Spring Break is over.The entire trip for my friends with all the shopping of good jewelry, the accommodations, the gas, all the tours and meals was around US$300 (a little bit less) per person
The trip was fantastic and my friends love it. :classic:
Remember that all this was because they were with Dominicans, we knew how to bargain, especially my dad, he went with us, and they pay like Dominicans. Is always better to go around DR with a Dominican that knows how to get around and someone you trust and that is willing to go with you, these were friends of my here at Atlanta, where I?m living for the moment (I?m studying here), so we decide to go to DR for the Spring Break and have fun (I actually had to go to DR because the wedding of my best friend and they decide to come with me). We had a blast!!!!
Johy
PS. Sorry for the English, but is late and this is a long post and I?m not checking the grammar.
Hope it works.
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