well I just joined and figured Id add a little info on a place me and my girl stayed at. I dont usually do the resort thing, since i saty at friends houses or my girls house so far..we have done 1-3 day stays at some resorts though. She wanted to go back to Samana, where she went with her high school, and she loved the place. So i said lets go....got there and hooked up with a guy who offered to take us out to the island everyone likes inhis boat and gave us some low down onthe various places to stay once we come back. ( because the islands hotel is undergoing construction or additions or whatever)..I think I got took for the ride 1700 pesos....but the beach was really nice even if it was cloudy out that day...what really pisse me off is all the dominican men that got something sur to say as my girl walks by...I just about went off o the trip to the boat..it happens all over the place...jealous?? pissed , or just rude???anyway. after we come back , we decide to check out the better hotels offered to us by the boat man... and drove north...we eventually settle on the grand bahia, or something to that effect..it has a puny beach, but decent views especially of the island we just were on...it was hot , so staying in the room took precidence a lot...the food was good, Buffet we had...the first 2 rooms tey offered us smelt musty!!!!!!! i said no way pal..lets keep looking....I had to settle foe the third floor...maybe the airconditioner was cranking for longer in that room..no smell at all.... the bathroom wasnt in the class that you would expect...tile damage all over, a poor shower curtain, 2 double beds one with a caved in middle!!!..not that we needed that bed for anything! ha ha.. the pool was standar size nothing spectacular like a real resort would have.... the room was over 4,000 peso.. I think i got took again...but its still a bargain compared to america.... we found out that the hotel offered complimentary boat rides to the island!!!.... so the placed looked nice on the outside, and had a good view....but....so so( asi asi..I guess...) over all, with the poor rooms... I stayedat the coral canoa three years ago in La Romana, and that place was way nicer, and it was only a 3 or 4 star joint....so thers my Saman report...question for you regulars...on the north shore before the road dips down to the southern part of the pennisula, it comes right along the beach, and was a killer beach it was!,,,huge rolling waves for a mile each way you looked...we stopped and picked shells and took pictures...pounding surf..absolutely georgous!!!..but not s ole to be seen!.....the beach was deep before the debris from the last storm... and you sunk in the soft was a little...I looked very shallow. I was thining maybe there is a dangerous under tow, and thats why no one uses the beach! I would put it near El Cruce on rte 5 on the map. There is a river that empties into the ocean close by. there are a few run down hotles- joints on that road, but nothing that compares to the shore!..Any thoughts?......bob