Hi All,
My Fiance and I are getting married at a Punta Cana AI resort in early January with some close friends and family. We will then be staying an extra week afterwards to see more of the DR. We are not AI types and are only staying at one because it makes sense for the wedding and our guests, but we want to get a little authentic taste of the DR with our 2nd week. We both have quite abit of backpacking experience but since we will have just got married, we won't be 'roughing it' quite as much as usual (i.e. staying at mid range instead of hostels and having an occasional treat at a nicer restaurant and maybe taking a flight for convenience). Also, as background, I speak some Spanish (although I'm rusty).
We're excited to spend some time in Santo Domingo but we'd also like to see something else as well. After doing a little research (but really just looking thru my Lonely Planet for an hour or so and abit of online browsing) I am leaning towards Las Galeras/Samana for 2 or 3 nights after spending 3 or 4 nights in the capital. It seems like a better choice for us than Cabarete, since I read that it is quieter while still having things to do. Is this a good choice? Do you have any other suggestions of where we should spend the 2nd part of our week? While we do like a nice beach as much as anyone else, it's not completely necessary since we'll have had the week in PC. We also like to party abit too, but would prefer to mingle with some locals rather than see almost all tourists.
On the other hand, I just read a little on Jarabacoa. Any thoughts on that for 3 days instead of the North? My fiance loves waterfalls, we both like rafting and small hikes, and the limited info in the LP makes it sound like it's not too touristy but also fun. Hmmmm, the more I think of this option the more I like it.
Alternatively, should we just stick with SD for the full 6 or 7 nights, with a couple of day trips?
Some other questions:
-I'm thinking we'll head from PC to SD first and then further north. It'd be nice to fly back from the North to PC (where we need to catch our flight back home from), but Takeoff only seems to have flights between Samana and Punta Cana on Fridays. Do any other airlines have reasonable flights that leave on Tuesdays or Wednesday mornings?
If we are in Samana around January 17-20th, is there a good chance we will see whales? I read that this is barely the beginning of the whale watching season.
-we'd like to see a baseball game while there. Can we do so in SD at that time....or is it worth doing a day trip to San Pedro de Macoris (I read about it in the LP)?
-any other suggestions are welcome, especially for things to do in and around SD (e.g. romantic yet cheap restaurants and places to go).
My Fiance and I are getting married at a Punta Cana AI resort in early January with some close friends and family. We will then be staying an extra week afterwards to see more of the DR. We are not AI types and are only staying at one because it makes sense for the wedding and our guests, but we want to get a little authentic taste of the DR with our 2nd week. We both have quite abit of backpacking experience but since we will have just got married, we won't be 'roughing it' quite as much as usual (i.e. staying at mid range instead of hostels and having an occasional treat at a nicer restaurant and maybe taking a flight for convenience). Also, as background, I speak some Spanish (although I'm rusty).
We're excited to spend some time in Santo Domingo but we'd also like to see something else as well. After doing a little research (but really just looking thru my Lonely Planet for an hour or so and abit of online browsing) I am leaning towards Las Galeras/Samana for 2 or 3 nights after spending 3 or 4 nights in the capital. It seems like a better choice for us than Cabarete, since I read that it is quieter while still having things to do. Is this a good choice? Do you have any other suggestions of where we should spend the 2nd part of our week? While we do like a nice beach as much as anyone else, it's not completely necessary since we'll have had the week in PC. We also like to party abit too, but would prefer to mingle with some locals rather than see almost all tourists.
On the other hand, I just read a little on Jarabacoa. Any thoughts on that for 3 days instead of the North? My fiance loves waterfalls, we both like rafting and small hikes, and the limited info in the LP makes it sound like it's not too touristy but also fun. Hmmmm, the more I think of this option the more I like it.
Alternatively, should we just stick with SD for the full 6 or 7 nights, with a couple of day trips?
Some other questions:
-I'm thinking we'll head from PC to SD first and then further north. It'd be nice to fly back from the North to PC (where we need to catch our flight back home from), but Takeoff only seems to have flights between Samana and Punta Cana on Fridays. Do any other airlines have reasonable flights that leave on Tuesdays or Wednesday mornings?
If we are in Samana around January 17-20th, is there a good chance we will see whales? I read that this is barely the beginning of the whale watching season.
-we'd like to see a baseball game while there. Can we do so in SD at that time....or is it worth doing a day trip to San Pedro de Macoris (I read about it in the LP)?
-any other suggestions are welcome, especially for things to do in and around SD (e.g. romantic yet cheap restaurants and places to go).
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