Living Options for Recently Arrived Expat

[Sergeant Pain]

Hi, sorry if this question has been done to death.

I'm an aussie globe-trotting with my 19yr old son and our dog.

We're departing Mexico to live in DR soon, with the intention to stay for maybe a year.

At the moment we're deciding which area to live.

So I'll add a few details of what we'd like in our chosen location and perhaps you could offer some recommendations

Preferences as follows

• Clean (enough for swimming), dog friendly beaches that aren't packed with gringos
• Night scene that isn't wall-to-wall pay-to-play professional girls (ill be here a while so I'd like to meet some good girls & have a gf)
• Easy access to typical amenities like supermarkets & doctors
• 2 bedroom accommodation choices no more than a brief bicycle ride from the beach for under US$1000/mth
• Safe

Anywhere come to mind?

Thanks,
Pain

 

[CristoRey]

Hi, sorry if this question has been done to death.

I'm an aussie globe-trotting with my 19yr old son and our dog.

We're departing Mexico to live in DR soon, with the intention to stay for maybe a year.

At the moment we're deciding which area to live.

So I'll add a few details of what we'd like in our chosen location and perhaps you could offer some recommendations

Preferences as follows

• Clean (enough for swimming), dog friendly beaches that aren't packed with gringos
• Night scene that isn't wall-to-wall pay-to-play professional girls (ill be here a while so I'd like to meet some good girls & have a gf)
• Easy access to typical amenities like supermarkets & doctors
• 2 bedroom accommodation choices no more than a brief bicycle ride from the beach for under US$1000/mth
• Safe

Anywhere come to mind?

Thanks,
Pain

Short answer.
Nope.

 

[El Hijo de Manolo]

Have you ever seen a real live kangaroo

 

[NotLurking]

Hi, sorry if this question has been done to death.

I'm an aussie globe-trotting with my 19yr old son and our dog.

We're departing Mexico to live in DR soon, with the intention to stay for maybe a year.

At the moment we're deciding which area to live.

So I'll add a few details of what we'd like in our chosen location and perhaps you could offer some recommendations

Preferences as follows

• Clean (enough for swimming), dog friendly beaches that aren't packed with gringos
• Night scene that isn't wall-to-wall pay-to-play professional girls (ill be here a while so I'd like to meet some good girls & have a gf)
• Easy access to typical amenities like supermarkets & doctors
• 2 bedroom accommodation choices no more than a brief bicycle ride from the beach for under US$1000/mth
• Safe

Anywhere come to mind?

Thanks,
Pain

 

[Sergeant Pain]

Have you ever seen a real live kangaroo

I've seen thousands, including bounding full speed in mobs of 50+

 

[Sergeant Pain]

Thanks, is this you? I watched the cost of living one yesty

 

[NotLurking]

Thanks, is this you? I watched the cost of living one yesty

Nope not me but I do follow them on youtube.

 

[Sergeant Pain]

Nope not me but I do follow them on youtube.

Ok got it, I appreciate you taking the time to look them up and share.... solid gesture, thanks

 

[windeguy]

To answer your main question:

Which of your requirements are you willing to sacrifice? Some of them may be mutually exclusive.
Unobtanium comes to come as reflected in the flat no response from another poster.

Suggestion, try various locations including from Puerto Plata to Cabarete, Las Terenas and perhaps even down south.
It sounds like the government's clean up of Sosua has not yet progressed enough to meet some of your requirements.

What do you mean by easy access to health care? The best hospitals are not going to be near the best swimming and water sport beaches, at least on the north coast.

 

[chico bill]

Hi, sorry if this question has been done to death.

I'm an aussie globe-trotting with my 19yr old son and our dog.

We're departing Mexico to live in DR soon, with the intention to stay for maybe a year.

At the moment we're deciding which area to live.

So I'll add a few details of what we'd like in our chosen location and perhaps you could offer some recommendations

Preferences as follows

• Clean (enough for swimming), dog friendly beaches that aren't packed with gringos
• Night scene that isn't wall-to-wall pay-to-play professional girls (ill be here a while so I'd like to meet some good girls & have a gf)
• Easy access to typical amenities like supermarkets & doctors
• 2 bedroom accommodation choices no more than a brief bicycle ride from the beach for under US$1000/mth
• Safe

Anywhere come to mind?

Thanks,
Pain

#1. You can find a clean dog friendly beach easy enough but it won't be near # 3.
#2 - Forget the night scene and any chance to hit upon 'good girl'. While a good girls exist, they are quite rare here but you won't find them in any 'night scene'. And if you are looking for one that has a work ethic then you double the rarity.
#3 - Stay in Mexico - food is better, better selection and better quality at a much lower price. Doctors - ditto, stay in Mexico. While many people claim they get good medical service here they are being a bit delusional. At best it is hit and miss (mostly miss), but for an emergency you are screwed. Update your will.
#4. Riding a bicycle any distance in DR will lead you back to # 3 (Update your will). Stay in Mexico if you found a place to do that safely.
#5. Reasonably safe most areas, except the parameters you listed will lead you to live in a sparsely populated area where you will stand out like a pimple on prom night. Some one might decide to pop you.

Mexico seems like a better choice for you, or Costa Rica. And the girls with higher level of education and Spanish blood in Costa Rica means you can have all of the above (will maybe less prepackaged food choices) but better health care too.

 

[bob saunders]

#1. You can find a clean dog friendly beach easy enough but it won't be near # 3.
#2 - Forget the night scene and any chance to hit upon 'good girl'. While a good girls exist, they are quite rare here but you won't find them in any 'night scene'. And if you are looking for one that has a work ethic then you double the rarity.
#3 - Stay in Mexico - food is better, better selection and better quality at a much lower price. Doctors - ditto, stay in Mexico. While many people claim they get good medical service here they are being a bit delusional. At best it is hit and miss (mostly miss), but for an emergency you are screwed. Update your will.
#4. Riding a bicycle any distance in DR will lead you back to # 3 (Update your will). Stay in Mexico if you found a place to do that safely.
#5. Reasonably safe most areas, except the parameters you listed will lead you to live in a sparsely populated area where you will stand out like a pimple on prom night. Some one might decide to pop you.

Mexico seems like a better choice for you, or Costa Rica. And the girls with higher level of education and Spanish blood in Costa Rica means you can have all of the above (will maybe less prepackaged food choices) but better health care too.

Ever think that he is looking for a slightly different culture after a year in Mexico. Other than the medical I think Las Terenas would meet most of his requirements. There are beaches there like Playa Moron that are not heavily use by tourists.

 

[drstock]

Like others, I would suggest Cabarete or Las Terrenas. I know more about Cabarete as I live there. I would say it meets all your requirements although as others have said "a good girl is hard to find". A friend of mine finds plenty of available gringas at Bachata/Salsa classes. Be very careful if cycling anywhere in the DR.

 

[chico bill]

Ever think that he is looking for a slightly different culture after a year in Mexico. Other than the medical I think Las Terenas would meet most of his requirements. There are beaches there like Playa Moron that are not heavily use by tourists.

Could be but leaving good Mexican food behind for the cuisine of DR will be huge change.

 

[bob saunders]

Could be but leaving good Mexican food behind for the cuisine of DR will be huge change.

I like Mexican food but there is nothing wrong with the food here.Very good chicken and pork here. Rice and beans are the same everywhere , more or less.

 

[El Hijo de Manolo]

Like others, I would suggest Cabarete or Las Terrenas. I know more about Cabarete as I live there. I would say it meets all your requirements although as others have said "a good girl is hard to find". A friend of mine finds plenty of available gringas at Bachata/Salsa classes. Be very careful if cycling anywhere in the DR.

Just a word of caution to the OP. The members of this board who live in Cabarete suffer from a rare medical condition that has them seeing the center of the DR as Cabarete and Sosua. You noted in your requirements list "...not packed with gringos". Well, you certainly want to steer clear of the one-trick pony dusty road surf's up bruh Jersey Shore look-alike town of Cabarete. Soon they will be bulldozing over most of this has-been relic tourist trap with a beautiful concrete and metal-composite bypass that will allow serious tourists to breeze by this yeast and vomit-smelling, dope smoking surfer town to real precious areas of this amazing country! Places not constructed for those in mid-life crises attempting to reinvent their Jersey shore or south beach days.

There is an entire country full of exotic beauty and hot women for the single parent! You have many options if you don't want to be in the company of those aggressive, shopping cart assassin Germans or French shoppers, or primadonna American property manager women. You will find many resources on the ground that would be more than happy to help you with due diligence,

That said, "buyer beware" (-CR)! Keep your eyes peeled for tricks, traps, scams, assassin cueros looking for the gringo $$$ (Google Roy Van Tinteren, Puerto Plata), tigueres, wheelie-popping kids on 100-dollar motos with naked lady plastic seats and domestic laborers who will rip you blind one roll of toilet paper at a time.

 

[chico bill]

I like Mexican food but there is nothing wrong with the food here.Very good chicken and pork here. Rice and beans are the same everywhere , more or less.

I prefer good Mexican prepared rice as opposed to the white rice here, fresh tamales & enchiladas, the better selection of fresh fish from the Pacific and of course the panaderías en México stand head and shoulders above those in DR.
And of course it is near impossible to find a good taco al pastor in DR

 

[Yourmaninvegas]

It is not possible for me to recommend to you a place to live here in the Dominican Republic.
The best advice I can give you is look at the path less traveled by gringos who travel and live in the Dominican Republic.
Look at post #16 and tell me if you can find a reason to find anything he has said about living in the Dominican Republic valid after his post.
In my opinion, very negative post.

You see that is why my suggestion is to take your adventure to the next level and visit North, South, East and West.
Give yourself a month or two to explore and see what YOU actually like.
You speak Spanish. And you have money.
That is all you need for a good experience in 🇩🇴 .

 

[Yourmaninvegas]

#1. You can find a clean dog friendly beach easy enough but it won't be near # 3.

Don't know nothing about that.

#2 - Forget the night scene and any chance to hit upon 'good girl'. While a good girls exist, they are quite rare here but you won't find them in any 'night scene'. And if you are looking for one that has a work ethic then you double the rarity.

False!!

#3 - Stay in Mexico - food is better, better selection and better quality at a much lower price. Doctors - ditto, stay in Mexico. While many people claim they get good medical service here they are being a bit delusional. At best it is hit and miss (mostly miss), but for an emergency you are screwed. Update your will.

False!!
I have received excellent medical care here.
I have compared Laboratory Tests between the 🇩🇴 and my country of origin. They have been spot on.
But I live in a part of the Dominican Republic with some of the top hospitals in the entire region and I have an entire network of young doctors to guide me through the system.

#4. Riding a bicycle any distance in DR will lead you back to # 3 (Update your will). Stay in Mexico if you found a place to do that safely.

True!!
But that is the same with driving or riding a motorcycle or taking public transportation.
The transportation situation is dangerous.

#5. Reasonably safe most areas, except the parameters you listed will lead you to live in a sparsely populated area where you will stand out like a pimple on prom night. Some one might decide to pop you.

False!!
I was once told: "Pay attention to how rich Dominicans handle their security needs and follow their lead"

Mexico seems like a better choice for you, or Costa Rica. And the girls with higher level of education and Spanish blood in Costa Rica means you can have all of the above (will maybe less prepackaged food choices) but better health care too.

False!!
Impossible for the poster to make a judgement for you.

Remember this poster cannot handle people who disagree with his posts. Especially me.
Keep that in mind when reading his responses.
I wish you a good visit/stay in 🇩🇴

 

[windeguy]

Ever think that he is looking for a slightly different culture after a year in Mexico. Other than the medical I think Las Terenas would meet most of his requirements. There are beaches there like Playa Moron that are not heavily use by tourists.

I was thinking he was looking for a slightly different hospital after I saw the desire to ride a bicycle in the DR.

 

[windeguy]

I like Mexican food but there is nothing wrong with the food here.Very good chicken and pork here. Rice and beans are the same everywhere , more or less.

I could not disagree more. The variety of food in Mexico is infinitely better than here in the local restaurants.
Not that the food is bad here, it is just bland and very similar from place to place when referring to local "cuisine".