Looking around - where to go next?

[Chennifer]

Would appreciate any info people have, and any help we could get

As I've written before we have a place in StoDgo that we use as a base, and then we want to explore the island to see where we would like to live in the future. The capital is too much for us with our little boy, so we are now in Cabrera, which is beautiful and amazing and a erfect place to get away from everything, but we think we will probably get bored here in the future.

Another place we've been curious about for the future is La Romana area - anyone know about good areas/apartments where we could rent for a month? We're a little family, so we are not looking for luxury, just a normal place to live

Anyone have suggestions on other areas? I have searched the forum (for years, actually) but I would rather get some new advice as well, and you were all extremely helpful when we looked into Cabrera.

Thanks in advance!

Jen

 

[RGLRM]

Spam removed.

 

[Frank the Tank]

What about Bavaro?

 

[Chennifer]

isn't Bavaro more touristy? thanks guys!

 

[Castle]

Are you looking for beach towns?

 

[Chennifer]

Not necessarily, no. But we don't want it to be so far from a beach that it would be too much of a project to go there. Soaybe an hour drive away?

 

[Castle]

There are very few places in DR that aren't within an hour of the nearest beach! :laugh:
Given your requirements, it seems to me Santiago could be a good choice. Not a small town, not a big city, about 45 min from the beach, and a more gentle climate.
Beach towns such as La Romana, Bavaro, Juan Dolio could be expensive if you want to be comfortable.

 

[puryear270]

Castle has given you good advice.

I live in Bani and love it. The city is clean and it is only 50 kilometers from the capital.

If I may ask: what about the education of your child? Do you want a bilingual education, public school education, religious education? That might help you narrow down your choices. Naturally, you will have more educational options in Santo Domingo and Santiago.

If you can give more specifics as to your priorities, it might help us guide you in a better direction.

 

[Castle]

Oh, I love Bani, Such a cute, clean, tiny city. Haven't been there for a while. How fast can you get to SD on the new highway (well, new to me!)

 

[Chennifer]

hmmm... will have to check out both Bani and Santiago... For us it's the most important that he goes to a spanish-speaking school. He can study english outside of scool, but it's a few years left until he needs to go to school And we don't know yet if we will still be here then or leave for another lat.am country when it is time for him to go to school. We might just end up back in SD, even though it was way too much with a kid as young as our son. We want to spend some time in different parts f the country to see if we can find a place to maybe continue living here, but it's looking like we'll be here a few years, and of course we would like beach then. But it will be hard to combine beach and city here..

 

[Riva_31]

I think you should consider Juan Dolio area, is close to the beach and close to the city Santo Domingo, Airport and San Pedro. There are places that rent apartments in front of the beach and also close to the beach.

 

[Dolores1]

La Romana, Samana (Las Galeras, Samana, Las Terrenas), Puerto Plata (Cabarete, Sosua), Juan Dolio are all options. From your base in Santo Domingo just do weekend trips and explore. There are many low cost hotels where you can stay, with even better prices if you travel midweek. Jarabacoa in the mountains is another option, with Puerto Plata beaches about 1:30 mins away.
The big advantage of having your base in Santo Domingo is that you will usually be equidistant to enjoy all of the Dominican Republic. And you can also enjoy the cultural life that is best in the city, see http://www.dr1.com/calendar with activities posted mostly for the weekends.

 

[puryear270]

Bani takes 45 minutes by public expreso to get to Santo Domingo.

OP: I think you'd probably like Punta Cana best. There are plenty of beaches, the airport has lots of flights, and the new road that is in process will get you to Santo Domingo in no time (once all parts of it are finally finished.)

As much as I love Bani, the beaches here are not that great.

However, you might also look to the new Ocoa Bay project.

And Palmar de Ocoa is an beautiful yet quiet and undiscoverend little beach town with direct guagua service to the capital (takes a bit more than an hour). There is a good school in el Cruce run by Dominican nuns that provides an excellent education.

 

[Chennifer]

Gracias Dolores . yes, I think we just need to get used to StoDgo, because as beautiful as the beaches are, we will get bored if the town is too small or too touristy,.. we're used to more of a city-life (just not as crazy as SD).

Gracias puryear270, I'm cutious about Punta Cana because I've heard it's beautiful, but will probably just visit

 

[Chirimoya]

Jennifer, if you come to PC do let me know. It's a very nice lifestyle but a total bubble.

 

[Chennifer]

puryear270 - no, no religious schools. yes we know that makes it all that much harder, but we absolutely don't want that

Chirimoya, I will - yeah I'm not sure we would want that, to live in a bubble I mean. But we def want to visit!

 

[Kozy]

My 2 cents- for me the natural beauty of the island is what brought me here and has kept me here for 20 plus years. Punta Cana/ Bavaro has an incredible beach. Thus all the AIs and tourism. Once you leave the beach, for me, it is perhaps the ugliest part of the country. Semi-arid, not lush green; no mountains in sight, no Dominicans towns or culture except Higuey which is what-45 minutes to an hour away. Throw in a massive Haitian population and the mix just doesn't cut it for me. As for the capital, I love to visit, but why would anyone move to the Caribbean to live in such a massive high stress, high crime urban jungle? On the other hand, we all have our own unique tastes and desires, Gracias a Dios. Those expressed here are only mine! K

 

[Kareline Duverge]

I'm curious to know where you live Kozy? All the things you mentioned I described in another post where I was looking for location information. I'll be relocating from SoFlo next year with my family and am interested in information about schools, close enough to city but a jump away from the beach, where it's safe you know - juntos, pero no revueltos =)

 

[crescendo]

You should go for La Romana Vacation Rentals for your stay. They are cheaper than the hotels. Their services are as good as the luxuries of hotels. You can stay there and enjoy the visit of La Romana. Have a good time there.

 

[windeguy]

My 2 cents- for me the natural beauty of the island is what brought me here and has kept me here for 20 plus years. Punta Cana/ Bavaro has an incredible beach. Thus all the AIs and tourism. Once you leave the beach, for me, it is perhaps the ugliest part of the country. Semi-arid, not lush green; no mountains in sight, no Dominicans towns or culture except Higuey which is what-45 minutes to an hour away. Throw in a massive Haitian population and the mix just doesn't cut it for me. As for the capital, I love to visit, but why would anyone move to the Caribbean to live in such a massive high stress, high crime urban jungle? On the other hand, we all have our own unique tastes and desires, Gracias a Dios. Those expressed here are only mine! K

You stated concisely all of the reasons I would not pick that region to live. I drove there from Cabarete and it was quite the let down. i had expected much more based upon all of the hype.