- Thread starter Chris
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Safety in The DR
Do not know about the Coast, but here in SD, any Apolo taxi driver will stay with you for 400 pesos an hour.. *now 10.81 US.. You can probably negotiate down for four or five hours. Not $200 a week, for sure but lots of time cheaper and easier than renting a car, trying to park, trying to find your way around. Any tourist coming in from the airport can negotiate with a cabbie here. When I first came here, there was a cabbie affiliated with the hotel who drove me all around and acted as my guide for a personal sight seeing tour for $75 bucks a day. WELL worth it for a newbie!
But folks who can speak a bit, have a local phone, can always call Apolo.. Once I got my phone, I used to walk around the neighborhood, til I got tired .. Then I would call Apolo, hand my phone to the nearest passer by and ask them to explain to the cabbie where I was. Never had any problem.
If the cab companies were running the country.. wow... Switzerland in the tropics!
I think this is great. Why go somewhere if you are afraid to leave your hotel?? I would love to know any safety tip for the DR. I am not into AI so I want to be prepaired for the basic situations of "danger" that I might encounter.
the main things I feel would be helpful is...
dealing with the police( I heard this can be tricky)
safety when getting out and about
knowing enough about the culture to stay safe (I don't want to offend someone just as much as they would preffer not to be offended!!!!)
the main things I feel would be helpful is...
dealing with the police( I heard this can be tricky)
safety when getting out and about
knowing enough about the culture to stay safe (I don't want to offend someone just as much as they would preffer not to be offended!!!!)
Don't be concerned. Listen to the advice you are getting here in this thread and you will be OK. Do the smart things when you are here, for example:
1) Don't get drunk and start insulting people in bars or on the streets.
2) Don't wave around a big roll of cash every time you make a purchase. It won't impress people, just make them want it and they may raise the price of what you are looking at. Do it in a bar late at night and you are really asking for trouble. Keep only enough pesos in your pocket for what you are doing right then.
3) First few times you are here, and not in an AI, arrange to meet up with a local who will guide you and show you the customs. The local can be an ex-pat that you meet on DR1. That's what I did and it has worked out great.
4) Remember that Dominicans are a proud people and deserve to be treated that way. This is their country; we are the foreigners.
This is my post but I wanted to add some things. I am from the US but have traveld outside the US, I never wear makeup of jewlery so I look pretty poor. I am not an idiot and I know you should always be cautious. I would never start trouble or venture too far from my hotel.
I want to be able to walk outside at least a few blocks from my hotel, have dinner and a few drinks, be able to take public taxis, and get to relax on the beach.
I WILL NOT GO AI, so I guess I just want to know is this do-able in the DR? These post have scared the heck out of me. I mean I have lived in neighborhoods that I wouldn't walk in at night, I'm no slouch but I really don't plan on busting out my 9mm and taking care of business. :glasses: jk
If I don't act like an idiot is DR pretty much as safe as any other country's major city???
Thanks Mooseman and ALterego, I think I will be fine. I appreciate everyone posting to help make tourists feel safer and learn what will actually help to keep themsafe. It is a big help. Knowledge is power, better for us to know these tips bf we get there!
For non-AI seekers
There are plenty of very nice non-AI options on the north coast. Small hotels on or near the beach can be found online if you do a little searching. Also look at Vacation Rentals By Owner (VRBO? is Vacation Rentals By Owner) for condos and villas if traveling with a group of family or friends. I've lived in SD for two years and my wife and I like to vacation in Cabarete and Las Terrenas and have had very good luck with this service finding places where we can share with friends or have family for a visit from the US. We like the privacy and independence it affords, and usually the owners/managers of the property have taken all security measures to ensure your comfort without making you feel like you are in an alien bubble. Sharing the cost of a villa can help to keep expenses reasonable and you'll have a kitchen to fix meals if you want. We find Dominicanos lovely people, warm and generous. Of course, there are desperados and locos everywhere and following the common sense advice from this thread will help here as elsewhere in the world. Felipe A.
There are plenty of very nice non-AI options on the north coast. Small hotels on or near the beach can be found online if you do a little searching. Also look at Vacation Rentals By Owner (VRBO? is Vacation Rentals By Owner) for condos and villas if traveling with a group of family or friends. I've lived in SD for two years and my wife and I like to vacation in Cabarete and Las Terrenas and have had very good luck with this service finding places where we can share with friends or have family for a visit from the US. We like the privacy and independence it affords, and usually the owners/managers of the property have taken all security measures to ensure your comfort without making you feel like you are in an alien bubble. Sharing the cost of a villa can help to keep expenses reasonable and you'll have a kitchen to fix meals if you want. We find Dominicanos lovely people, warm and generous. Of course, there are desperados and locos everywhere and following the common sense advice from this thread will help here as elsewhere in the world. Felipe A.
I lived in DR for a year and now, after that expirience I really don't see a one, single, good reason except warm weather and sandy beaches (but after a while even that two things can not neutralize all the other minuses). People are really unbeliveable... I have never met in all my life more liars, thiefs, parazites and no dignity people and it doesn't matter poor or rich, they are all the same... 
I really don't see a reason for one normal person to go to live in DR if he really doesn't have to go. No normal electricity, no healthy water, no secure food, windows on hauses covered with a steel bars like in state prison, no secure walking on the sreets in the evening or night, even during the day at some places... All in all...****y country .
I really don't see a reason for one normal person to go to live in DR if he really doesn't have to go. No normal electricity, no healthy water, no secure food, windows on hauses covered with a steel bars like in state prison, no secure walking on the sreets in the evening or night, even during the day at some places... All in all...****y country . I lived in DR for a year and now, after that expirience I really don't see a one, single, good reason except warm weather and sandy beaches (but after a while even that two things can not neutralize all the other minuses). People are really unbeliveable... I have never met in all my life more liars, thiefs, parazites and no dignity people and it doesn't matter poor or rich, they are all the same...
and WHY then would you have stayed for a year? Wishing you a safe trip home..
I lived in DR for a year and now, after that expirience I really don't see a one, single, good reason except warm weather and sandy beaches (but after a while even that two things can not neutralize all the other minuses). People are really unbeliveable... I have never met in all my life more liars, thiefs, parazites and no dignity people and it doesn't matter poor or rich, they are all the same...
Canada is considered a safe country with a good police force and generally law abiding citizens. While it's true that we don't have bars on the windows and you can leave your door unlocked in half the country there is still numerous violent crimes, serial killers, pedophiles, homeless people, and starvation. When I'm in the DR I'm far from the beaches and walk where it is prudent to walk night and day. I'm never bothered, have no problem finding fresh safe water and food. I know numerous Dominicans that are friendly, honest, and filled with a calm dignity. Like attracts like- hang with the dogs and you'll get fleas.
you can find those problems anywhere in the world you go. Can't paint the whole country with one big paintbrush.
I lived in DR for a year and now, after that expirience I really don't see a one, single, good reason except warm weather and sandy beaches (but after a while even that two things can not neutralize all the other minuses). People are really unbeliveable... I have never met in all my life more liars, thiefs, parazites and no dignity people and it doesn't matter poor or rich, they are all the same...
This is a good example of what I've maintained for a while; that the DR has the tourist areas and then everywhere else(except SD maybe
). Dominicans in the tourist areas see gringos as business opportunities because many derive their income from them so it would be difficult to have non self seeking relationships. Not only that the demand for sex and drugs in the same areas attracts only the worse type of people. It's ironic that gringos complain about this when they are the cause and Dominicans too in the area have little respect for the gringos either. A true symbiotic relationship.BTW, in the rest of the DR many high school children have classes that end at 10 pm. Don't try that where you live. As far as the power goes, I'm getting a little tired of hearing about that. If you come to the DR be prepared and you can be like us who are never w/o power. The comments about the food and water are off the mark as well. Entonces dalmatix, que te vayas bien.
Nice.
I just wonder, are you trying to convince me or yourself with all this ilusions or self-projected reality about DR? You are right, it's beautifull land but only beautifull and nothing more. The fact is that DR gives you a realy low quality of life and nobody can beat this fact and you all know that this is a simple true. Quality of life is a little larger thing than drinking bear for a 2 US$. Now, I am in Europe, Mediterranean region, south-east Europe... This is quality of life. Good food, clean drinking water,good people with dignity and ritch history of living, clean, safe everywhere and anytime you go... Try it. Of course, if you can leave DR ,beacuse I know that most of you (expats) can not leave for several reasons.
P.S.
I was not in the DR for drinking cheap beer and rum or for f*****g cheap chicas, maybe that's the reason why I haven't found anything interesting in that country except the sun and the beaches.
I just wonder, are you trying to convince me or yourself with all this ilusions or self-projected reality about DR?
You are right, it's beautifull land but only beautifull and nothing more. The fact is that DR gives you a realy low quality of life and nobody can beat this fact and you all know that this is a simple true. Quality of life is a little larger thing than drinking bear for a 2 US$. Now, I am in Europe, Mediterranean region, south-east Europe... This is quality of life. Good food, clean drinking water,good people with dignity and ritch history of living, clean, safe everywhere and anytime you go... Try it. Of course, if you can leave DR ,beacuse I know that most of you (expats) can not leave for several reasons. P.S.
I was not in the DR for drinking cheap beer and rum or for f*****g cheap chicas, maybe that's the reason why I haven't found anything interesting in that country except the sun and the beaches.
This is a good example of what I've maintained for a while; that the DR has the tourist areas and then everywhere else(except SD maybe
BTW, in the rest of the DR many high school children have classes that end at 10 pm. Don't try that where you live. As far as the power goes, I'm getting a little tired of hearing about that. If you come to the DR be prepared and you can be like us who are never w/o power. The comments about the food and water are off the mark as well. Entonces dalmatix, que te vayas bien.
Two questions for you:
1. Where are you from originaly?
2. Why do you live in DR?
Of course, you can allways find worse.
And in this case, yes, you can paint whole country with one big paintbrush.