I recently visited the Dominican Republic and stayed at a residence deep in the mountains near Puerto Plata. This has to have been the best experience of my life - a great place to stay with lots of fun activities - and the best thing of all!! It's Dominican!! Not holiday resort or sunbeds and tequilas that are shielded from the reality of Dominican life - you live in a small community - where real Dominicans get on with their everyday lives - and in there usual warm and open way welcome you into their lives and way of life. I made many friends there - from 80 year old ladies to little school boys who wanted to play football with you - and not only this - but it is very cheap compared to the prices Western tourists pay in the resorts. The suncamp residence is a complex of 15 appartments all built from scratch by a Canadian lady who bought a piece of inaccessible jungle some 17 years ago with a dream of converting it into a paradise for anyone who was brave enough to want to get away from the regimented holiday resorts. I met people from Sweden, America, France, Italy and China when I was there - a real international community of adventurers in that little paradise. And if you want to go to the beach - well one of the best in the country is just down the road. If you want to go the other way - you can grab a horse a ride up into the mountains to see many of the fantastic waterfalls that only the locals know about. If you want a real adventure holiday - to get away from the rat race and experience tropical life the way it really is - you can go easily if you go on the suncamp website!! Enjoy!! 