We were married in 1976, and vacationed in DR every year. In 1978 we rented a car and drove to Puerto Plata, just another Dominican town, no tourists on north coast. Spent the night there, then drove east. Stopped in a totally empty Sosua, not one person on the beach as far as the eye could see. Continued east and stopped at several beaches and “towns”, bought vegetables and fruits at roadside tables, i remember my mother-in-law being especially happy about the batatas we brought her. The whole country seemed empty of cars and people until we headed back south then home to SD. We used to go to BocaChica, but mostly to Embassy Beach (Playa Caribe), and frequently to Guayacanes where he and his brother went scuba diving while I sat on the shore. No worries about robbers. My in-laws literally left the front door wide open all night long. It was some years before the locks and window bars appeared.
