things to do in dom rep?

pavlovs_dog

i want a holiday to look forward to to get me through the last heavy months of my degree, but because money is tight this year due to other financial commitments we want something that offers value for money. we're seeing some good deals for the dom rep (3/4* AI, which is what we had in cuba last september).

Oh likes a chill out holiday, i like to do stuff, so we need a destination which offers a compromise. other than sitting round the pool/on the beach all day, what type of things are there to do in the Dominican republic? im guessing watersports would be quite big, but dont really know what else.

any info gratefully received :beer:

aimee21j

We stayed at Playa Dorada on the north of the island. we took a private plane (if you can call it that!) down to the south, got on a speed boat and across to an island- paradise! Had a bbq with some of the locals. Stopped in the middle of the sea (a shallow bit) and held star fish. The south of the island feels very different to the north (think the old bounty advert!)
We swam with the dolphins at a local sea life park which was rather expensive but enjoyed every minute.
Everyone told us not to go out of the resort as it was unsafe, but we were fine- army checkpoints seen but not as much as north Africa.
I can't think what else we did as it was a few years ago. Hope it helps.

tinkerbell84

I stayed in the North too, but in a village rather than the huge Playa Dorada resort.

I don't remember much (was a long time ago), but I recall a trip to a rum factory (and drinking a lot of 'tasters'), lazing on the beach, getting very sunburnt and watching an amazing hurricane.

aimee21j

tinkerbell84 wrote: »

I stayed in the North too, but in a village rather than the huge Playa Dorada resort.

I don't remember much (was a long time ago), but I recall a trip to a rum factory (and drinking a lot of 'tasters'), lazing on the beach, getting very sunburnt and watching an amazing hurricane.

Ooh I remember the rum too! One of their shots would have me tipsy! Did you try the 80% stuff? I even have a bottle of Dom Rep rum still in the cupboard.

Sorry to go off topic OP

tinkerbell84

aimee21j wrote: »

Ooh I remember the rum too! One of their shots would have me tipsy! Did you try the 80% stuff? I even have a bottle of Dom Rep rum still in the cupboard.

Sorry to go off topic OP

i used the 101% as mossie guard!!!

brought home a bottle of nice dark rum, but as that was a long time ago it's long gone!!!

lynzpower

There is plenty in Republica Dominicana to fill both of your itinararies.

I travelled solo to DR a few years back.

Flew into Puerto Plata on a cheapie 200 quid flight. First night stayed there and wandred round the castle, met some local people got drunk with them :beer: by a merengue van ( youll see plenty of these!!)

The next day I took a bus to the Capital where I stayed for a few days, here plenty of shopping, castles and fortresses, museums, music, pure colonial hisotry, squares and plenty of streetlife.

After that I took a bus to the area around Jarabacoa in the central highlands where I stayed in a small ranch ( about 5 quid a night) and did a little hiking, saw Cascadas etc. One night I stayed in a posher ranch where I did some horse riding for a day. The scenery is simply stunning around there, and almost untouched by tourism... the birdlife is teeming...

From there I went up to the coast and stated in Cabarete, which was fairly lively lots of people, watersports galore, kitesurfing is big there too. I stayed there for a week but met a couple of canadian peeps and we hired a jeep and drove up to Samana ( some beautiful beaches on there you get practically to yourself!, with small, tiki huts etc instead of large hotels etc...) where we stayed over there and the next morning went whale watching.

From Cabarete, back to Porto Plata then home!

It staggers me that so many people head off to the RD without checking out ANY of this other stuff. RD is stacked with natural beauty, Carribbean wonders and the local people are really freindly and ALWAYS up for a good time. :beer: the only reservation I had about the trip was I travelled alone and got approached quite a lot to be someones girlfreind. Became very wearing but if you are with your OH then I would expect this would be fine!

Definately worth getting hold of the Lonely Planet to Domincan Rebublic & Haiti - try your library for moneysaving

pavlovs_dog

lynz you sure know how to ive a girl wanderlust

anyone recommend a specific part of the island? (north/south/east/west)?

pattycake

I have been to the north, south and east coast. There is probably more to do on the north side but the best beaches are on the east coast round Punta Cana.

From the north you can go on the monster truck safari which is good fun. There is also white water rafting but I have not tried that. You can take a cable car trip up the mountain (go in the morning as the mist comes down later and you will not get any view). My personal favourite trip is on the catamaran. It is an all-day trip with drinks and lunch included. You get to snorkle at Sosua and another location. It is a really good relaxing but fun day. Word of warning, you need to be a good sailor as people often get sea sick.

You can go on a catamaran tour from the east coast too. From the south, there are trips to Saona island or Catalina island. I have done both these on different vacations. You can also go on a Jeep Safari from all the locations. This gives you a chance to see more of the island and they usually take in a local school and house.

There are quad bikes, horse riding, speed boats you drive yourself in convoy. I have not done any of these.

In your hotel, the non motorising water sports are usually included, ie. hobycats, pedaloes, windsurfing, snorkling etc.

In a nutshell, plenty to do. However, it is hot and humid and the food and drink very available. I usually find a walk along the beach is quite enough before flopping back on to the sunbed with a cocktail:rotfl:

pavlovs_dog

cheers pattycake. sounds like activities are very similar to what we did in cuba. i looooved the catamaran tours, and we're both good sailors, so would have no qualms there.

speedboats were fun, and its nice to do, but i dont know if i would rush to do it again. would depend on the area/scenery i suppose. horse riding i enjoyed, dont think OH enjoyed it quite as much as me (although we were both walking like john wayne by the end of it)

mrs_moneyspinner

We stayed in the East of Dom Rep at Punta Cana - it isn't an activity holiday destination - the heat/humidity in summer months make it hard work just walking to the bar. The water sports and snorkelling are the best thing about the holiday and you could spend every day doing that as the beach is lovely. Outside it's fairly barren although you can get the usual 'safari' trip. Very similar to Cuba we thought.

chuckles1066

pavlovs_dog wrote: »

lynz you sure know how to ive a girl wanderlust

anyone recommend a specific part of the island? (north/south/east/west)?

South, around Bayahibe.

The North side is the Atlantic side, the South side is the Caribbean side.......the temperature of the sea etc varies accordingly.