things to do in dom rep?

pavlovs_dog

thanks again to all who've responded :T

lynzpower

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)?

It depends what you wanted to do .

Im not 100% but from loking at the AI deals that Ive seen on offer ( i get emailed all the time!) they do seem to be a bit 'on a peninsula with other hotels' and not a lot of 'authentic towns' around.

I have to admit im not a huge fan of AI style hotels they dont offer much to me and I have stayed in a few. the ones Ive stayed in have been somewhat generic, the foods ben generic and i dont like the crowds much Im a miseryguts really in hotels Im more of the travel around and see what takes my fancy kind of traveller, and want to see the best of every place I go to as you never know you may not ever be able to go back! Every holiday I extract every shred of seeing and doing out of it :beer: although I love a nice lay down with cocktail in hand to catch up on my reading as well :beer:

Ill give you an example:

Pourto Plata to Santo Domingo on the bus ( national express style pullman, v comfortable, air con etc) took about 3.5 hours including a snack & loo stop. During this journey the bus travels through moutainous farming communities, real life RD! Brings you straight into central SD and voila, hotels, shopping, castles etc all right there. I wandered straight off the bus and found a hotel costing about 15 quid per night which was more than I spent elsewhere but its the capital so i thought id splash

Driving from Cabarete to Samana was a great drive I think the car cost about 60 quid for 4 days ( no shopping around we probably could have got it cheaper, but we jsut found the car & took it) which was more than fine between 3. The journey was no more than 5 hours including stops. Petrol was cheap IIRC. We found an independent boatman to take us to see the whales, ( small boat, just the 3 of us) and we paid him about 15 each including lunch IIRC. We spoke to tourists whod paid 80 quid plus for thier similar experience.

simplepete

I don't think anyones mentioned Ocean World?

Its a huge park with loads to do. You can swim with dolphins, sealions, sharks, & stingrays. The entry price will let you look around and watch the swims & encounters, visit the tiger grotto, go snorkelling in the giant tank, and go in with the tropical birds! Its a lovely day out, and there are loungers to rest on too.

The catamaran trips will suit you well, you spend from about 10am-5pm cruising on a catamaran, with a stop of at a beautiful bay. You can just lounge in the sun, and then go snorkelling in the middle of nowhere, and visit a small village (this small village was unimaginable, there were just a few sheds and picnic tables, in grounds the size of my garden). We went with tiptop tours, through our rep.

Also really enjoyed the monster trucks. visited a cigar factory, and coffee factory, and usually an old school, but as it was half term, we went to another village and visited some locals. held a snake, and again, went snorkelling in a tiny amazing bay. And went horseriding too through the counrtyside!!

They used to go to the waterfalls, but said they had too many accidents. There was an area where there were about 14 of them, would've loved to visit, sure theres a way!!

chuckles1066

lynzpower wrote: »

Driving from Cabarete to Samana was a great drive I think the car cost about 60 quid for 4 days

Some words of warning if you're thinking of driving out there:

(1) there is no driving test, you simply buy your licence and away you go
(2) there is no such thing as an MOT
(3) insurance is optional
(4) there is no such crime out there as drink/driving

Soooo.....if you're unlucky, you might find yourself driving along in the dark to be confronted with an oncoming car with no headlights and faulty brakes, whose driver has had no training in the art of controlling a motor vehicle, who is uninsured if he paralyses you for life and is as p1$$ed as a f**t.

And it's all perfectly legal!

You'd have to be mad to drive in the Dom Rep.

lynzpower

You'd have to be mad to drive in the Dom Rep.

as someone who drives for a living Id say you have to be mad to drive anywhere- especially central london :eek:

but yes totally take your point, we saw a staggering amount of people driving a rustbucket motorbike with huge flagons of petrol on the back :eek: certainly our stopping distances were totally on the conservative side and agreed we didnt drive after twilight, although we didnt really have any need to IYSWIM.

pavlovs_dog

lynzpower wrote: »

It depends what you wanted to do .

Im not 100% but from loking at the AI deals that Ive seen on offer ( i get emailed all the time!) they do seem to be a bit 'on a peninsula with other hotels' and not a lot of 'authentic towns' around.

I have to admit im not a huge fan of AI style hotels they dont offer much to me and I have stayed in a few. the ones Ive stayed in have been somewhat generic, the foods ben generic and i dont like the crowds much Im a miseryguts really in hotels Im more of the travel around and see what takes my fancy kind of traveller, and want to see the best of every place I go to as you never know you may not ever be able to go back! Every holiday I extract every shred of seeing and doing out of it :beer: although I love a nice lay down with cocktail in hand to catch up on my reading as well :beer:

we went AI for the first time when we went to cuba. neither of us had any idea what to expect, having never done it before. it was also my first time staying on a resort. i did it with trepidation, expecting to hate it.

we stayed in guardalavaca, which as cuba goes is the least touristy of the places you can stay, and used that as a base to explore. although AI, we were off resort for most of the day at least every other day. it just worked out much cheaper to book AI for flight, board and grub than booking those items separately.

fast forward a bit, and i desperately want a break, but due to money being tight this year we cant afford the extravagant USA holiday that we wanted. AI offers us good value for money for flight, board and grub, and then we will do as much touring as we can out of the spending money, because we're not really ones for bringing huge amounts of 'stuff' back.

when we are having a lazy day, i love having the option of what type of pool to go in, various activites to participate in or observe, the beach etc that the resort offers. it really wasnt what i thought i would enjoy, but for the odd day here and there in between exploring, its fab, and downtime that OH really needs because he doesnt like to be on the go all the time in the same way that i do.

i fully understand where you're coming from, and you sound like my ideal travelling partner but its a holiday for the two of us so i need to take OHs wishes into account.

lynzpower

Ive been by guaradalavaca nad so has my mum It looks gorgous!!

I stayed also in Varadero which is exactly like i mean, strip of hotels and not much else. You can still get v cheap prices, in RD dont be afraid of the costs outside the hotels. I was paying about 30p for a beer, 30p for an ice cream, 50p for a burrito etc , indeed the prices are the cheapest Ive been to in the carribbean, cuba is a real polar opposite, certianly not much choice and v high prices for food/drinks etc.

pattycake

Going back to driving in the Dom Rep, we were told it was not recommended for all the reasons in an earlier post. Plus, if you are unlucky enough to be involved in an accident, the local police will always blame you over the other driver (assuming it was a Dominican person).

I love the AI option. I go with a girl friend of mine (my husband hates beaches). We feel perfectly safe and pampered. I have been a dozen times over the past 10 years and really do love it there. I admit to being unadventurous although we have used local taxis to do sight seeing rather than paying the high prices demanded by the tour operators.

I have done the waterfall trip that was mentioned. I can understand why it has been discontinued. You did need to be a good swimmer and quite fearless. Plus the walk up to the waterfall was strenuous, especially in the heat and humidity. On the day we went, a guy had his head cut open on a rock.

I already have my trip booked for June in Punta Cana. It cannot wait to feel warm again. The winter seems endless.

El_Rey

Check out this website: https://www.debbiesdominicantravel.com

It is packed full of information about EVERYTHING you can think of regarding visiting the Dominican Republic.

El_Rey

pattycake wrote: »

Going back to driving in the Dom Rep, we were told it was not recommended for all the reasons in an earlier post. Plus, if you are unlucky enough to be involved in an accident, the local police will always blame you over the other driver (assuming it was a Dominican person).

From what I've been told when I have visited the Dom Rep, DON'T even think about driving over there. Everything Pattycake has said is correct. If you are involved in an accident you will automatically be arrested, even if it isn't your fault. :mad::mad:

Having said that the Dom Rep is a great holiday destination and is great value for money. JUST DON'T DRIVE!