My girlfriend and I are going next week and was wondering if anyone has ever been there before? We are staying at an all inclusive resort and was wondering if anyone has any tips, do they take us money, ect?

6/27/2007 11:48:55 AM

I went to Samana as a stop on a cruise, and it pretty much sucked for us. We'd heard from a lot of people that if you just get off the boat and find someone to take you somewhere, you could save money, but we kind of got screwed. We had someone take us to a beach, and then they charged us just to use the beach when we got there. Then it started raining in 15 minutes. I guess we should have asked before we left, but we really didn't expect something like that to happen.

They did take U.S. money.

Are you planning on leaving your resort, or will you stay there most of the time? I'm guessing you probably won't have too many issues if you stay there.

Oh, and it's a really poor area, so if you go shopping, they're likely to nag you to buy their stuff. We didn't do any shopping in the actual Dominican Republic, but we went in Haiti on the same island, and it was really annoying. There were also pigs/mules/chickens/etc. just wandering around and eating trash on the side of the road.

[Edited on June 27, 2007 at 11:54 AM. Reason : .]

6/27/2007 11:52:03 AM

just a guess, but i'll bet if you checked around you could probably see some pretty great baseball

6/27/2007 11:56:27 AM

are you going to.... i wanna say.... boca chica(sp)? i know someone who went recently and said it was beautiful. i think that was the big resort beach there.

as for my travel to hispaniola ive only been to the fake beach royal caribbean made in haiti (LABADEE)

they had a huge wall to keep the haitians out. if LRD is anything like haiti looked on the other side of that wall, i would carry credit cards only, or amexchex, or the easiest thing to replace quickly if stolen. cause haiti scared me, and it really fucked with my mind in a way that is hard to explain, seeing people crawl over each other for the chance to come into contact with americans with money.

i know you are going to la republica dominicana, but its all hispaniola. no idea if they are the same. but im not the kind to frighten easily, and i would not have liked LABADEE one bit if not for that wall keeping the locals out. my uncle has also visited port au prince haiti, and santiago in LRD with similar stories of crime against tourists. but i guess the resorts do what they can, and i think bocachica is

dominican republic is also known by the DEA as a hotspot for cocaine trafficing, think of it as a storage facility before transport.

not trying to scare you or anything, im a pussy just that part of the world is the place where ive felt the most pressured to buy stuff etc out of my [un]extensive travels.

mainly i am bored and was hoping i could make this post last till 1230 but i failed haha it really is pretty out there though

6/27/2007 12:05:28 PM

I lived there for 22 months. I'd love to go back. I can't comment on the resorts because I never went to one, but I imagine that you wouldn't have any problems. How many problems to you see coming out of an all inclusive resort?

Everywhere I went they didn't take US currency - but I was always in the middle of nowhere; however there was no shortage of banks where you could exchange your money and in larger cities there was no shortage of "random joes" on the corner right outside the banks that were willing to give you a better rate.

I lived on the border of Haiti for a few months and let me tell you that Haiti is a separate beast. People in the DR are poor, people in Haiti are much much poorer.

Quote :

"We had someone take us to a beach, and then they charged us just to use the beach when we got there."

Ha. Sounds about right. They are going to want to make some money off of people that are obvious tourists. We had someone that tried to charge us to go down the road we lived on - the guy I was with at the time was fairly large and had a temper so we never had to pay

99% of everyone I met was nice. I was in the northern half of the island the entire time. I have heard that people in Santo Domingo (capital city on the southern coast) can be just as rude and untrustworthy as us Americans

[Edited on June 27, 2007 at 12:24 PM. Reason : -]

6/27/2007 12:19:40 PM

Quote :

"I lived on the border of Haiti for a few months and let me tell you that Haiti is a separate beast. People in the DR are poor, people in Haiti are much much poorer."

coming from someone who actually lived there... as opposed to me, who spent a few hours there, pretty much nullifies my post i only heard one negative thing about LRD, but what i just read outweighs it.

in fact, i wanna go now. i heard theres some great sightseeing there. but like i said, im a pussy. not so scared now!

6/27/2007 12:31:49 PM

Quote :

"We had someone take us to a beach, and then they charged us just to use the beach when we got there."

as for that quote.... we had the same thing happen in haiti (labaDEEEEEEEE)

except one important point to note with our trip was that they didnt CHARGE us, they just EXPECTED a tip for showing us to a spot and carrying some chairs and shit for us. i dont think we would have been ejected if we didnt pay

we told him we only had a 20, and since we were the early birds, he didnt have change. but rest assured, they will find you when they have change!!!! (amazingly after hours of being tipped he still had one dollar less than we told him we needed back haha)

but as he said above, i guess we're talking about 2 different places that happen to occupy the same little island

6/27/2007 12:34:40 PM

Well don't expect that aspect to be all that different in the DR. You'll stand out as a tourist and people will stick their hand out for money all the same - I suspect it's just worse in terms of numbers in Haiti as there are more poor people.

Remember when tipping - $5 USD is a TON of money down there. I'm sure things have changed since I've been but I remember being able to get enough food to feed 4 people 5 meals (large ones at that) for about $28. $7/person. Granted these were home cooked meals rather than meals at restaurants (where it was about $2.50 for more food than you could eat). $5 is a lot. Of course people accustomed to getting tourist money probably don't feel the same way anymore.



[Edited on June 27, 2007 at 12:46 PM. Reason : -]

6/27/2007 12:43:48 PM

yeah i think we tried to tip the guy 3 bucks for carrying 2 chairs maybe 20 yards max... and his "lack of proper change" stretched the tip into 4 bucks. multiply that times the hundreds of people coming to that beach off the cruise ship, and i guess i can see why they were literally climbing over each other at the gate trying to get in

6/27/2007 12:46:20 PM

Would have been better for you if you tipped them in their currency. Thanks, here's 10 pesos (like $0.70 at the time). Of course no one would want to help you carry the chairs back, but then that's the idea isn't it?

I just checked the exchange rates. You might want to make that 20 pesos

Still a far cry from a $3-4 tip ( about 100-120 pesos).

[Edited on June 27, 2007 at 12:56 PM. Reason : -]

6/27/2007 12:48:49 PM

Quote :

"My girlfriend and I are going next week"

I'm going in less than two weeks with mine as well. We're flying into Punta Cana and staying at the RIU Palace in Punta Cana. I'm pretty stoked. Let me know how your trip goes. I've read all the reviews on Trip Advisor. I swear everybody on there must have there meal's catered at home because all they complain about is the food. Meh.

6/27/2007 12:53:49 PM

^ We are flying into Punta Cana as well, I don't remember the name of the resort, my g/f keeps up with all that stuff. I read some reviews complaining about food too. I guess they have more of their cultural dishes which I would like to experience rather than just doing the american thing. Hope you guys have a fun trip and I will try to remember to check back in when we return.

Punta Cana is the furthest away from Haiti without leaving the island you can possibly be so that makes me feel better. I have been to Jamaica so I dont imagine DR being any worse. I just wanted to get some general opinions from other who have visited the island. Thanks for all of your input.

6/27/2007 1:47:25 PM

I went there many years ago....maybe 10 years or so and we stayed in this enormous house that my uncle had rented.

The house was awesome, the pool was awesome but.....


We had an armed guard who sat out behind our house under a lean-to on a tree.
Walking out of the airport was kinda scary because of all the people rushing to sell you something or bum some money
The beach was really crowded and small



This was my impression at the age of 12

6/27/2007 2:18:11 PM

Meh. If you go to touristy places in a poorer country you could expect that.

They've got armed guards in every bank and "phone store" as well. Phone store = the majority of people don't have telephones so they go to a business that has several pay by the minute phone booths set up. Hell, ask one of the armed guards if you can take a look at their shotgun... they might let you. I guess all I'm saying is that "armed guards" don't carry the connotations over there like they would over here.

Again, the crowded beach is the symptom of going to a touristy spot. I was the only person for miles in either direction at the beach I went to.

6/27/2007 2:23:04 PM

resorts in haiti are sooo dangerous

6/27/2007 2:55:47 PM

I spent a summer in the DR mountains near Jarabacoa helping build a summer camp called Pico Escondido. I had a great time and got to spend a week near the coast at a resort but i can not recall what that resort was. I loved every minute of it there. It is a poor country but its so beautiful. If you can get away from the lights check out the stars. That was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen being out in the mountains away from towns and looking up and seeing more stars than I could have ever imagined being in the sky.

I love it and would love to go back.

6/27/2007 3:04:28 PM

I went to the DR for spring break this past year. I flew into Santa Domingo and then stayed the rest of the week in a rural part of a somewhat big city, San Fransisco. I was there with Habitat - so I got the total 180 of resort life and had plenty of time to roam around and interact with the culture.

Because it's such a poor country, there are pesky vendors everywhere you turn, but its just a part of the culture - though I'm sure there won't be much of that near the resort, though. As said earlier, the dollar is good almost nowhere, but you can get a hell of a lot for it.

I'd suggest doing some traveling to the beaches - I went to Puerto Plata and completely fell in love. It wasn't too busy, clean and extremely beautiful. The DR is an incredibly and absolutely gorgeous country if you get out of the grungy big cities. And if you do get out of the big cities, you are bound to meet some of the most friendly people, always wearing a smile.

I had the time of my life. Hopefully you guys will too!

6/27/2007 3:15:55 PM

anybody have any bad experiences with the water there? I read somewhere to beware of the water ala Mexico

6/27/2007 3:16:49 PM

dont drink the water, thats true in a lot more places than just mexico

6/27/2007 3:18:03 PM

don't drink the water in raleigh either

6/27/2007 3:23:39 PM

We always used bottled water - sold in 5 gallon bottles - in the home and bought small "water bags" when away from home. The water bag was just a simple plastic pouch (similar to what they use to fill empty space in packages) filled with "purified" water. I say "purified" because knowing the way things work down there I'm certain that they probably just filled these bottles and bags with regular tap water at the plants. I got some tap water as well.

I got sick after two weeks of being there but I got even sicker about two weeks after I got home. Your body just has to cope.

Oh, we did take "de-wormer" pills about once every 6 months... just in case.

I second the comments from Jeepin4x4. The stars are amazing. Many places are far away from any street lights and in some cases the power often goes out at night - allowing you to see the sky without all the light pollution. You can see the milky way as a faint band of light across the night sky. Simply amazing.

6/27/2007 3:27:23 PM

been three times

first trip i was in santo domingo, but covered the whole country with the president (and got to meet a bunch of famous dominicans and use their beach houses)

then we went back twice to the iberostar bavaro in punta cana, which was great, it's pretty expensive as things go down there, but i don't dig the large hotel style resorts and it was well worth it from what i've heard about the mid teir places

i've had no problems with the water, although i'm a gastrointestinal gambler, they take dollars, but if you tip do it at the end of your stay with the people you've had a lot of contact with and keep it small

get out and do something local if you can, but if you're not comfortable with it more whitey friendly trips can be booked at the resort

6/27/2007 8:40:08 PM

Quote :

"resorts in haiti are sooo dangerous"

what a tough, knowledgable, and worldly man. soooo dreamy

6/27/2007 8:49:20 PM

Quote :

"covered the whole country with the president"

which president was that? hipolito meija? he graduated from nc state.

anyway...i've been several times, normally staying with a friend of mine in santo domingo. i've never had any problem using US dollars anywhere, just remember the exchange rate and deal on everything.

i would recommend not drinking the water unless you have a strong stomach. the very first time i was there i thought i would brush my teeth with tap water, and i definitely felt funny the day after. the next few times i was there the water wasn't a problem for me.

i've mostly traveled around the southern part of the country. santo domingo mostly, but also la romana, punta cana, and small cities in between.

i would recommend visiting bavaro, isla catalina, altos de chavon, the caves between la romana and santo domingo, and all the cool sites in and around santo domingo.

6/28/2007 7:51:36 AM

if you can get out to the mountain areas like i said earlier...towns like Jarabacoa. They have some AMAZING whitewater rafting there. Made several trips in Class III+ and it was amazing. There were some parts that were calm inbetween elevation drops where you could get out of the raft and float on your back in the water. It was wonderful. There was one Class V they called Muhammed Ali

6/28/2007 8:36:53 AM

all the suggestions sound good, i'll try to check them out. thanks for all the responses

6/28/2007 8:55:32 AM

yep, it was hipolito

driving there is also quite the experience...not one i would recommend, but an experience none the less

6/28/2007 1:43:40 PM

Quote :

"anybody have any bad experiences with the water there? I read somewhere to beware of the water ala Mexico"

I was in a DR hospital for a day because of the water the first time I went down. The second time I went down I had no issues. Typically I drank water from the 5 gallon bottles, but that wasn't always an option.

I, however, did not stay at a resort. I stayed in Paraiso both trips with Habitat and absolutely loved it. The nighttime is the best when the city power would typically be shut off. It would make for wonderful star-gazing. Doubt it would be the same at the resort, but that along with mixing with the locals was my favorite part.

The DR is not that bad, just be careful of yourself as you would typically be in any other place that you stick out as a tourist and you should be fine.

6/28/2007 2:37:55 PM

I did habitat in Paraiso as well. I didn't even brush my teeth with that water, but one gir from my trip got sick. It was a cute place...

6/28/2007 5:35:50 PM

I here you can live like a king because things are cheap there, but I haven't been myself.

6/29/2007 1:45:26 PM