Re: Which area to visit?

Stay in Boca Chica at the Hamaca Hotel (see https://www.coralhotels.com.do/english/hamaca.htm or click on link below). The night life is all within a few block walking distance and the beach is the best if you like clear and calm shallow water. You are also as close as you can get to Santo Domingo and still be in a jamming beach town. But if R&R is what you are after, Boca Chica is not the best place unless you plan to get it hanging inside the resort.

I found Playa Dorada and Juan Dolio to both be very boring places relative to the more action filled towns, with beaches that are average. Juan Dolio has a few very nice resorts but the nightlife in Playa Dorada and Juan Dolio pale in comparison to Boca Chica, who's main street is transformed into a small block party every night of the week, with the streets blocked at both ends and restricted to pedestrian traffic, and tables and chairs set up in the middle, with the small bars and restaurants extending their operation from inside and spilling out onto the streets.

Boca Chica is typically 30 minutes drive from Juan Dolio and 10-15 from the airport, a little less if you drive real fast, but the highway that runs from Santo Domingo, past the airport, past Boca Chica, and on to Juan Dolio and beyond is quite dangerous at night.

Jim Hinsch JimHinsch@CSI.COM