Riu Merengue

Hi. My family and I will be staying at the riu merengue resort Feb 21-28. We've heard lots of great things about the hotel but lots of bad things about the water. We've heard everything from rocks to jellyfish to even sea urchins. We all love to go to the beach and get in the water, and were wondering if anyone can give us more infomation about the beach. Is it as bad as everyone says? Thanks.

Everyone is different, and what you like I might not etc. For instance, I love Playa Cofresi and Las Galeras and Rincon and don't like the beach in front of Playa Dorada much.

However, I found the beach in front of the Merengue nice and the bay of Maimon is beautiful. The beach is wide, BUT there are corals in the water when you go out a bit. They are normally shielded by nets, and you can easily avoid them. Especially in front of the Riu Mambo (sister hotel to the Merengue) the corals don't start until some way out. As for jellyfish and sea urchins, we never saw any, but I guess that depends very much on the season and other natural conditions.

I guess you would call this beach bad if you expect beaches like those of Punta Cana - stunningly white with coconut palms and turqoise calm waters etc. If that is what you want, Riu Merengue is not the place. Otherwise I would have no hesitations recommending the hotel if you like all inclusives. The Riu Merengue and Riu Mambo are very nice and in great surroundings.

Regards, Susanne

i think susanne said it all, but if you would be interested in some reviews of the merengue which include the beach area you can check them out at www.debbiesdominicantravel.com, very objective reviews, tom

just got back....the beach was all stone & junk & the 4 days of rain didn't help~~~~~~ i will be posting on debs page when i get my letter about the place done!!!! the reviews were right but they didn't accent the amount of kid there!!!!!! (i left my 4 at home~~~~disney land is for kids !!!! but i will say more in my review bye 4 now~~~~

going to merengue in 2 weeks, this is first negative comment i have read in about a month or so, looking forward to your debbies review, hopefully it will be posted within the next week or two, thanks tom