WHY I LIKE SOSUA long

Much has been written recently about Boca Chica. For my vacation dollar there are many reasons why I go to Sosua. For anyone contemplating a vacation in the DR here are some of the reasons. First, it is close to the Puerto Plata airport. No need for a long, hot bus or taxi ride Less than fifteen minutes after clearing customs and immigration you can be sitting poolside at your hotel or resort enjoying a drink. Then there are the beaches. It is a well-known fact the best beaches in the country are on the north coast. The main beach, Playa Sosua is beautiful, safe and scenic. If that isn’t enough you can go to the Casa Marina beach or Playa Chiquita, smaller and more secluded. Sosua is relatively compact; you can walk most anywhere along attractive tree-lined streets. Scuba diving, snorkeling, glass bottomed boats, they are all available in Sosua. There are many day trips you can make on your own from Sosua; Cabarette for windsurfing, Puerto Plata or Santiago for sight seeing, Playa Grande, the Gris-gris lagoon at Rio San Juan. Tour companies offer Santo Domingo, Samana, Jarabacoa and many more places of interest, all on day trips. Clean? Sosua is very clean, not just by West Indies standards, but by any standards, the streets are clean with little litter. Prostitutes? In any developing nation prostitution tends to be more overt, so yes it is there but during a visit in May I saw very little in that regard on the streets. Safety? Friends in Sosua tell me that as long as one uses common sense Sosua remains very safe. Dining out in Sosua offers all types of restaurants at inexpensive prices, so even if you are staying at an inclusive resort and you want a change you can enjoy dinners in excellent restaurants for under 200 pesos (about $16.00U.S.) exclusive of alcohol. Bars and nightlife? There are German, Canadian, Italian, Hungarian, Dutch, American and who knows what else operated bars where you can wet your whistle. If you prefer (as I do), non-inclusive hotels there are a host of small, clean, well-operated hotels where prices range from about $20.00U.S. up. Check the hotel reviews and you are sure to find something you will enjoy. Should anyone be interested in photos of Sosua, check out the Sosua Club on Yahoo and you will see more than 300 photographs of Sosua. Try Sosua once and you will be back. See you in Sosua. Richard