Cabarete Day Trips

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We will be traveling to Cabarete in a few weeks and I have a few questions for the forum. First, should we go to the caves near Cabarete in El Choco National Park? Is there a guided tour? Second, is there snorkeling from the beach in Sosua or do we have to take a boat farther out to the reefs? Is the snorkeling good or will it be a waste of time? Finally, should we go to Rio San Juan and Playa Grande or Playa Caleton for a day? Should we go to the Laguna Gri-Gri? Can we take a taxi from Cabarete to Rio San Juan? I don’t want to rent a car.

Thanks for the help. We will also go into Puerto Plata for a day and take in the sights there. Any suggestions on the best day of the week to go into Puerto Plata?

[Chris]

I've always enjoyed visiting the caves and there are good guided tours. In fact, you need a guided tour otherwise you'll never find your way through. Do visit the crystal caves!

[quaqualita]

1) yes, there are guided tours in the Cabarete caves. It's quite interesting and fun. You even can swim in ice cold crystal clear water in one of the caves. The tour is not very expensive and since you are allready in CAbarete definetaly worth a visit.

2) I enjoy a lot snorkeling in Sosua. You don't need to go on a boat, a very nice reef is just about 100m from the beach. There are many, many very colorful fish you can watch. Tip: bing some bread or bananas with you - the fish just love it and they will eat out of your hand, also a underwater camara (even the cheap once for one-time use are not too bad).

3) A day in Gaspar Hernandez for shopping (store called "Felix" and the one next to it on the main road, have extreamly nice and good quality cloths and shoes for very good prices), Rio San Juan for Horseback Riding (I know a very good tour there, send me a PM if you want more info) and Playa Grande for the beach is allways nice and fun.

Have a nice trip!
quaqualita

[vakuform]

1) Definitely do the El Choco tour with Angelo. He is full of social, political and archeological info on the DR. The caves are cool and you can swim in the underground springs. Angelo (879-0572 - tell him Mike from NY says hello) can also do a North Coast tour for you including Gri Gri and the Blue Lagoon in Cabrera;
2) I don't know about snorkeling but diving with GriGri Divers in Rio San Juan is excellent - good sites and free rental equipment. Tell Sandra, Mike says hello!

other things to see -
3) Playa Caleton - great beach, probably good snorkeling - we always relax there in between dives;
4) Playa Grande golf- world class
5) Playa Grande Beach - beautiful
6) La Entrada - great beach where the river meets the ocean - Dominican hangout on Sundays
7) Abreu stables - great horses, great horseback riding - tell Antea, Mike says hello - that is if she is back from Germany
8) Hotel Catalina in Cabrera - nice hotel, good French food.

Have fun!