back from 1st trip to DR

[dale7]

I recently returned back to the US after 6 days in the DR. I spent 3 nights at Boca Chica and 2 in the capitol. The people here are very friendly and I had a great time conversing in my limited spanish and some of their broken english. Smiles go a long way and I really enjoyed my trip. Boca Chica had a very nice beach but the only thing I didn't really enjoy was the multitude of people trying to sell you trinkets or other things while relaxing on the beach. A simple no gracias with a smile works. Santo Domingo was lovely. I spent much time in the Colonial Zone and took many lovely photographs. I stayed at Hotel Napolitano and it was a very nice hotel. The highlights of my trips were going out dancing and having beautiful Dominican girls correct my dancing style. I don't use my hips enough. The people are very friendly, the beach is great, and anyone traveling to the DR has to check out the Capitol. Some of the architecture is absolutely stunning and historic. I plan on going back in October. I really enjoy this website because it helped me immensely.

[amy]

Im going to santo domingo june 25th.. staying at the melia santo domingo hotel by any chance did you get to pass by that hotel? Any ins and outs i need to know would be helpful!!!!!!

[dale7]

amy, I stayed at the Napolitano but the melia was just down the street. There are several nice hotels along George Washington/malecon area and from what I saw the Melia looked more extravagant than the Napolitano. I did go into the Jaragua Hotel which was superb and was thinking about staying there but was too expensive for my budget. The Napolitano cost me about 75 us dollars a night, it was a great hotel, but not as nice looking or extravagant as the Melia, Jaragua, and I believe Intercontinental/continental. A word of advice, I took mainly traveler's checks and had an ATM card but only around 1 of 2 atms worked. For better exchange rate, change US dollars into DR pesos and when I was there the exchange rate was about 17.6 pesos to us dollar. A taxi may charge you 5 us dollars to go somewhere in the city but if you use pesos, you should never pay more than 75 pesos to go anywhere in the city of Santo Domingo.

[amy]

Im so excited to go already! I see you checked out the historical places, any places I must see? Also in your opinion for 7 days how much US $$ do I need to bring? I appreciate your feedback...

[dale7]

You must check out the old historical church, The Isabel Catolica, Diego Columbus' home, a couple of museums, the names slip me that are downtown, one has much maritime exhibits, a tribute to Sanchez, Duarte, and ? that has decorative guards in front of it, some of the old buildings that date back to Columbus' time, I went by myself and basically just wandered around in the Capitol, I am very bad with names. Not including my hotel and airfare, myself I spent around 75 US dollars a day, food, taxis, tips, some souvenirs, drinks, etc. I imagine you would spend around that much a day, for 2 probably around 100 day, it all depends if you are on a budget like I was and want to buy a lot of souvenirs. Most of the sites are in the Colonial Zone and if search the Colonial Zone on a search engine you will find the locations of various historical places to visit and their locations. I hope this helped you out, the capitol has so many things to discover, next time I go I will stay in the capitol. The capitol has no public beaches so if you want to go to the beach you can go to Boca Chica which is about 30 minutes away but I have heard that Juan Dolio is much nicer and that is only a few minutes farther from the capitol than Boca Chica. Everyone I met in Santo Domingo recommended Juan Dolio over Boca Chica so I am just passing that along to you based on their information. Boca Chica has a good beach but being a single male I was constantly hassled about women, drugs, massages, trinkets, etc. If you go there a firm no with a pleasant demeanor works and I have heard that Juan Dolio doesn't have quite this atmosphere.

[Hillbilly]

Amy, you won't have any problems except organizing your time to take advantage of what there is to see.

There are perhaps 4 areas to be visited
1) La Plaza de la Cultura. this is up by the US Embassy. They took the former dictator's old house and grounds and put up a library, a Natural Histroy Museum and and a History and Geography Museum, plus the National Theater. This is just off Maximo Gomez or Ave Mexico...very easy to find.
2) The Botanical Gardens and the Zoo. The Japanese Gardens are actually said to be more beautiful than the ones in Japan.
And the Zoo is worth seeing.
3) The Colonial Zone. People are amazed that you can walk all over in a morning or afternoon. The old city of Santo Domingo was tiny...You can start at the Cathedral of Santa Maria la Menor, go by the first city hall, then to the Ozama Fort, the Casa de Bastides and then the Museum of Casas Reales-a truly beautiful place, and end up at Columbus' House....
4) The Aquarium. On the other side of the river, a must see place.

Hope this fills up a few of your days..

Happy tours,

HB

[amy]

You guys are grrrrrrrreat! Thanks for all the info! Im taking notes.... This forum is wonderful, now Im all set to go June 25.

[arroyodmb]

Was in the Jardines Botanicos on Sunday. Good place for bird watching as well as the plants.

A great place to go is "Los Tres Ojos" subterranian pools where Johnie Weismuler (?) was filmed doing Tarzan.