Oh, what a trip! I wish it had been longer. I hope someone gets some good info from this post.....happy reading:
Sunday, Feb. 10, arrive in Punta Cana from Chicago at 4:00p.m.. Wait for charter to Puerta Plata (via TakeOff)....they are an hour late (just the beginning of our realization that everything takes longer in the DR....lol). Arrive POP and our lovely host is still waiting for us at the airport. Hans, from Perla de Sosua, drives us to our apartment and, since someone else didn't show, offers us a large one bedroom for the same price as our small studio. We were thrilled! It is spartan, but very clean with a full kitchen, coffee maker, large veranda right off the small pool. Just an FYI, the studio was very nice and was only $45 USD a night. I think the one bedrooms were more like 65, but don't quote me. My only complaint....the bed was not so comfortable, but it was a queen I believe, and my mother and I had no problem sharing it. Nice, secluded location, very quiet, but very close to everything. Ate at The Waterfront.....delicious! My mother loved her lobster, and my grouper was fab as well. Total bill, 3,000 RD. Yikes! Slept like babies after our long day of travel.
Monday, Feb. 11--Started exploring Sosua. A little overwhelming at first with all the noise (hey, and I'm a city girl!) and the hawkers. Man, everybody is selling something! Never felt unsafe, even as two females. Most people were very nice, especially if I attempted to speak Spanish. Found North Coast divers and booked a snorkeling trip for the afternoon and a diving trip for the next day. Snorkeled at 3 rocks and then the canyon. The canyon was totally awesome! FYI, you can swim out to the canyon from Sosua beach.....only about 50 meters. Very large reef with a canyon in the middle that is a little scary at first, but well worth it. Water was calm and clear, but I found it a little chilly. I wore my wet suit jacket, and got cold after about 20 minutes, but I'm pretty small and tend to get cold easy. At night, ate at La Roca (?).....can't remember what I had, but I remember it was good and not as expensive as the Waterfront. Sat on our veranda and stargazed....the sky is so clear! A nice way to end the night.
Tuesday, Feb. 12, went to Puerta Plata via guagua, then ate at a lovely restaurant.....in a colonial building with authentic Dominican food. Tried to go up the mountain via cable car, but it was closed due to high winds. Bummer! Back in Sosua in the afternoon, left mom to go diving at 3 rocks and the garden.....3 rocks was even more lovely at the bottom. Nice guide from the Netherlands.....funny, too! Depth? 45 ft., maybe. Got cold again even with a shorty and a jacket. I'm such a wuss! LOL. Saw two rays, some eels, beautiful fish. Oh, BTW, North Coast divers are awesome.....hats off to you guys and gals! Very professional and accomodating. One tank dive was about $35. Not bad! Lunch and cocktails across the street near Brittania (about 2 doors west). I gotta say, I'm a beer snob, and I was skeptical about Presidente beer, but it was pretty damn good! I drank a lot of it while in the DR
Dinner later at Rocky's was also very good. I really enjoyed Bella and Perla, the resident dogs, and my individual pizza was very cheesy and fresh tasting. My mom enjoyed her wings. Also, there is internet access there, and the back room is a nice way to get away from the noise/bustle of the street. Stargazing again with mom at night over cocktails, then bed early for our big day travelling to Samana the next day.....
Wednesday, Feb 13, got up at the crack of dawn to catch the 7:00 a.m. guagua to Samana. OK, listen up folks, no one seems to really know about this guagua.....lots of mystery surrounding it. No mention of it in the travel books, but the folks on this site cued me in (thank you!). As far as I know, it is the ONLY was to go directly to Samana from the north coast. Otherwise, I believe Caribe and Metro all go indirect and it takes a LONG time. Catch the guagua across the street from the Texaco on the main road (is that Rte. 5?).....don't be late as it's the only one going there for the day. The gua gua was about 20 minutes late, and already fairly full. Mom and I lucky to get seats, but separated. It was so funny to see my mom crammed between two Dominican men, just because she doesn't travel much. I'm sure she was nervous at first, and I got a kick out of it. Anyway, rough ride. Bumpy, slow, a lot of stops and about 4 hours. Ouch. Luckily I had my i-pod and I just rocked all the way there. We stopped for a bathroom break about halfway there. The best parts of the ride.....a true Dominican experience AND very inexpensive ($200 RD per person). You can't beat that with a stick! Arrived in Samana city around 1130, checked into Bahia View and headed back out for lunch. OK, Bahia View is supposed to have a view of the bay (hence the name), but some yoho built a gaudy mini mall right in front of it, and we had NO view. The view is gone. Should the hotel change it's name? Maybe to Guady Mall View? LOL. The room was 50 USD....a little steep, I thought, BUT our room was decent, clean, and had a large balcony. Two single beds this time, and not very comfy, but it was only for one night. Back to lunch, some Dominican asked us if we wanted to go whale watching, which was why we were there, so we said sure. He took us to another beach just east of the bay (about a 10 minute ride)....the beach was beautiful and quiet. He said he'd take us out around 230 (we got to the beach at 1:00). Well, he didn't show up until 430! We were not happy. On the flipside, it was all worth it. He took us out in a 16 footer, and we were joined by an Irish woman and an English man. Once we got out into the bay, we saw a large fin come out of the water, and I can't tell you how awesome that was. We lucked out big time...it was a female with her calf, swimming side by side. We followed them for about 10-15 minutes. The adult kept showing us her fin (huge, by the way)....it was like she was waving at us. So effing cool. Then, the highlight, the calf tried to show us his tail.....he didn't quite get it all the way out of the water, but it was a sight to see. So breathtaking, so beautiful, the awesome power of nature. And, on top of that the beautiful, lush green hills of Samana in the background. So lovely....the wait was worth it. Headed back into town.....got a ride from the Irish girl (thank you!), and ate at Cafe du Paris (?).......OH MY GOD. The shrimp curry was heavenly! Not spicy like Indian curry, but oh so creamy and mellow and flavorful. 2000 RD. Headed back to Gaudy Mall View to sit on our balcony with cocktails. Slept like bears (mama bear and baby bear
Thursday, Feb. 14 xoxo, took a taxi to Las Terranas (not a cheap way to go, but I could tell mom didn't want to wait for a guagua). Our driver didn't quite know where he was going once in town, so instead of staying at Karesh, we opted for 2 days at Cacao Beach resort. We really wanted nice beds after sleeping on not such great beds for 3 nights (our backs were killing us), so we decided to pop for a little luxury. Private cabanas with 2 bedrooms. Very clean and modern. Nice porches to sit on. Nice people working there. Dinner was average at best (what can one expect at an AI, right?), but cocktails were free and I wasn't complaining. Great beach just across the road, played Scrabble with mom on the beach, swam a little in crystal clear water, and enjoyed stargazing by the pool at night. A note about LT.....the main road by all the hotels is NOT paved. Very bumpy and difficult to navigate if you are driving. You've been warned. Also town is not so close if you are on foot especially if you are closer to Playa Ballenas. I felt kind of isolated, which is normally OK, but not when you need an ATM! LOL. Overall, though, LT is absolutely gorgeous. Lots of Europeans and Canadians abound, and there are many dining/drinking options on the strip.
Friday, Feb. 15.....what a day! High drama, for sure. It started good.....went diving at 11:00 with Profunda Blue next door to resort (but not part of the resort).....run by Italians who were very nice and funny. Did a one tank dive at Las Ballenas.....max depth about 35 ft. Also beautiful, but again, I got cold even with a shorty and my jacket. Dive lasted quite a long time due to the shallowness. FYI, you can snorkel out at Las Ballenas and Profunda will take you out there with the divers. I thought that was cool....wish I had known that so mom could've gone with me. Coming back, my hair stood up on the back of my neck when I saw three Dominican men in my room with my mother in there. I almost flipped out. I put on my best bad ass attitude and marched up there (all 110 lbs of me) to see what the problem was. Well, I gathered that they were police and they wanted us to leave. NOW. The big problem was that they spoke poquito englais and i speak even less espanol. OY! They got a translator, and with no explanation, told us to pack and get out. Wow. I thought there was a terrorist or a dangerous criminal on the grounds as they were going to each cabana and searching them. We didn't ask any questions at that point....we packed and got the eff out of there. There were men in fatigues with guns and all that. It was kind of scary. I found out later that the old owners were trying to reclaim the property or some such thing. I felt bad for the workers. I hope they still have jobs. Off to our original lodging option.....Karesh/Las Cayenas. They were super nice and the rooms were quaint and clean. Beds were much better than Perla de Sosua and Mall View. We chilled out for a bit there on our lovely veranda, then headed into town (a long walk like I said) to get more money. On the way back stopped at lovely beachside bar and had cocktails, then later that night had a fabulous dinner, and can you believe I don't remember the name. I'm sorry! It was a sleek, silver looking room with lots of floor to ceiling windows all around just a few paces east of Cacao Beach resort. My pasta with porcini mushrooms and shrimp was to die for. Creamy, tasty goodness. Yum. RD 2500. Slept good in our comfy beds. Karesh has free breakfast in the a.m. on the beach.....very nice. We only had time for coffee, as we had to be at Portillo airport at 8:30 a.m. TakeOff was an hour late again, but it was worth it as we got a four seater and a direct flight back to PC. He flew us by the waterfall and over the Bay of Samana to look for whales (none were found, unfortunately), and then on the east coast, he flew really low right along the beach. It was beautiful. Landed in PC a few hours before our flight and took a taxi into Cortecito for lunch. I highly recommend Captain Cook's......we had 4 killer crab claws and they bring you nice salad and fresh fried potato chips with your meal. All that with cocktails for 1300 RD. Sweet! Cab back to PC and back home we went
Summary: I loved the DR although it is quite a different world from any place I've ever been. The people are friendly, but it feels often that they want something from you. One has to be good at saying NO. I was glad I learned some spanish....it is imperative! DO NOT under any circumstances go there without knowing some or more than some spanish (unless, of course, you are staying at an AI). It is a beautiful country, but like any country, has an ugly side. Poverty is pervasive, amenities are not always easy to come by, things move slower, etc. These things generally do not bother me, but if they bother you, you might want to reconsider coming here. If you are faint of heart, go to an AI or another country! Samana was my favorite place, for it's beauty alone and it seemed a little more laid back to me than Sosua, but then again, I was only there a short time. I plan on coming back in a few months to see Cabarete and other places as well. My boyfriend, his brother and sister-in-law and I have all discussed living in the DR, and now that I've been there, it is definitely a possibility. We will be sure to visit many times more before making a decision that large. I want to thank everyone on this website for all the great information you provided before I left, and to everyone who made my trip so great.....Hans at Perla De Sosua, the folks at North Coast divers, all the Dominicans who tolerated my spanglish, Gillian from Ireland, Thomas from TakeOff and the folks at Las Cayenas. Hats off to all of you! Sincerely, Rebecca
Sosua, Samana, Las Terranas....6days
