Samaná - first visit in three years - Page 2

Chirimoya · #11 02-20-2009, 10:48 AM

Link to whale photos:

Ballena Jorobada - a set on Flickr

cocoleka · #12 02-20-2009, 11:08 PM

I too went to playa rincon in jan 09 and it was like driving on the moon. The beach was beautiful but my memory of the trip is dominated by the bone-shaking road. Would like to parachute in next time...

cobraboy · #13 02-21-2009, 07:52 AM

MotoCaribe travels to Samana twice a month for several days. Beautiful place, indeed.

We cannot wait for the roads torn to absolute rubble by the aquaduct to be complete. And every trip we see a little more done.

From what we've been told by several folks, the roads cannot be resurfaced, proper drainage installed (the #1 problem there), etc., until the entire project has been pressure tested. And this includes the really horrible roads to Playa Rincon thet will feed the massive resort going in there (we saw survey crews there last week on the beach itself). When that's done, the road goes in.

Getting into Samana from Sanchez isn't nearly as bad as it once was from the end of the water project. That side has made great progress. But from the road to El Limon/Las Terranas all the way to Playa Rincon (but not to Las Galeras) just purely sucks!

Gotta say, though: it's a LOT better on a V-Strom than any vehicle. Cars take a beating there.

Chirimoya · #14 02-21-2009, 08:59 AM

Bad news about the Rincón resort.

In all the trips I made to Samaná between 1996 and 2005 the paving on the Nagua-Sánchez-Samaná stretch was much, much better than it is now. Some parts of the Samaná-Las Galeras stretch were always poor, but now it is far worse.

cobraboy · #15 02-21-2009, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chirimoya

Bad news about the Rincón resort.

We've been told it's the Cap Cana guy and 10,000 rooms. Don't know how accurate that is.

Chirimoya · #16 02-21-2009, 04:58 PM

I vaguely recall a Cap Cana connection, which is why it is surprising if it is indeed proceeding. You'd think they'd have other fish to fry.

maryanne · #17 02-21-2009, 05:04 PM

Great shots of the ballenas!
Many thanks to your husband for sharing them with us.

Years ago, Guillermo and I tried to see the whales and we went out but we didn't see any. I now know what I missed. Beautiful!!

drloca · #18 02-21-2009, 05:46 PM

Thanks for sharing the breathtaking pics Chiri!

Chirimoya · #19 02-24-2009, 06:09 PM

Thanks, here are some more, this time of the trip to Salto del Limón:

Salto del Limón - a set on Flickr

bakersindr · #20 02-25-2009, 05:03 AM

Just came back from the D.R. a week ago. We travelled down to the Samana peninsula from Sosua on this trip as we wanted to see all the beautiful beaches and countryside we have seen in so many pictures. All comments about attrocious roads are completely justified and we were very glad to be in a nice sturdy SUV. Don't think a car would have survived the trip, especially on the way back at night. Las Terrenas was everything we hoped for and the rest of the countryside as well. Samanan town was pretty once we managed to make it down the road from the mountains and the view from the Malecon over the bay was magnificent. However when we got close enough to the edge to look downwards we were apalled at the incredible amount of garbage alone the entire shore of the bay. We walked along the entire Malecon and I never once saw even the smallest fish. I'm sure the collosal amount of garbage has killed or driven off most life in the bay. Labour is cheap in the D.R. You would think the local government would do something to clean it up to impress all the tourists coming through these days. Other than that big downer it was a great trip though. Next time we will stay down there for a few days and visit Los Galleras, Sanchez etc.