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Trip to Dominican Republic


wolverine

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I have never been to the Caribbean and was wondering if our esteemed board had any advice on what we should/should not do. We will have a 15 month old little boy with us, but I am sure we could hand him off to Grandma and Grandpa for one evening.



We are staying at the Dreams La Romana resort near Bayahibe.



I love food so any eating suggestions are definitely welcome.


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I went to DR a couple years ago and had a blast. We stayed at the Iberostar in Punta Cana. Gorgeous beach, interesting culture, and super friendly employees at the resort.



I was 22 at the time, and went with my family. We had the all-inclusive package which made it nice for getting drinks.



We were advised to stay on the resort, and I was fine with that since there were an array of day/night activities to participate in. At night, a lot of the employees performed a pretty cool variety show which they involved the crowd in. There were a ton of places to shop on the resort, and places to eat. It was mainly buffets during the day, which provided a ton of great food, and there were restaurants on the resort in the evening that provided more elegant meals like seafood and steak.



Had a blast there and hope you do too! :cheers:


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I went to DR a couple years ago and had a blast. We stayed at the Iberostar in Punta Cana. Gorgeous beach, interesting culture, and super friendly employees at the resort.

I was 22 at the time, and went with my family. We had the all-inclusive package which made it nice for getting drinks.

We were advised to stay on the resort, and I was fine with that since there were an array of day/night activities to participate in. At night, a lot of the employees performed a pretty cool variety show which they involved the crowd in. There were a ton of places to shop on the resort, and places to eat. It was mainly buffets during the day, which provided a ton of great food, and there were restaurants on the resort in the evening that provided more elegant meals like seafood and steak.

Had a blast there and hope you do too! :cheers:

Thanks. We are flying in to Punta Cana, but staying in La Romana. Out of curiosity, why would you be advised to stay at the resort? I would really like to see Santo Domingo, the oldest European city in the Americas.

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Thanks. We are flying in to Punta Cana, but staying in La Romana. Out of curiosity, why would you be advised to stay at the resort? I would really like to see Santo Domingo, the oldest European city in the Americas.

The neighboring towns to the resort were safety concerns for tourists, I'm assuming. Could be completely different where you're going.

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Bayahibe is beautiful. Enjoy!

Mostly, the reason people are talked out of going outside it's because the resorts are structured, controlled environments and outside the resorts the language barrier can make it very difficult for a foreigner to get around. Take Mass transit, for instance, which is barely existent and impossible to navigate without a local. A hired car would probably work best to leave compounds. Driving a car would give anyone a panic attack. Roads are shared by anything from a motorbike to a trailer. It's a bit of a guessing game to know where the next bike will pop up.

Transit aside (DR has a pretty high rate of vehicle accidents and the law is still sorting that out). DR is relatively safe compared to most LatAm and some cities in the US.

DO: try the seafood if you go to any excursion outside the resort, as long as it is lobster, shrimp or conch. Local Red Snapper (Chillo) amd Grouper (Mero) are fine, also Wahu and Mahi Mahi (Dorado). The orher fishes are tricky, avoid them.

FOOD: mostly similar to the caribbean cuisine. The Spanish Caribbean islands veer away from the hot spices, most things have a fresh, mild flavor coming from Coriander and Lime. TRY:

- fried plantains (both green and yellow)

- roasted pork

- mofongo (needs to be freshly made, green plantains become kinda rigid when cold) this is puertorrican actually, but widely available in the DR

- The seven meat sancocho. It's a hearty soup best eaten really warm. As if Dominicans had a winter... But oh well.

- Quipes (Kibbes). Dominicans have a big mix of middle eastern (lebanese) blood in them, and some dishes have been transformed. The Quipe is a meat stuffed wheat fritter. Plain delicious.

- Arroz Moro (Green Pigeon Peas + Rice medley, or red/black beans rice medley; green pigeon is better imo).

- Coffee outside the resort. Be warned, Dominicans drink their coffee sweet. If you want it unsweetened, ALWAYS tell them before they brew it. It will be too late any time after, and they will forget. Trust me on this one.

- Yaniqueque (this sounds like "Johnnycake" when pronounced, you'll need a short "E" at the end, though... So something like: Johnnycake-eh) it's something similar to the dough used to make empanadas, but crisply fried.

- Cassava bread. Toasted. With Olive Oil, With or Without Garlic. Repeat endlessly on your meals.

Santo Domingo is a city I would advise you to visit with a hotel guide. It's difficult to navigate. The drive should be short but the transit inside the city is ridiculous. Besides, to get to the walled city youll have to either use the port highway or skirt San Carlos, which is kind of skeevy looking. Its also going major restoration, so the transit has been diverted in many areas.

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I've been to the DR almost annually since 199 -- 3? maybe? Never have stayed in a resort, though the places we've stayed are always comfortable. It does help though speaking Spanish and knowing people who live there or have relatives living there, and particularly being tuned into the history and the music. All of which are very interesting, as they are all through the Caribbean.



However, cholera has arrived in the DR, thanks to the UN forces brought to Haiti after the earthquake and also the mosquito spread chikungunya -- as they have in just about all the Caribbean. Presumably your resort will be resorting to heavy duty mosquito poisons and so on, but if you're outdoors you may want to wear serious repellent, and be sure your child is protected.

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Don't even think about driving there. When the speed bumps go across the road, across the ditches and up to the tree line, that should tell you something. Other than that, it is a beautiful island. I found Sosua to be especially lovely. Santo Domingo is an interesting city. We did the tour there and went to the Hall of the Presidents. Be careful though. Something called fusillado seems to have killed a lot of them off. It may be catching.


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I'm pretty sure dreams has a kids club and babysitting. You should look into it sooner rather than later so you test it out when it isn't a big deal.



I also usually plan out what times I'm handing off my kid(s) to the grandparents. it lets everyone manage their schedule better, and sets expectations.


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Santo Domingo is an interesting city. We did the tour there and went to the Hall of the Presidents. Be careful though. Something called fusillado seems to have killed a lot of them off. It may be catching.

Death by fire squads? Sure :P

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