Thinking about going to the Dominican Republic soon for a week just to get away. Does anybody have recommendations based on personal experience?
I’m not 100% Sold on the Dominican, (Howie’s Suggestion) but would like to go somewhere in the vacinity of the Caribbean that I haven’t been. (i.e. NOT Bahamas, Costa Rica, Cancun, Aruba)
-Looking for a decent place to stay, prefer a nice suite or cabin.
-Iconic places to visit near by (i.e. Volcanos, Markets, Reefs, etc)
good friend of mine went last year. He said he had a blast. I’ll see if i can grab info. Also, my moms best friend is from there…so ill see if she can recommend anything too.
DR is a blast, and there are some cheap all-inclusive resports there.
cayman is also good, but it’s a more relaxing vacation. i have a time-share in grand cayman on 7 mile beach, so i’m quite familiar with it. for first timers there’s some stuff to do that’s interesting. there’s the turtle farm, you can go to Hell, georgetown for shopping (and wow is their shopping, really cheap jewlery!), golf, snorkeling, scuba, fishing, all sorts of watersports, etc. it’s great down there, but it’s damn hot in the summer.
since it is summer, i would actually suggest something a little further north. bermuda is absolutely beautiful (i highly suggest elbow beach, if you don’t stay there at least visit. the beach is unbelievable, and it’s like walking on velvet in the ocean). paradise island is nice but a little pricey.
if you want to go somewhere interesting and out of the way, try costa rica. my cousin went there for two weeks for his honeymoon and said it was the best vacation he’s ever been on.
I’ve been to punta cana 7 times, love it there. Iberostar Bavaro, Gran Bahia Principe, and RIU palace were my favorite resorts, each had their benefits. If you end up wanting to go there, im pretty much an expert on the place by now
+2 been there like 8 times and its the best carribbean vac. ive ever had.
the wharf is the best seafood ive ever had and u can feed tarpin fish from your mouth from the dock(i.e. laying on stomach fish hanging from mouth, tarpin jump up and take it)
there is a pirate cafe that for some reason is home to thousands of godzilla figurines(go figure?)
hell is on grand cayman. there is a post office in hell. there is also a dance club in hell.
oceans/reefs are spectacular. you can go scuba diving and eat dolphin and shark and stuff.
there is a fairly large drag racing scene there with jdm evoIIs and IIIs etc.
Costa Rica is in the rainy season right now, but it usually only rains for an hour or two each day and then the sun comes out. If you are looking for scenery, Costa Rica is hard to compare to. You may want to look into St. Lucia. I have 10 nights booked their next month, and it is as close to Tahiti as you can get. It also has great scenery (Volcano’s, Mountains, etc.). If your interested in St. Lucia, shoot me an email and I’ll send you some more information on a few resorts.
If you want sandy white beaches, then Aruba, Grand Caymen, Jaimaica, etc. are better choices. If you want night life, Aruba is hard to beat. It all depends on what you are looking for.
quite the tuner scene on the island too…more skylines than you can shake a stick at…they also have a 1/8th mile track on the island…which is funny considering grand cayman is only about 20 miles end to end. the track is not level of course…it’s the carribbean 'mon.
oh and no matter what they do to their cars, they look butt nasty after a short while…thats what direct 100 degree sunlight and salt water does.
Second largest skate park in the world on the island and a surf machine if you are into that.
soloiiscoob is right…the diving is amazing. And while you can eat shark, and turtle (yum!)…he is wrong, you do NOT eat dolphin. The “dolphin fish” is what they call the caribbean mahi mahi. Eating a dolphin would be like eating bambi…or a turtle. oops.
I’ve been to Cayman every year for the past 9…excellent place and excellent, civilized people…not like crappy bahamas where 6 year olds accost me to buy crappy trinkets.
Just got back from Cayman a couple of weeks ago. This is their slow season you will have the entire island to yourself. But it is also the start of hurricane season.
And to the person who said Costa Rica…yes, absolutely lush…incredibly cheap and tons to do. Completely different ‘active’ getaway. A lot of variety too, zip lines thru the forest, diving, white water rafting, jungle tours.
After doing a bit of research over the past week… i’m looking to get a villa and get married in the cayman islands next year. Sounds like a nice relaxing place, versus the high-strung, hetic tourist destination.
How is the weather there at the end of May?
nice little villa 5 bedrooms… $800/night (for wedding)
