Cabarete - Dominican Republic (north)

Advantages: nice relaxing holiday, friendly people, great weather.
Disadvantages: hassle by the beach vendors, some shop keepers and time share people

...We have just spent two fabulous weeks in Cabarete on the North coast of Dominican Republic, and I want to tell you all about it. We flew with Thomson and it cost us approx £600 each. Spending money, we probably spent around £400, not including our diving course. First off a bit of geography, DomRep occupies one half of the island of Hispaniola. One of the larger islands in the Caribean. The other half of it being Haiti. It is approximately 8 1/2 hrs away from the UK, but is well worth the time taken to get there. Remember hurricane Jeanne, of September 2004 hitting and devastating Haiti and Dom Rep, well we got there about 7 days after she did expecting to find devestation and in fact had wanted to cancel our holiday, but didn't as we would have lost all our money. So with trepidation, and fearing the worst we went. We need...

wendy155 09.11.2004 · Read review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

Discover the Dominican Republic

Advantages: Beautiful beaches and greenary
Disadvantages: Too many beggars

...When I saw the photos for the Dominican Republic, in the brochure, I thought ‘I want to go there!’ Where better than to spend two weeks in the glorious sunshine in the middle of December! So we (Michael and I) splashed out £700 for an all-inclusive deal of unlimited food and drink (both of which appeals to us) to the destination of Sousa. The flight was a very long 9 ½ hours and I would recommend getting first class if you can stretch your money that far. We were crammed in like sardines with elbows and sweaty arm pits everywhere. I definitely envied those sat at the front in their big armchairs. My first impressions of the Dominican Republic were of disappointment. As we travelled on the coach dropping off other holidaymakers, the place was baron and run down but it is a third world country. The Hotel Eventually...

melmel 19.08.2001 · Read review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

Dominican Heaven Republic

Advantages: Cheaper than other Caribbean destinations, Goregeous beaches, crystal clear water.
Disadvantages: Long flight, 'Hasslers', ear-infections from the pool

...September 1997 – My first long haul holiday! My first real holiday abroad really. I’d been to France, Germany and Holland with school a few times, and I’d been grape picking in France after my A-Levels, but that was hard work not a holiday! So I was looking forward to the tropical temperatures and warm seas that, school-day friends, who were fortunate enough to be taken abroad for their holidays, always used to talk about. I went with my boyfriend, who is now my husband. A proper couples type holiday that I’d always wanted to do. We chose the Dominican Republic mainly due to the price. We wanted to go somewhere in the Caribbean but couldn’t really afford a holiday at all, so we booked a year in advance and tried to save up. We discovered that Caribbean holidays are pretty expensive but compared...

joannavos 30.04.2001 · Read review
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Review of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic)

Dominican Republic - Dont miss out

Advantages: Weather, Food, entertainment
Disadvantages: Security

...My first experience of the Dominican Republic was when i was 15.It was the end of March and I went along with my parents, grandparents and younger brothers and expected it to be a typical family holiday with a bit of argueing combined with the constant echo of 'Im Bored' from my brothers mouth... I was soon proved wrong when i arrived and was greeted by the beautiful weather and smiles of all the staff on the resort. I went for 2 weeks all inclusive so i liked the fact that i was never hungry or thirsty for the entire time there. The was so much to do there, it offered everything from your usual watersports and diving etc to the amzing game of volleyball and archery and many other games and providing competitions too. This helped me to make friends quite easily and the resort was huge with about 6 or 7 pools so fortunately i wasn...

spr_mattey 06.03.2007 · Read review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

Enjoy yourself in the Dominican Republic

Advantages: Price, weather, beaches, accommodation
Disadvantages: 9 hour flight

...I went to the North of the Dominican Republic to get married 4 months ago. It was the most beautiful place I have ever been to, and the best holiday we have had. We stayed at the Hotel Riu Merengue which in itself was paradise. The staff of the hotel were very friendly and obliging and the people of the Dominican were extremely friendly. The Dominican Republic is a beautiful country with a poor lifestyle. We went on a monster jeep safari trip which was excellent but we were amazed and saddened at the poverty but also glad to be able to see the country away from the tourism side, the real Dominican as it were. The weather was excellent, the beaches were gorgeous and the entertainment in our all inclusive hotel left other hotels we have visited, standing. I would recommend the Dominican Republic to anyone. You will be hard pressed...

liz.carl 10.11.2000 · Read review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

Dominican heaven for a perfect holiday

Advantages: A great carabean holiday at a good price
Disadvantages: Not suitable for young children

...I've visited Sosua twice with my husband and fell in love with it the day we arrived. There is a charm quite like nothing I have ever experienced before when on holiday. The bedrooms are below par, it's dirty, the transport is deadly and you have people trying to sell to you from the second you step off the airoplane. All of that would drive me nuts at home but you put the beauty of the place in the background and the humor and charm of the dominicans and you have a remarkable experience. The haggling is a blast for even the most inexperienced once you get used to the currency and value of items. The drinks are fast and cheep and if you get a chance to buy some of the good rum then go for it, it's a treat even for the non-rum drinker. The Sosua beach is one of the finest on the non-carabean side, with beautiful clear waters. You get...

millwall 19.08.2000 · Read review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

Dominican dream

Advantages: Everything
Disadvantages: Teeny weeny little stomach bug

...As with every holiday, me and my boyf spent a lot of time researching hotels and areas in the Dominican Republic before settling on the Gran Ventana Beach Resort in Playa Dorada. This seemed to be the most lively area with nice beaches, and the reviews for the hotel were all very good, so of course our expectations were high. And we weren't disappointed. After a smooth 8 hour flight and 20 minute comfortable transfer, we arrived at the Gran Ventana. We were the 1st drop-off point so we didn't have a chance to see any of the other hotels, but they are all located in 1 area called Playa Dorada, which is like a purpose-built resort with a security gated entrance. Reception greeted us with courtesy and it was a relief that they spoke englisha nd understood what we were saying! Our bags were left in the safe hands of the Bell Boys...

LittleHB 31.08.2007 · Read review
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Review of Gran Ventana Beach Resort, Puerto Plata

Catalonia Bavaro Resort Dominican Republic

Advantages: Entertainment, The Brits, Excellent food, Amazing location and great Excursions
Disadvantages: Mosquitoes eat you alive, Sambuka after a Japanese meal, Staffs lack of English and being hassled off the resort while shopping

......

SouthernComfort 19.05.2003 · Read review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

Stingrays, Sharks - what a Honeymoon!

Advantages: Fantastic Surroundings, Lovely Hotel, Great Excursions to Take, Friendly Staff, VIP Treatment
Disadvantages: You won't want to come home and going to Spain will seem poor in comparison

...getting the quote was on the high side and I suggested we shopped around to see what else was out there. We had bought back of a copy of a 'Tropical Escapes' brochure to look through and decided that we would individually look through it marking anything that took our fancy and then compare afterwards to see if we had both liked any of the same places. My husband to be looked through the brochure first and found the place that we eventually decided upon the Melia Caribe Tropical in Bavaro, Punta Cana which is in the Dominican Republic. He showed me the brochure and it looked very impressive 7 pools, 13 restaurants, 2 spas, a championship golf course, eight lit tennis courts, casino, games arcade and even a themed Flintstones area for kids - not that we have any children but I have to say I love the Flintstones so I was actually quite excited...

shazzaspannered 07.01.2009 · Read review
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Review of Playa Dorada (Dominican Republic)

More than just sun, sea and sand

Advantages: Ideal holiday for anyone
Disadvantages: This is a poor country

...As with most of my travel opinions, they don't go into detail about the history, the geographical statistics or the polictical state, you can get that information from any travel related site. I'll also not be spending any time describing the hotel in any depth, having already written a full review on the Riu Merengue. I will however detail some of our observations and experiences of a recent trip (January 2004) to the Dominican Republic, once we got outside of the hotel gates. This was a 10 hour plus flight, and still being daylight on landing, we got a glimpse of a fraction of the island from the air - always worth a look. We had already completed our tourist cards handed out on the plane, showed them and got our passports stamped. I managed not to pay my tax of 10 dollars, or perhaps Karolina (my gorgeous girlfriend) mistakenly...

Kingseany 21.02.2004 · Read review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic