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

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

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SouthernComfort 19.05.2003 · Read review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

Fun, Fun, Fun

Advantages: Great location, resort, weather and people
Disadvantages: None..apart from the occasional short sharp rain you get late afternoon

...I have been to Dominican Republic twice now and both times have stayed in the North of the Island at a place called Puerto Plata. The first time we went we travelled with First Choice and decided that as our holiday was a success the first time we would go with them again a few years later. We visited Puerto Plata in May 2009 and we stayed in a resort called Gran Ventana. The Hotel was lovely with great accommodation, good food and the staff were wonderful. Not only was the resort wonderful so were the Dominican people. This Carribean island is a third world country and it is made all the more real when you leave your resort and travel outside on a trip. The majority of the people are poor and there are many people living in shacks. We did a number of wonderful trips whilst over there and one of them included a Jeep Safari which...

KathEv 02.12.2009 · Read review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic

My Honeymoon

Advantages: Cheapest island in the Carribean, friendly people, lots to do an deat!!
Disadvantages: Not really suitable for young children or young people who need lots of night life.

...Being one of the cheaper Carribean islands my husband and I chose the Dominican for our honeymoon. We went to the Dorada club resort in Puerto Plata, and it was the best holiday we've ever had. The apartments were very roomy and clean and situated over three floors in a number of blocks that surrouned the pool. The staff were very friendly and organised lots of activities including:- water polo and volley ball, beach parties, egg throwing (don't ask!!) and bike rides. The complex is one of about 5 or 6 hotels all grouped together around a mall type shopping centre and cinema in the middle. It is very close to the beach (about 60 metres) but as it is an all inclusive package you can only walk so far along the beach before reaching a piece of beach belonging to another hotel. Being All Inclusive ther were also lots if included...

azjh 07.09.2000 · Read review
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Review of Dominican Republic - Puerto Plata

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

Dominiucan Republic

Advantages: Amazing people, beautiful place
Disadvantages: extreme poverty

...I have to say that when I went to the Dominican Republic it was the best experience I have ever had. I went with my family and we stayed in the Playa Dorada resort, which is near the big city of Puerto Plata. We stayed at the Villas Dorada hotel. The hotel has recentley under- gone a refurb so it is now very beautiful. The rooms are fully furbished and are very spacious, all come with en suite bathrooms. The lifestyle there is extremly relaxed. All the people are very friendly, but thats because they want our money! I made friends with a girl who worked at my hotel on the animation team. She was lovely and never once asked me for any money. They are extremly poor and there living conditions are unbelievable, it really opened my eyes. I would advise everyone to visit this coun try because you'll just fall in love with the place...

Amerelys 10.09.2000 (09.12.2000) · Read review
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Review of General: Dominican Republic