Dominican Republic
Republica Dominicana is such an under estimated island. Like most Caribbean islands, there are multiple hotels and tourist areas...but off the beaten path are hidden gems and that’s where I like to be. I experienced the most amazing food and fun night life, in cities such as Santiago and campos like San Jose de Las Matas.
The beaches are my favorite! At most of the popular local beaches, you can order freshly caught fish that is seasoned,fried, and served with tostones or coconut rice. You can also order an ice cold Presidente or pina colada with rum in a freshly cut pineapple….that’s my kinda beach day. Here are my top places to visit AWAY FROM PUNTA CANA.
We did a 6 hour road trip from Santiago to Barahona, it was filled with fun pit stops along the way. Before renting a car, I highly recommend the following for driving in DR:
4 Wheel Drive if possible-especially if you are driving on the countryside. The streets are a little crazy.
Patience
Toilet Paper -for the pit stops
Change to buy fresh fruits
You must have a drivers license-cops will pull you over and give you a ticket
Ocoa Bay Winery is beautiful and worth visiting if you are in the area. Only 2 hours away from Santo Domingo. It was a $30 per person fee for the wine tour, it has a beautiful pool and great views. I would recommend to spend the day here and splurge on the food and drinks if you can, it is a beautiful location to enjoy the scenery and everything Ocoa Bay has to offer, I hope to visit when they finish building their hotel. The only thing that was a pain in the ass was booking the reservation for the wine tour, you have to contact them directly and make a deposit at the Dominican bank, it would have been easier to pay with cash or a credit card.
Barahona
Sea Breeze Eco Lodge Paraiso
This was a cute little eco lodge , it was very quiet and great for a romantic getaway . As for night life and fun, you have to create that on your own. I recommend to bring games and buy some brugal and make your own drinks with some local fresh juices like jugo de tamarindo or chinola which is yummy passion fruit juice. They do have a bar on the premise that closes at 10pm… we bought a bottle of Brugal at the colmado ( like a grocery store) and walked to a local restaurant to buy fresh juice. Life is what you make of it.
Pros:
Secluded, Clean, Air Conditioning, Wifi
Cons:
The beach needs a little more love as far as cleanliness, and the waves were strong, lots of bugs, power went out from time to time during the day
La Plaza, Barahona
This was a tough but beautiful hike to a magical river.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND:
A light and COMFORTABLE bag to hold belongings
comfy hiking shoes
a waterproof phone case
Balance and patience
Positive attitude
We booked the tour at the Sea Breeze Ecolodge.
Jaragua Tours was the name of the tour company and they were awesome!
I am so happy we met them. We had 2 young tour guides that were super sweet and helpful the entire time. I am not a hiker…I’m lazy as fuck ,trust me I prefer yoga to be my workout so this hike kicked my ass, but it was worth it.
It rained during the hike, and at first I was like “Ah fuck I’m going to get wet” and then we had to cross the river. So there goes that, you will get wet during this hike and those rocks are fucking slippery. Hence why I recommend patience and balance.
I do recommend traveling with someone who knows spanish if you are traveling to this side of the island because they do not see as many tourist like Punta Cana. Remeber you are in Dominican Republic so the main languages are Spanish or Creole…mainly Spanish tho.
San Rafael Beach was perfect for some yummy fried fish, chicken, coconut rice, tostones, and a nice cold Presidente. Here you can relax, enjoy the scenery, collect pretty rocks, but most importantly enjoy the fresh food. Yeah okay the stands look a little sketchy but trust me it’s worth it.
Santiago
We stay with family here so we don't go out to eat much but when we do...
Here are some places to eat:
Lucia's Restaurante & Terrace Bar
Square One
Noahs
There is also a food truck movement happening, so ask a local for their favorite street food.
Moca:
Monfongo Mi Terraza for yummy monfongo.
Favorite Beaches:
In the Puerto Plata Province:
Sosua
I recommend staying at an airbnb. We stayed at a beautiful villa that was 10 minutes away from the beach. There was a group if 10 of us, so it only came out to $50 per person and we had a great time.
Playa Ensenada
Both are beaches where the locals hang out on the weekends so it gets packed Sundays. They both have food, music, and drinks. Playa Ensenada to me is a little prettier...you can also do an excursion to Cayo Arena which is beautiful.Punta Rucia Lodge is a great place to stay at or make a day trip out of if you're in the area.
Punta Rucia Lodge
Is a little pricey for DR, but the food is really good! The beach is beautiful and I would reccomend this for a romantic getaway weekend.
Samana Land:
Samana is a hidden gem. Tucked far away from where the Punta Cana tourist go, Samana is filled with beautiful beaches, French bakeries, and yummy natural Dominican food. The villas are cute and privately owned by European familes so the houses have an eccletic mix of carribean and European design with fun colors.
Places to see/ beaches to visit near Las Terrenas:
Playa Bonita
Playa Coson
Salto El Limon Waterfall
Callo Levantado
Where to stay:
Air bnb , if you have a large group I recommend Villa Tabiki
Sublime hotel is also a cute hotel in the area
For partying, you can check out El Mosquito Bar or byob and party on the beach ...