The mission – escape the wet and cold during the Portland winter. For some reason February in Oregon gets to me. The holidays are in the rearview mirror and the warmer days of spring seem so far off. The solution? Spend a couple of weeks in the Dominican Republic and have some fun in the sun!
Palm trees, soft powdery white sand and the turquoise blue of the Caribbean in Punta Cana.
No place is going to be able to replace Hawaii and all it has to offer in my heart but there aren’t a lot of bargains these days in Hawaii and I was a little shocked at how much the prices of the hotels we had stayed at in the past had increased since our last visit. Not to be deterred, we decided to try out the Dominican Republic to see what it had to offer.
The beaches in Punta Cana were nice but a bit too crowded and overdeveloped for my tastes.
We flew into Punta Cana and ran the gauntlet of taxi drivers and met our transfer outside the airport doors. The driver was kind enough to stop by an ATM on the way to our condo to get some local money. The DR currency is called the peso and it is roughly 60 pesos to one dollar. We had read that many places did not take credit cards and so we knew we had to get some cash.
When I tried to withdraw $300 (18,000 pesos) I found that the most the ATM would give me was 10,000 pesos ($170) at a time. This became a bit of an issue when we checked in to our condo and were told that we needed to pay in cash or pay a huge (30%) fee to use a credit card. We figured it out but it did catch us off guard a bit.
On the beach in Punta Cana – pictures with my parrot for a couple of bucks.
Off we went to explore the beach at Punta Cana. The sand was white and powdery – the kind that sticks to everything – but that is also so soft and easy on your feet.
I love the colorful artwork found throughout the Caribbean.
Punta Cana reminded me a bit of Cancun in that there were a lot of very large resorts and many of them were of the all inclusive variety. All inclusives are perfect for some but we like to get out and explore, get a bit of a feel for the culture, and try a variety of restaurants. Although the beach is public to walk along, because there are so many large resorts a lot of the shaded beach area is taken and not available to the public. But we found some nice spots under palm trees to read our books and people watch and take an occasional dip in the warm Caribbean waters.
These city signs seem to be everywhere. This one is supposed to read “Las Terrenas”
After a week of total relaxation in Punta Cana we rented a car and drove four hours to Las Terrenas. Driving in the Dominican Republic is not for the feint of heart. The roads are fine but there were some very aggressive drivers that tailgated and passed on hills and blind curves. In addition there are cows, dogs and people on the road, motorcycles passing on both sides and going in the wrong direction, and plenty of speed traps . It makes for some stressful driving.
Caribbean sunsets never disappoint. This one was taken in Las Terrenas.
Once we got to the Samana Peninsula and the town of Las Terrenas we knew that we had found the Dominican Republic we were looking for. The beaches were beautiful and uncrowded and not all dominated by large resort properties. There was a town with good stores, quaint restaurants, and food vendors on the streets.
Caribbean sunrises aren’t too bad either! This is also in Las Terrenas.
We drove across the peninsula from Las Terrenas to the town of Samana located on a bay of the same name. The whole peninsula was covered with palm trees and as you went inland you encountered hills thick with jungle growth In the morning we passed through several small towns with workers heading to their jobs and children walking or busing to their schools.
Humpback whales during mating season in Samana.
Samana Bay is a protected humpback whale sanctuary where we were told that 85% of the North Atlantic whales come to mate and have their calves. Even though the whale boats do their best and are very serious about not getting too close to the whales, the reality is that male whales that are courting a female don’t really swim in a predictable straight line. You can find yourself within 10 yards of competing male whales rising to the surface for air and spouting water out of their blowholes. It was one of the highlights of our trip.
The Church of Santa Barbara de Samana
Flowers of the Dominican Republic - Click image to enlarge
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We called this Boat-Henge.
Local street art in Las Terrenas.
I don’t think my balancing skills could manage this!
Another nice Caribbean sunset.
And not to be outdone, the moon rises were pretty spectacular too.
It can’t get any fresher than this!
Hanging out near Boat-Henge.
Julia walking on the beach near Punta Poppy.
All in all it was an enjoyable 2 1/2 weeks and more than accomplished our goal of finding some sunshine at a reasonable price far away from the winter rains of Portland. Maybe we’ll be back someday but there are so many other Caribbean islands that we would like to try that it may be our only visit 🙁