Dominican Republic Experience

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 ...
...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 shows you some of the island and the way in which the people live. As there was a group of us we decided to use a smaller ...

KathEv 02.12.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
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

Now I am back in the writing mood I thought I would put my experiences over 2008 to good use and write a couple of reviews. I have a few ideas in mind but thought I'd start by a writing review of the hotel we stayed in on our honeymoon. Now this is probably going to be quite long as I have so much to tell you so be prepared! We had originally wanted to go to The Maldives for our honeymoon but upon closer inspection found that this was going to work ...
...Travel Agents and got a quote for a 2 week holiday to the Maldives for 2 people. We were quoted £3700 for a fortnight staying in 3* accommodation on a Full Board basis. I could tell my (then) fiancé wanted to book but I was apprehensive and suggested we slept on it overnight. Once we got home I said that I thought for what we were getting the quote was on the high side and I suggested we shopped around to see what else was out there. We had bought ...

shazzaspannered 07.01.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: exceptional
Review of Playa Dorada (Dominican Republic)

Amazing Catalonia Bavaro! Beautiful place!

Advantages: Grounds, staff, food, activities, massive bath!
Disadvantages: Errr none!

...a two week holiday to Catalonia Bavaro for a surprise for my girlfriend's 21st birthday. I didn't tell her till the morning of her birthday (a week before we were departing) so I had to make sure all my bookings were right. I booked through Instant Travel, who booked it under First Choice. It cost me around £2200 all inclusive, which was a bit steep but acceptable for this type of holiday. The next day the holiday was reduced by £600, which put ...
...forgot about this! Neither Instant Holidays nor First Choice would accept my complaint so I had to get on with it. The flight over to the Dominican Republic was excellent. Lots of leg room on the flight and the staff were excellent. First Choice also provided you with a small travel pack (free of charge) with eye phones, tissues, toothbrush etc. It took around 8 hours to fly to the Dominican, and the flight was very good. When we arrived at the ...

boyd2715 15.05.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Catalonia Bavaro Beach (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 ...
...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 to most Caribbean islands, the Dominican Republic was just about do-able! We flew from Gatwick airport at about ...

joannavos 30.04.2001 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic)

nearly paradise

Advantages: small scale tourism, beautifull beaches
Disadvantages: Far away from the airport

The peninsula of Samana is the most beautifull part of the whole Dominican Republic. Most big travelagencies don't bring you there because of its distance to the airport of Puerto Plata. Transfer 1 way is more or less 4 hours, but that's the price you have to pay for 1 or 2 weeks in Paradise. This is the part of the Island with the most beautifull nature. On Samana you can find rivers, waterfalls, jungle and whole lots of beautifull beaches, some ...
...Look around a little and you can find a beach just for yourself! At the end of the peninsula you can find a little village called Las Galeras. Not much going on there but there is a good all inclusive hotel called Casa Marina Bay, and 2 smaller but very stylish hotels: Club Bonito and Villa Serena. The main city on the peninsula is the city Samana de Santa Barbara. Nice to go there on a day trip, but no place to spend your holidays (not much going ...

theflying007 26.01.2005 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Samaná Peninsula (Dominican Republic)