Question about travelling to Dominican Republic??

Show all answers

trav'ler

Hi

I'm booked to go to the Puerto Plata area next week.

April, I believe, should be fine -- a friend went there last April to the south coast and had a great time.

Have you decided where in the DR to go?

I am going to try for tours down south to Santo Domingo and east, to Samana.

I don't know the Punta Cana area at all except for friends' reports who loved it.

Affordable online? depends on where you are coming from - from Canada, it's pretty cheap - mine is under a thousand, all inclusive and including taxes, with single supplement.

It was pretty cheap in August , too -- around a thousand as well - but that's Canadian, when CAD was less than US $

I found my flights etc in the local paper travel section, and also checked airlines and tour operators for specials. My local travel agent came up with the cheapest costs, so I went with them.

It's also cheaper to book shortly before you want to travel - ie less than two weeks, to get the sell-off fares. But that is hard to do if you need to travel at a specific time, say, for a work vacation.

Here's the area I am going to, if you want to have a look at the north coast..
http://www.snapshotjourneys.com/dominicanrepublic.html

Find out how far hotels are from the airports, etc and what else is around the resort. Friends who have stayed at the Bahia Principe (I think it is) were a long way from city stuff, but it was a great place to play golf and lie around the beach and pool.

Doble-A

Well, "trav'ler" basically sumed it all up for the trip to DR.

But don't forget to check out JetBlue. They always have special deals to Dominican Republic. I included their link below.

You're gonna have a great time. No worries.

Milos K

1) Is April and OK travelling time?
Yes it is, anyway we have 28 C temperature for 12 Months.
2) How can we find an affordable Vacation online??
http://www.puntacana.bookit.com
3) What time of Day/Year should we book??
April is high season, as well as Christmas time.
Try with airplane companies, when they have high season prices, it means that we have it also.
4) What kind of price is alright?? im trying to spend $800-ish but less would be FABULOUS!
You can not be cheap in Punta Cana, go to Sosua or Cabarete. You can always rent a condo for one month with that money, even in Punta Cana.

sharman1952

April is a good time of the year being one of the driest months
I would recommend tavelling to the South of the island, if you are a beach lover, rather than the north. These beaches are more like the caribean picture postcard we all know. I've been twice to the Punta Cana area and had two great holidays.

jim b

I have been to Punta Cana twice and am booking another trip in two weeks. Both times I've stayed at the Iberostar Bavaro. That is the best hotel I have ever been to and I travel a lot. As for your questions:
1. April is a great time to go. Sunny and 80 degrees everyday.
2. Try a package deal through applevacations.com I book through them each time I go and they are by far the most friendly and helpful to deal with.
3. Plan to fly out on Wed. morning and retun the following Wed. evening. Rght now is a great time to book as you can take advantage of the lower fares.
4. You can spend $800 or less if you want just hotel and airfare. If you have the money, spend around $1300 per person and go for the all inclusive resort. I do this and bring $400 in cash and usually return with money in my pocket.

I hope this helps

randall f

April is a good time to visit because prices are less... Try Las Terrenas, Samana ,Dominican Republic... This is a small and up and coming town on the Samana peninsula... Check out www.lasterrenasweb.com and www.bahia-principe.com
The Gran Bahia Principe is in Portillo this hotel is one of the best hotels on the Island.

Happy Feet

Well I see that all your questions are resolved by the first answerer. Yes, Puerto Plata is the best place to come due to the fact that there is a lot to do outside of the hotels (not like Punta Cana (= isolated). If you need some more info don't be afraid to ask. Enjoy it!

Scott

All I can tell you is April is a great time to go there. We had amazing weather when we went during that month.

Mildred S

i can tell you that i would avoid Samana at all costs. Our cruise ship docked there for a day visit. It's tiny little town / very very poor and rundown. the cab drivers really hassle you / like ten of them follow you for a block walk . they do not understand the term no thank you. i simply wanted to go for a walk and look in the little shops and my plan was to return to the ship and dump off the my packages and go back out for a couple hours for a private hour or so drive with a cab driver. i realized after about 10 minutes myh morning walk that this was not going to be possible. tourists are latched onto and they walk with you all the way into the town and continue to talk to you and they argue with each other about who talked to you first and that is the cab driver you are "obligated to take". it's was absolutely obnoxious. St. Thomas was once a paradise until it got overrun by too many obnoxious cab drivers. Samana is 100 X worse than St. Thomas cab drivers. i really had a negative impression of the DR. There are so many nice islands in the carribean ? greneda is a beautiful quant little island. the people are very pleasant . there are little boats that are water taxis. the beaches are beautiful st. marteen is beautiful 1/2 french / 1/2 dutch. people are freindly / beaches beautiful. mexico has beautiful beaches on the carribean side. nice hotels / good food. your dollar goes far. st. lucia is very pretty too. i'd rethink DR.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: