For Easter I had another visitor and this time we went exploring the Dominican Republic. I had a 10-day trip planned and so many places I wanted to check out!!
Our first stop was Puerto Plata and it was a short drive to the kite beach of Cabarete where we were staying for the first few days. We arrived and went for a walk along the beach which was full of the most kiters I had ever seen..! They were everywhere!
We had a chilled evening eating dinner at a restaurant right on the beach in Cabarete of yummy Mofongo and a few drinks.
The next day started off by driving into Puerto Plata and to the cable car which is located on the Mountain “Isabel de Torres” south of the city.
This was an incredible, lush view of the city and from there our next stop was the ’27 Waterfalls’ (Damajagua Waterfalls). This was pretty cool. We spent a few hours canoying through the entirety of the 27 falls – may as well do it all..
After majority of the day here and driving around, we were back to Cabarete where I did some yoga as the sun was setting followed by a yummy dinner. I was going to give the kiting a go but of course there were no winds other than our first day there.
The following morning started off with some more yoga, this time as the sun was rising, and a delicious brekky on the edge of the beach before it was time to drive to our next spot.
The Samaná Peninsular was a bit more of a drive (and the roads were pretty average) but it was a very pretty one! We stopped off at Saltos de Limón Waterfall which was an awesome lil stop off.
We had a guide take us on a hike (a lot of people ride mules) through the jungle and out to the waterfall. We were lucky for the guide as I think we would have got lost – it got pretty muddy in places.. Our guide also had a boom box so was singing along as we went for roughly a 45 minute hike – entertaining..!
The waterfall itself was pretty impressive and so high – easily more than 120 feet. Our guide and a couple other locals did a bit of showing off and climbed up to jump off from various heights – they were a lot braver than I was!!
The water was chilly so I was a bit of a wimp and didn’t go completely in..
Back to the car for the last bit of our drive through the Samaná Peninsular and onto our hotel, El Cabito – getting lost just a couple of times along the way.
Now this place was amazing – it was an eco-lodge with individual cabins perched near the edge of a cliff in amongst the jungle.. Roughly 3km away from the village of Las Galeras and a very bumpy drive but oh my was it worth it!
Our cabana overlooked the jungle and the ocean and it was all open air with just a mozzie net to keep the bugs away – my type of accommodation!
The best part about this place was the view from the restaurant – it was literally on the edge of the cliff overlooking one of the best beaches in the Caribbean, Rincón Bay..!
We chilled out here for the late afternoon reading our books and playing a few cards games whilst enjoying a couple beers and some amazing food for dinner – bliss.!
The next morning was actually my birthday so I arranged for us to go on a horse ride with Rudys Rancho along the many beaches. Rudy took us on a full day ride and it would have to be up there as one of the best!
My horse, Chuco, was a delight and the actual horse ride went through the jungle and villages, along incredible beaches such as Las Galeras, Playa Colorada and Playa Breman – amazing!
We then were able to gallop all the way along the absolutely stunning Playa Rincon to Rio Frio, a fresh river which flows into the sea at the end of Playa Rincon.
We rode back to the start of Playa Rincon where we had an incredible fresh seafood meal being cooked for us as we had some time to swim in the warm waters.. Paradise!
The ride back was just as good and a great way to see the oceanside where hotel tourism had not yet taken over..
We went for a little drive after the ride to have a drink at the beach and then back to El Cabito for a well-earned shower and another incredible dinner whilst the sun set – an amazing day for my birthday.
We had brekky and a chilled morning overlooking the incredible views once again and then it was a longer drive, this time to the capital of Santo Domingo.
We weren’t in Santo Domingo for long but that was all we really needed, it was a city and a cool one but a walk around the cobble streets of the city was enough for me. We ate at a couple of yummy restaurants and walked around most of the old town and then it was time to get back to the beach..!
We did manage to find one cool little place just outside of Santo Domingo called The 3 Eyes National Park which is a group of interconnected caves just on the outskirts of the city – pretty cool and well worth checking out..!
Our next and last stop was the amazing little town of Bayahibe.. Now this was more my style.
We started off by finding this incredible seafood restaurant and, once again, stuffed our faces full of incredible food. Some card games and a few beers for the afternoon also..
I went for an afternoon walk to check out the other end of the beach of La Romana which was very touristy with the all-inclusive hotels on the beach – I turned around..
As we both enjoyed scuba diving, I arranged a private full day diving trip which included two incredible dives with a cool guide and captain and then an amazing lunch on Saona Island.
Saona Island was like a dream – absolutely stunning!! A palm tree lined island with white sands and a yummy lunch to go with – bliss..!
One thing I have to say about the Dominican Republic is that there are sooooo many palm trees – they are everywhere and jungles of them too..!
Our guide was awesome and we stocked up the boat with a few drinks and checked out the little sandbar with starfish before making our way to the Chavón River. Up the river we went until a little area where we got out and walked up the many stairs to the Altos de Chavón for some more awesome views..
It was an odd place as it was cultural centre in a recreated 16th-century Mediterranean village with a museum & amphitheatre.. We managed to make our way to a fresh water pool where we hung out overlooking the golf course.
Eventually it was time to head back on the rough seas in the little boat… Back on land we showered and met our friends out later that night where they took us to some local bars.
Slower morning for our last full day and we took the car and went exploring along the coast stopping in at Parque Nacional Del Este to go on a hike which didn’t end up taking too long.. From there we went back to the coast for a little stroll along Playa Dominicus which was rammed with tourists staying at the all-inclusive hotels on the beach – not our scene.
We ended up driving all the way to Punta Cana to check it out but again this place was pretty touristy.. We walked along the beach and stayed for lunch before driving back for our final sunset at another cool little beach bar in Bayahibe.
A super early morning to drive to Punta Cana airport for our flight back to Cayman – I loved the Dominican Republic and had a great time..!
