Travel Review: Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

This past December, Scott & I took our first vacation to the Dominican Republic in honor of our 11th anniversary.  We did this on our 11th anniversary because we did nadda on the big 10th anniversary, and were making up for lost time. We made the decision to visit this tropical destination for our anniversary for one main reason: it was cheap!  A 6 day/5 night all-inclusive vacation for two people at the Barcelo Punta Cana four-star resort was $500, plus airfare.  We had frequent flyer tickets, but you can get a package deal with airline tickets included through Cheap Carribean, and it is still ridiculously cheap. (This is probably due to the fact that, not only is the economy in the toilet, but there are only so many crazy Americans out there actually willing to risk their lives traveling out of the country in the wake of terrorist acts.  But, hey, we've always been adventureous; besides, I know where I'm going if I 'kick the can', so what the heck.)

So ~ back to the Dominican Republic: the Barcelo Punta Cana was nice.  The rooms were typical... nothing to write home about.  But the grounds were beautiful.  Lots of palm trees, green lush grass, winding pools and the blue sea.  The food?  Pack sandwiches.  Ok, ok, I know you can't get those through customs, so shove some freeze-dried food and bags of nuts in your suitcase, LOL!  You think I'm kidding?  Let's put it this way, poor Scott spent half his vacation in the bathroom.  Amazingly, while I felt a little on the queasy side, I did not get sick.  (I attribute it to the two week course of probiotics I took before the trip!)  I can't speak for other all-inclusive resorts, but I have stayed in two Barcelos in two different countries, and the food was not great in either one.  In all fairness, the resort does cater to a wide variety of world travelers, so I am sure it is difficult to appeal to all tastes. It might be worth noting that the chain is Europeon-owned; maybe one might have more luck with an American-owned hotel.  

Fortunately, there was a large variety worth of items to eat, so we bypassed the fish staring back at us and the mystery meat, and stuck with "safe" items, like rolls, pound cake and fruit.  (Can you say "high carb"?)  Even so, by the end of the week, everything tasted the same and we were SO ready to get back to good ol' American soil and get something to eat that didn't turn our stomachs.  The up side is that if quantity is your gig, you are in good shape, since there is absolutely no limit on how much you eat or drink.  And while I might have managed to stay away from the pina coladas, I think I did seriously O.D. on cappuccinos...which were actually quite good.

On to more important topics:  the activities.  If you are the type who wants to go on vacation and just sit on the beach in a lounge chair with a cold drink in your hand, this might be the place for you.  The beach was very pretty, and there were plenty of places to relax.  Uhm-hmm... one thing you should know, though, is ALL beaches in the Dominican Republic are public beaches, and topless sunbathing is legal.  We were not aware of this minor detail, and needless to say, I wasn't too excited for my husband to discover it. Also worth noting is that Barcelo Punta Cana is on the Atlantic Ocean, not the Caribean Sea.  That means that the waves were too rough for activities such as snorkeling and kayaking at the resort.  And motorized watersports are illegal in the Dominican Republic.  There wasn't much to do at the resort other than swim and "sight-see".  And while I must admit that some of the 80-year-old "sights" were quite amusing, we decided to get-out-of-dodge and book a couple of off-site excursions through a tour company.

The first excursion was riding four-wheelers through the Dominican countryside. The tour was to take us to a popular beach, a coffee plantation and to a famous cave where we could explore and swim.  As it turned out, though, every stop we made was more like another opportunity for the Dominicans to try to sell their wares to the "dumb Americans" who would pay ridiculous prices for their hand-made jewelery made from "precious native stones".  Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun on the four-wheeler.  I was glad we chose it, as opposed to a dune buggy, because those riders got all muddy.  My husband said I hogged the four-wheeler, and I told him that's what he gets for not getting two, lol.  It was a blast!  We'd do it again.

The 2nd excursion, a speed boat/snorkeling tour, was not as fun.  After the bus picked us up, we clunked though the Dominican countryside, stopping at resort after resort for what seemed like forever before we finally reached the beach for the excursion. We were told to put everything we brought along in a locker before heading for the water so it wouldn't get wet.  The speed boats we were going to drive were about waist deep in the ocean, and we had to jump up onto the side and hoist ourselves over the edge to get into the boat!  As you can imagine, that was fun.  I think I made it on my twenty-third thousandth try.  I imagined racing through the ocean, the wind blowing through my hair.  What I did not imagine, however, was water spraying in my face so fiercely I couldn't see, never mind steer a boat!  (Scott got more than his fair share of drive time this time around).

Once we made it to the dock near the reef where we were to snorkel, we had to anchor our boats, jump out, and swim (against the waves) out to the dock.  By the time I actually got to the snorkeling part, I was already tired out!  As far as the quality of the snorkeling itself,  we did see some tropical fish, and it was fun to watch them eat bread from our hands.  But the coral was dull brown, and not the bright colors you hope to see in the Caribbean.  It's the second time we have gone snorkeling and "settled" on the location, and we decided it would be worth it next time to "go all out" and take the extra time & money to travel to the best snorkeling reef your vacation area has to offer.  Still, it was an experience we don't get to have everyday.  It was okay, although a little warning that I should have trained for the triathalon before attempting this excursion would have been nice.

As far as other activities go, the resort had a casino and some cheesy nighttime entertainment shows if you are into that sort of thing.  They also allowed street vendors to set up tables in the hotel in the evenings so that guests could buy souvenirs and jewelery.  It was quite convenient. There are plenty of other places to shop, but due to the extreme poverty of the area, tourists are encouraged to take extreme caution when leaving the resort grounds.  One thing is for sure... no matter where you decide to do your shopping, be prepared for extreme haggling if you even dare to take a glance in the storekeeper's direction.  It goes a lot like this:

"Hey, my brother!  My sister!  Come over here. I have a free gift for you!  Let me put it on you.  Show me what you like.  Put is here (on my plate), anything you like.  I'm gonna give you a great price, make you special deal, just for you!"  I never knew I had so many relatives, lol!  It got old after awhile, but it was all part of it.

All in all, we had a great time, and we are glad we went.  But Scott & I both agreed that while the Dominican Republic was an interesting place to visit, we wouldn't opt to go back.  I would prefer to go back to Mexico...(or even better yet, visit one of the U.S. Virgin Islands where people speak English and we can eat typical food, albeit, for a much heftier price tag!)  But if a "budget" tropical vacation fits the bill, we recommend Cancun or the Mayan Riviera to Punta Cana.  We found that the locals were more pleasant, the haggling was less annoying, and the Gulf of Mexico was more appealing.  And besides, while jet skiing is perfectly legal in Mexico, topless sunbathing is not.  Bon Voyage!