I went there in '06, and going back next month. Had a great experience in '06. I've been to Mexico several times, so I'm fairly jaded to the 'off-resort' lifestyle. We did an excursion that took us off the resort to catch a boat (like 3 dudes in a row boat with an outboard). It was kind of sketchy at first, but ended up being awesome! (drove mini-jet boats, to dock, boarded giant pontoon, and went snorkling).
Are there places to rent jet skis and stuff around? Ive heard sketchy things about some of those rentals where they find a "mysterious scratch" that you have to pay and repair, any way to get around that sort of thing?
you'll find that scam at nearly any foreign country that has a lot of international visitors Thailand was notorious for it, confiscating passports and making renters pay thousands of dollars to "fix" the jet skis before they could leave. obviously the crooked cops looked the other way you can rent jet skis anywhere here, I would stay away from it honestly...
Bring back a case of Brugal Extra Viejo Rum, what ever the top of their line is with the fishnet on the bottle, its very good and cost about 7$ a bottle at the factory. I cant find it here but one of the lower ones is available at 23$ a bottle. We were there 4 years ago or so and didnt have any qualms about wandering outside of the resort. Lots of people will be trying to sell you stuff. That gets old pretty quick but if your stern and respectful its not too bad. I would suggest you do an excursion or 2 at least to see what the real DR looks like. There is lots of poverty, but most of the kids seemed quite happy. Most of them are wearing NFL,NBA,and MLB stuff so it cant be too bad. You can walk into the jungle in any direction and find food, ableit some of the fruit is very strange looking. There is also lots of beauty there. We did a waterfall excursion where we walked up 6 small waterfalls then jumped or slid our way back down. Have a great time.
do not rent or drive anything there. if something happens, you are considered responsible, because you are the foreigner. you go to jail. and when you rent, someone with a key follows you and steals it. stay drunk, eat. enjoy the beeches.
:crackhead: We had a rental car for a week and drove all over Sosua, Puerta Plata and Cabarete. We had a tire blow out on a pot hole the size of a small fridge. No problem dealing with the rental place when the car came back with a shredded tire. All this with my Spanish limited to mas Presidente por favor and gracias. The bigger problems came from fitting three grown adults with 2 weeks worth of shit, plus dive gear in a car that I'm pretty sure would fit into my FJ Cruiser with the rear seat down. Friggin keystone cops shit.
We stayed at NH Real Arena, and the resort was nice. I think this resort was one of the med level pricing. The entrance to the resorts are gated and there is security at the gate 24/7 so that was kinda cool. We did 3 days of sun and relaxation, staying at the hotel and 2 days out in the country side. Everything is pretty easy, you sign up for events or things you want to do at the resort's office, then they come pick you up so you take a bus to the specific place you're going. So it's pretty easy, no need to be worrying about what buses to take or where to go. The two times we left the resort, one day we did a zoo/safari place, then the second day we did an ATV tour 4 total hours (2 hours on the ATV). We went through some pretty cool and fun areas, some had mud and some where through country trails (We bought the DVD), and we ended up at a pretty nice local beach and they gave us 20-30 minutes there to go swimming. We also got a chance to rip around on the beach on the ATV so that was fun. I don't know if a storm had passed but the water wasn't as warm as I thought it was going to be so that was a little disappointed. Also, there was a lot of seaweed on shore. My personal opinion, I feel Punta Cana is more for the recent college grads or people who party every night (on the beach people kept on asking us if we wanted to go to the best club in DR) I would look into how much more expensive Bahamas, paradise island or Aruba might be. If it's in your budget, I would consider those first. Bahamas paradise island the best cleanist beaches and crystal clear water. Aruba great beaches and water too and the island is 6 miles wide, 19 miles long so you can see the whole island in a few days. I give my punta cana vacation 7.5 (8) out of 10.
Just got back, had an awesome time. I never felt unsafe, and yes, some areas are definitely not like the US, but it was nice seeing other cultures in the world. Weather was gorgeous, our resort was decent, also did a day trip to the Hard Rock. Other than that, chilled by the beach and pool and drank a fuckton. If anyone heading that way has any questions, let me know.
