The latest in a barrage of tropical storms is heading in the direction of the DR. While it already has 65 mile per hour winds it is rather disorganized and does not appear to be likely to turn into a hurricane.

It’s current direction gives the impression it will likely head well north of the DR and will only bless us with some more rain. We should be starting to feel the affects of the storm late Saturday to Sunday. Don’t cancel your beach plans for the weekend yet, Ophelia is expected to weaken over the course of the next few days.

We are planning a trip to Puerto Plata this weekend and are hoping it will die down considerably. We will be taking advantage to the $11 per night All Inclusive deal offered by CheapCaribbean.com for the Lifestyles resort. (more…)

We seem to have a rather busy storm systems this year, as soon as one passes the Dominican Republic the next puts its sights on us. Tropical Storm Maria is expect to pass through the Lesser Antilles tonight and is currently head directly toward Punta Cana and the northern portion of the DR. The center of the storm is expected to be near Punta Cana Sunday morning.

While it is too early to say whether it will really affect us there is already a tropical storm watch for St. Barthelemy, St. Martin and Marinique. There is a tropical storm warning in affect for Guadeloupe, St Martin, Saba, Steustantius, Antigua, Anguilla, Burbuda, Montserrat, Nevis, Saint Kitts, the British Islands, Dominica, the US Virgin Island, and Puerto Rico.

The maximum sustained winds are near 45 mph and tropical force storm winds are extending 154 miles outward from the center, mostly in the North East direction. (more…)

Hurricane Katia has been upgraded to a major hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph. At this point Katia is traveling between the Dominican Republic / Bahamas and Burmuda. So for now there is no coastal watches or warnings in effect.

That doesn’t mean that it is having no affect on the DR though. I’ve had reports of the surf being heavy enough that it is best to avoid the beach in Las Terrenas. (more…)

Just a quick note. If you or someone you know has a Claro phone in the Dominican Republic, Claro will give an extra 44% on any minute buys over 100 pesos. This is a pretty good deal so if you have family or friends in the DR this is a good time to Gift them some minutes.

Claro says that is will be offering this free minutes deal between Sept 1 and Sept 16

In the wake of closing over 100 stores in North America, they now have plans to open a new store in the Dominican Republic. Office Depot’s Vice President Ernst Wessel is quoted to have said “Office Depot is excited to open our first store in the Dominican Republic and we are looking forward to expanding our footprint in the Caribbean territory. We’ve had considerable success with our franchise model in the Middle East. We believe that the Office Depot business is particularly suitable and attractive as a franchising concept for certain territories and we are actively looking to grow this part of our business in a number of overseas markets.”

Office Depot is a global supplier of small business products and services ranging from paper and paper clips to office furniture, computers and commercial electronics. The Dominican Republic store will be opened in Santo Domingo at (more…)

Last night tropical storm Katia was upgraded to a category 1 hurricane causing concern to residents to many the Northern coastal cities of the Dominican Republic. Having just cleaned up the mess caused by Hurricane Irene many are concerned about possible temporary affects to the tourism in the area.

While it does look like Katia will be continuing to gain strength over the next few days, possible even reaching the status of major hurricane by the weekend, (more…)