Jarabacoa River Club Resort

When considering the Dominican Republic, most people think beautiful tropical beaches, palm trees, luxury beach resorts and beautiful oceans views. While all of that is true there is another side to the Dominican Republic, The Mountains! Don’t get me wrong, we’re not talking about the Alps here, but the 525 foot rise in elevation makes for a whole new experience, and the Jarabacoa River Club is a great place to experience it.

The Jarabacoa River Club sits on both sides of the “Rio Yaque del Norte”. The two sections of the club are adjoined by a rope bridge. Small and large swimming pools are scattered around on both sides of the river overlooking the valley and river below. Likewise there are patios, eating locations and clubhouses on both sides giving many unique vistas of the Valley.

Jarabacoa Excursions for Eco-Tourists

The Jarabacoa River Club makes for an excellent location to set out on the many excursions available in the Jarabacoa area.

• One of the favorites is the river rafting excursion on the Yaque River that winds down below the club. The price for the rafting excursions is usually about 1,400 pesos per person.
• Quads and mountain buggies (more…)

First let’s point out that my experience with Viva’s internet is only 7 days. So you can’t call this a long term review of their services. How ever during the 7 days I have been in Jarabacoa there have been internet outages with Viva 3 of the seven days.

The first day we got here (on a Monday) Viva was having problems so there was no internet service for the first half of the day. Once that cleared we received Internet (using their MiFi 2200) at a rate of about 1mbs for the rest of the week. My computer is setting right next to the Wifi so I was getting excellent reception, likewise the MiFi 2200 appeared to be getting pretty good reception. (more…)

I am finding more and more foreigners that are buying Real Estate in the Dominican Republic. While I favor renting for many reasons, many people are taking advantage of the great Real Estate prices here, coupled with the good conversion rate between the US dollar and the Dominican peso which is currently about 38 pesos to the dollar.

Buying Real Estate in the DR poses several risks that are not usually a problem in the US. I’ll be going over many of these as this post progresses. Along with the additional risks there are other things you need to consider. It basically comes down to the necessity of taking your time and investigating the property before you make a purchase.
Prices

First thing to know is if you only speak English you are very likely to end up paying more for the property than you would if you can speak the local language, Spanish. This is the same whether you are planning on renting or buying a property. Personally I like to look around a bit, than have a Dominican friend come in at a different time and ask the price. He will usually be able to get the same property for at times as little as half the price.

Power and Water

It is important to understand that the utilities here are not near as good as in most countries. The voltage at a house I have rented in the past varied from 70 volts (sometimes less) to over 150 volts. (more…)

While I have visited Jarabacoa a few times, I haven’t yet gotten the chance to write much. This week my wife and I will be doing some house sitting for some friends here in Jarabacoa so I’m starting up a new section.

Jarabacoa as a Tourist Destination

Unlike most of the typical tourist destinations in the Dominican Republic, Jarabacoa is not located near a beach. Actually Jarabacoa is pretty much in the middle of the island of Hispaniola. In case I just confused you, Hispaniola is the name of the island the Dominican Republic and Haiti share. The draw for Jarabacoa is its mountains and weather. If you like to hike, visit waterfalls, off road atv and things of that nature this place is great!

My family and I have taken several day hikes here up into the mountains checking out waterfalls and streams. Some of the paths are just maintained by other hikers with machetes, some are well groomed. Usually if it is groomed you will need to pay to get in. Don’t panic, the usually price is 50 to 100 pesos or about $1.50-$3.00 USD.

Foreigners in Jarabacoa

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