I’ve had a lot of people ask me about the cost of living in the Dominican Republic recently, and beings as I recently remodeled and furnished an apartment, I’ve decided to blog it all out for those of you who may find it useful.

Setting Up Shop
Since there are few already furnished houses and apartments, most people have to buy everything to set-up their place as they want it. For a one bedroom, one bath, dwelling it will cost around $61,050 pesos ($1,695.83 US) to equip it with the basics.
Here’s an expense breakdown based on what I spent:

• Fridge $15,000
• Oven/Stove $10,000
• Cutlery $2,000
• Dishes $850 (four place set)
• Glass Set $250
• Bathroom Items $1,000
• Double Bed $3,500
• Desk $1,500
• Bookshelf $1,000
• Sheets $1,500
• Blankets $700 each
• Pillows $250 each
• Living Room Set $10,000
• Dining Table Set $8,000
• Washing Machine $7,000

Since it is an island, everything that is imported is more expensive, so anything that you can bring as far as electro-domestics would be recommended. Radios, computers, and other such items are much more expensive here than they would be anywhere else, and are generally of lesser quality since developing nations generally get sent irregular or imperfect items.

This may sound a bit odd, but buy your bed sheets before you come. (more…)

As the number of flights my family has made back and forth to the Dominican Republic increases we’ve started to develop preferences in airlines. At first our flights were mostly with American Airlines due to the greater number of checked in bags that they allow.

This was pretty important during our moving process. Now that our trips are more to visit family and friends our criteria has changed and so has our preference in airlines.

Our recent experiences with Jet Blue has made it a clear favorite with my family, making the news that Jet Blue is added another Dominican city, Punta Cana, to its list (Santo Domingo, Santiago, and Puerto Plata) welcome news.

While prices vary by trip, Jet Blue seems to always be at least as good as American Airlines. But even if they were slightly higher we would now choose a flight with Jet Blue when going from California to the Dominican Republic. There are several reasons why: (more…)

Having a car in the Dominican Republic is very convenient however driving in the Dominican Republic can be a challenge.

First get used to the horn; drivers in the DR have one hand permanently on the horn. Don’t get irritated when they use it. The horn is considered a notification devise, not just a sign that the person irritated at you. They will use it when they pass you, at intersections, when passing people or just when they feel they haven’t heard the horn enough that day.

People drive extremely close here regardless of the speed you are going. Cars drive on the wrong side of the road to avoid pot holes and for almost any other reason you can imagine. It’s common to see 3-4 cars side by side on a 2 lane road, when preparing to cross intersections etc. They pretty much consider the lines in the road to be optional, and which side of the road you are expected to drive on to only be a suggestion not a law. Motorcycles use either side of the road about the same, with only a slight preference of being on the right side of the road. (more…)

Since they are closer to the equator some countries have stronger ultraviolent (UV) radiation than others, like here in the Dominican Republic, which significantly increases the chance of sunburn and serious skin damage if you are repeatedly exposed to the sunlight here. To keep this from happening there are a few things that can be done, and kept in mind, regarding skincare.

Skincare Using Sunscreen

In order to get adequate protection from the sun’s ultraviolet rays you should use enough SPF 15, or higher, rated sunscreen to form a film on the area of skin that will be exposed to the sun. It is important to make sure to apply it 30 minutes before you go out into the sun so that there is time for your skin to absorb it. Also, sunscreen should be reapplied every 2-4 hours or after any activity that wears it off (like swimming, drying off with a towel, exercising, or perspiration) to avoid getting burnt and sun damaged skin. Daily sunscreen use effectively protects areas of the skin exposed to sunlight from getting burnt.
A cloudy Dominican day only filters out 20 percent of ultraviolet rays; leaving a remaining 80 percent that can cause a serious burn if no precautions are taken. So, if you are concerned with skincare, make sure to put sunscreen on even if you’re not going to be in direct sunlight.

Sun Tanning Tips (more…)

On the beaches in the DR you often see couples getting married. We’ve had friends choose destination weddings like the ones you see here. While this can be a romantic, low stress way to get married, there is also the possibility of a few problems when setting up a wedding from a distance. These tips might help you make sure your Dominican Republic destination wedding goes perfectly.

In order to avoid the stressful experience of infamous wedding scheduling, issues with dresses, cakes, decorations, bands and music, bridesmaid’s gifts, and the human element of everyone involved in each of those, many engaged couples decide to consider the option of a tranquil destination wedding as an alternative. After looking at the information available and realizing that a beach wedding costs thousands less than a traditional church wedding, many decide that this is the way to go, and start to look at specific places to have it.

Where to Go

The Dominican Republic has recently been luring couples with its romantic beaches, relaxing atmosphere, and affordable prices. Like other destination wedding locations, DR allows the wedding, reception, and honeymoon to be booked all together in one inexpensive and stress free package. This saves money, and leaves everyone free to sit back and enjoy the experience.

There are quite a few towns that lend themselves to weddings, with two of the most convenient being Puerto Plata and Punta Cana, since they are both nice areas and close to international airports. (more…)

When most people think of the Dominican Republic, they think of a tropical island with a 1,000 miles of white sand beaches. Many of which are picture perfect with picturesque palm trees hanging over the beach, beautiful crystal clear water. You know the type of thing you see in the post cards.

While this is what makes up much of the Dominican Republic many people don’t think of what Dominicans have done within the USA. There are approximately 1.2 million Dominican residents in the US.

They are primarily on the East Coast. You will find a large population in New York, New Jersey, Florida and other eastern states. While you don’t find to many Dominicans among the general population on the west coast, it is interesting to see how many people with Dominican heritage make up Hollywood.

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Once you are here in the DR you will likely want to at times, call home. You have several ways to accomplish this.

1. Your Cell Phone. If you keep your plan from the US or another country and try to call back home, just connecting into the DR cell phone network is going to cost you (a lot!). Unless you have money to burn this is not really a good option. You can however, switch out the chip in your phone to a Claro or Orange chip and buy minutes here. This also lets you call the US and the rates are pretty good. You then switch chips again when you head home.

   The one possible problem with this is that many phones are locked out from being used in other countries. That means you have to find a place to “Unlock” your phone. Not difficult but a little more of a hassle. They will not do that in the phone company offices. You also have to be sure that your phone can take the same chip. An alternative is to just buy a cheap phone here in the DR ($15 – $20) and put some minutes on it.

2. The second option involves your computer. (more…)

If you’re thinking of either moving to the Dominican Republic or staying long term, you are probably interested in what you might find in the way of larger chain stores. The DR is not all comados (small family owned stores). When you get into some of the larger cities you will find a large selection of Stores we are more familiar with in the United States.
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If you plan on doing any traveling outside to the city that you flew into during you stay in the Dominican Republic, you are likely to need to know about the various tour buses. First thing to know is “Tour Buses” is a little misleading. Even though some of the bus companies like Caribe Tours have the word tour in them, that does not mean they are guided tours. This is just transportation from one location to the next.

That doesn’t mean there are no tour companies in the DR, you just need to make sure of what they are offering before you book. There are some great companies offering excursions and we plan on hitting a bunch of then as time goes on. We’ll be posting reviews of the companies as we try them.

Especially if you fly into Santo Domingo or Santiago, you are likely to take one of these buses to get to your vacation destination. These are the Bus companies to choose from: (more…)

The Dominican Republic has recently changed how they handle long term visas, and this is subject to change again. So, look as this as an approximate guide which is based on their current requirements.

On entry into the DR you are required to pay a $10 entry fee. This entrance fee is paid at the airport by buying a card and giving it to someone as you go through customs. This allows you to stay in the country for 90 days. If you go past that and do not renew your visa you will have to pay a small fine when you leave the country.

If you stay longer than 90 days you should go to the capital (Santo Domingo) and renew your visa at the immigration office. This costs about 700 pesos and gives you another 90 days after which you will need to renew the visa again. You can renew your visa twice.

If you plan on staying longer you can apply for an extended visa. This costs about $350 dollars to apply and is a bit of a hassle. When you apply for this they will send back to your country for verification of your documents birth certificates etc. This can take a while and should only be done if you plan on staying in the country pretty much permanently. This gives the advantage of being able to get a drivers licence, easier to get bank accounts and so on.

When you come into the country you can drive for the first three months legally. after that you need the extended visa to continue to drive. Renewing your visa does not renew your being able to drive. The easiest way to get around that is to leave the country and come back in, afterwards you have three months again. This can be easily done by traveling to Haiti crossing the border and coming back. Your passport gets re-stamped and you can legally drive again. This is a little more expensive, it costs about $45 usd to reenter the DR from Haiti.

Once again, use this as an approximate guide. They seem to adjust this once in a while.