Windboarding in Cabarete

Restaurants
There are many restaurants to choose from along the beach. They generally have indoor, and outdoor, seating, and several are very good. Here are a few favorites:
If you’ve gotten tired of the traditional beans and rice dishes of the region, and just want a good beer and burger, Jose O’Shay’s Irish Pub is the place for you. There is also the option of pizza, cottage pie, steaks, and a few other tasty dishes. The dishes run from $10-20 dollars U.S.

My personal favorite place to eat is Casanova because it is inexpensive (happy hour runs from 4pm-7pm and gives you everything half off), and the ambiance is lovely. The most popular things on the menu are the pizzas and pasta dishes. During happy hour, a meal with a couple of beers will cost around $13 dollars.

On the main road, across from Ocean Dream Plaza is Bayerischer Hof. This restaurant offers savory pork fillets with mushroom and onion sauce, with the option of sautéed or mashed potatoes, or noodles. There is also a good Hungarian stew, Schnitzel, steaks, and other dishes. The prices run from $11-20 dollars.

Shopping
All along the Cabarete main drag, route 5, there are shops with anything you could want to buy, from ice cream and jewelry, to clothes and Dominican trinkets. All you have to do is walk along and peruse the shops as you go.

For those who want to learn how to Kiteboard, several surf shops along the beach offer classes for beginners to intermediate students. The classes are a little steep pricewise (around $249) so it’s probably best to be sure that it’s worth the time and effort to do it.

Hotels
For economy, comfort, and a good night’s rest, I really like the Casa Caribica Sanssouci hotel. A room with 2 beds, a bath, t.v., and kitchen is $20 dollars a night. There are seven Sanssouci hotels in Cabarete, but this one is my favorite. The others are nice enough, but are more toward the center of town where it is much noisier, and so I prefer to avoid them since I like a good night’s sleep.

How to Get There in Public Transportation
For those who have access to a car, it’s an easy drive along route 5. Even in public transportation it is one of the easiest beaches to reach. Any Sosua destined Caribe Tours bus will gets close. Upon arrival in Sosua, there are cars that are marked “Rio San Juan” and/or “Cabarete” and they go all the way through Cabarete.

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. The bed sheets here are super expensive, compared to what you can get them for at home, and have very low thread counts, making them expensive and uncomfortable.

Also, if you have any special hair care items or instruments (flat iron, curling iron, electric razor, special hair product, etc) bring them with you too. Otherwise, you will have to make a special trip to the capital and do a grueling search for trusted brands, or have them sent to you from home.

General Shortcuts and Other Useful Tips
One way to avoid set-up expenses is to find someone who is looking for a roommate, since they will have already purchased most of the above items. Usually, this sort of arraignment comes word-of-mouth, so be sure to network with others you know who are here to see if something can be arranged. Don’t be surprised if the person wants to charge you a little more than half the month’s total rent, since many do this to cover ware and tear on the items you will be using.

Try to buy local produce and other grocery items where possible, since it can cut down considerably on your monthly bill.

Along these same lines, if you are planning to live alone, you will notice that it is less expensive to eat out at a local Dominican style diner than it is to buy and cook your own meal.

Baia Blanca Hotel - Rio San Juan Beach - Gri-Gri lagoon

Comfort and Relaxation
Baía Blanca is a three story L-shaped building with around 30 rooms that can sleep from 2-4 people. Each room has a fan, wireless internet access, bathroom, TV, dresser and closet. Steady electricity is not a problem ether since the hotel has a generator. Most of the rooms face the ocean, with a lovely balcony area with comfortable couches for relaxing and socializing.
I prefer the rooms on the 2nd floor, especially the ones on ether end of the balcony, because I burn rather easily and the shade provided by the 3rd floor balcony shields me from evil UV rays. But, if you have skin that allows it and you prefer to bask in the glory of the gleaming sun, by all means go for the top floor. That balcony is a sun worshiper’s paradise. I’ll wave at you as you pass me on your way up…

Picturesque Seascapes
The ocean facing balconies are perfect places to sit and contemplate the serene beauty of the sea, and if you happen to be there late January to early March, it is a great spot to whale watch. Every year humpback whales travel from Alaska to Samana, DR to give birth, and Rio San Juan is en route. Many of the guests come around this time of year and sit on the couches with their binoculars and watch as the whales spout and break the surface of the water as they make their way.

Food and Drinks
The hotel serves breakfast and dinner daily. The breakfasts are simple, but good, with the option of basic morning dishes like toast, pancakes, and the like. Dinner is a bit more elaborate, with pastas, and other dishes that are pretty tasty. My favorite part of any meal is dessert, and they have the best flan on the island. But, you have to request it in advance. Lunch can be bought from several nearby cafes and cafeterias.

Observations Location and Contact Information
Most guests come to Bahía Blanca for the express purpose of quiet relaxation and don’t appreciate loud neighbors. So, if you’re looking for a good party, you might want to consider going elsewhere. However, if rest and relaxation is just what you have in mind, this is the place for you.
And don’t tell all your friends about it. I want to still be able to get my 2nd floor corner room when I go, so let’s keep this between us, okay?

Baía Blanca is located at the back of Gri-Gri lagoon. For further information, call them at 809-589-2563.

Security Block
I got to the airport early the next morning, walked down to the baggage x-ray machine, and stuck my bags on the conveyor belt, where the nice gentlemen started them on their journey through the machine with a smile. We passed the time it took for them to examine my bags with some small talk and then I was on my way.

Walking past the long line of passengers waiting to check-in bags and get their boarding passes, I continued toward the gate, giving myself a mental pat on the back for having the forethought to carry-on my luggage and print my own get-out-of-the-line-free pass. At the gate I handed the boarding pass to Rafael the security guard, he took it, and looked at it like it was some sort of foreign object he had never contemplated before. Which, I guess he hadn’t since he directed me to go and get a real one from the American Airlines (AA) desk.

I looked at the expanded line and quickly decided I’d rather not. Just as I started trying to think of what other options there were to consider, an AA attendant passed nearby, and I flagged her down. I explained my situation and smiled smugly (I’m sorry to admit) as she attended me back to the security guard and reprimanded him for not reading the memo that was sent out last month about printed boarding passes. He let me through, and I continued without incident through immigration and on to security.

Everything was fine at security until they opened up my bags and took away my curling iron, flat iron, and my deceased grandmother’s crochet hooks of tremendous sentimental value. I stood my ground, and insisted that they weren’t on the list. They said they had another list and showed it to me. The items were on theirs. Apparently, from what they explained to me, each country’s airport security has a different list than the airlines, and there are discrepancies between them. After some more discussion the head of security came and told me that he would let me have them if I could get a member of AA personnel to accompany me. I did, and they let me take it all on the plane.

If you are flying to (or through) the states, buy your duty free items after you get there because anything bought on foreign soil will get confiscated at the security gates if it’s not checked.

Lastly, you can print out your boarding pass without fear of Rafael – he got the memo.

Santiago Haitian Market

When to Go
The Haitian Open Market, or the Pulga (Flea Market) as it is known in Spanish, in Santiago is a great place to go and shop for retro clothing and other items. I love it for the clothes myself, since I always find something unique as I dig through the piles of colorful fabric that line the streets every Thursday.

The market starts at about 7:00am. If you are going to get nicer items or clothing, early is the best time to go, since no one has picked through everything yet. Dominican shop owners get there early too in order to buy “American brand clothing” in their little boutiques. So, if you wait too long there isn’t much left to choose from.

If you don’t care about the clothes or are just looking for random items, then going around 11am is good because they start to lower prices to sell off as much as they can before they have to pack back up and go to the next town. You’ll hear, “Diez pesos, todo a diez! (Ten pesos, everything for ten pesos!). I always go about then for household items because they are much less expensive.

Haitian Market vegetables

Clothes and shoes will vary. If the items are from the clothing tables that are from the donated clothing bundles, you will pay around $20.00-50.00 RD. Normally, you will hear each table owner calling out the prices of their table. If the vender has separated the better quality items from the bundles, it saves you from having to work so much, but will cost more – somewhere in the neighborhood of $100.00 RD. The price will vary a bit depending on how much you haggle, so keep that in mind.

See the map for the market’s exact location

Haitian Flea Market Map

Villa Antonia Hotel

If you are looking to go to the Dominican Republic for the beaches, which I am guessing you are, they are after all the Dominican Republic’s biggest attraction. One of the places you are likely to see on the map is Sosua. It is right next to one of the biggest airports in the country, the Puerta Plata airport.

Within about fifteen minutes after leaving the airport you can find yourself swimming in the warm tropical waters of Sasua.  With the benefits of being so close to the airport comes hefty price tag. Eating or sleeping in Sosua is where they’ll get you. If you just came from the States you see a steak for 15 bucks or a hotel room for 100 bucks, you probably think nothing of it. Sure it might be a tiny bit higher that what you would pay for in the states, but not that much.

Yep, You’re Getting Ripped

That’s just what they want  you to think. These prices are normal. But. There not. They know they can get it out of you so they do. The average Dominican doesn’t pay 100 bucks for rent a month. He pays about 15 dollars for a weeks food. He’s not going to pay those prices for things.

That’s just where the trick lies, find out where the Dominican’s go. The problem is you normally are not going to find those places on the internet, that’s where you find the places with money. You have to ask the locals.

It is possible to to find hotels for as little as 15 bucks a night. No, it is not just some shack in the middle of nowhere, some of them are pretty nice. You just have to know which ones. It also helps if you speak Spanish, that will probably cut your price in half. If you don’t, sorry you’re just going to have to live with it.

One place we went to that was reasonably priced was the hotel Villa Antonia. It is about a 10 -15 walk away from the beach and is close to many restaurants and stores.

As you can see in the picture it is just big house divided into different rooms.  Going inside, it a nice welcoming feel to it. It was well decorated and felt like a nice home. There were many places to hang out, with lounge chairs, couches, decks, a swimming pool and even free WiFi.

The inside room our group had was very nice. It had a Full sized bed, TV, refrigerator, had plenty of room to move around in. It also was nicely decorated and had a very homey feel to it.

Can’t say the same for the outside room. It was much more cramped and shared a bathroom with another room. It had a full sized bed and a single bed. The single bed was nice enough, but the full sized was hard as a rock. Thankfully it had fans, but the light didn’t even work.

Over all I would say I would go back, it was a very nice place, but if all they have left is the outside rooms, I’m walking. It came a decent price of $30 a room. If you think you might be interested in staying there you can contact them with the following number.

Villa Antonia
Sosua
(809) 571-1039

Sosua Beach Hotels

Sosua is a small town on the North Shore of the Dominican Republic about 25 miles from the city of Puerto Plata and only a few miles from the Puerto Plata International airport. Being that it is much closer to the Puerto Plata Airport than the city of Puerto Plata is, it is the logical choice when choosing a hotel near where you are flying in. My family has chosen this as our favorite beach so far in our travels in the DR.

It is only a few minutes walk from most of the hotels to the beach. The walk is a perfect opportunity to fill a small ice chest with a few things before heading to the beach. While there are many stores right at the beach, as well as restaurants and just about everything else, we have found that the prices for bottles of beer, water and other items are about double once you touch the sand so you might as well carry in your first round or two.

This beach has plenty of shade trees lining the beach giving you places to get out of the hotter noonday sun, while still being right near the water. Unlike Boca Chica beach if you want to use the lounge chairs on the beach you have to pay for them as well as buying drinks from the guy that will be serving you. Now this isn’t necessarily a real bad thing, but it is a good idea to negotiate before you sit down. Typically, if they are not too filled up you can negotiate just buying one drink per lounge chair and not also paying for the chair, but work that out ahead of time.

Presidente (one of the top beers) is about $80 pesos (a little over $2.00 USD) for the small and about $120 (about $3.00 USD) for the large. They give you small plastic cups to drink from so you can share. If you don’t plan on either chugging the beer or sharing it, I would advise the small. Who wants to drink warm beer (ok other than you Germans in the crowd).

Prices are always negotiable, especially if they have many rooms open. Don’t be shy about asking for a lower rate. Here is a list of Hotels in Sosua:

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:

Overall Flight time: Most of the flights (perhaps all Jet Blues flight) go to JFK and then down to the DR. While it would seem like the less direct rout of heading north to New York and then down to the DR would add to the travel time. When you count in the additional layovers that seem inevitable with American Airlines along with the much longer layover times our trip can take as much as 10 hours less.

Airport lines: While you still have the same lines when going through customs, so far every trip we have taken, the airline lines have always been shorter and mover faster with Jet Blue.

Comfortable seats: Some of the seats we’ve had with American Airlines have been comfortable enough, however several of their planes are designed with much shorter occupants in mind. My knees are jammed into the seat in front of me. Jet Blue planes offer far more leg room and the seats are more comfortable.

Entertainment: With American, you are pretty well stuck with whatever movie they offer. Jet Blue has individual TV screens on the back of every seat. Each person chooses their own program from a large list of channels including music channels. I personally also liked the Jet Blue channel, yah it’s mostly advertisements, but the part I liked was the GPS of the plane that comes up every couple of minutes. You can actually track where you are over the US, how fast you are going, and what your altitude is. Probably not every important, but I found it to be interesting to check out.

Snacks: They are never too large, but at least with Jet Blue you get a choice. Several types of chips, cookies and other small items, instead of just getting the bag of whatever tossed in front of you. You also get a variety of different sodas, ice teas etc. Then of course there is the overpriced “Paid food” we didn’t opt for to pay for the extra, neither did any of the passengers near us so I can’t voice for the quality, with either, the price seemed pretty steep for what they were offering though.

Well, there is nothing really any airline can do to make 12-14 hours in a plane something to look forward to (maybe that’s different if you are in first class), but so far for my family Jet Blue is the clear winner.

Costera Restaurant

Burgers, oh yeaaaaah. When you think of a classic American meal very things if any beat a big juicy burger with a hefty serving of fries. You might be happy to know that it is not all yucca and plantains in the Dominican Republic. You can find the classic meal we all know and love too. You just need to know where to look.

We have found such a place. It is called La Costera (Translates: The Coastal). It is located in downtown Sosua, about a half mile from the beach.

First looking at La Costera, didn’t look like much. Nothing fancy, but it looked like a nice clean little sit down place. It was outdoors with a roof over it, which was great to get the nice cool evening breeze.

To be quite honest what really attracted us was the menu. It was posted on a small billboard type arrangement, including all the prices. They had hamburgers, fries, steak and other stuff us foreigners are used to.

And it was a pretty decent price 120 pesos (about $3.50) for a burger and 200 pesos (about $5.50) for the steak. So we decided to go with it, as we sat down we were reassured by a Dutch fellow sitting next to us that this is the best place to eat in Sosua.

Now I can’t verify that statement because I have not been to half the restaurants in Sosua, but I can say it was one of the best burgers I had in my entire life.

Costera Burger

The Beast

The biggest surprise was when they came out with the burger. I have never seen a burger that big in my entire life. I am expecting something small, maybe a quarter pounder. I am used to US menus. Where if the have a quarter pound of beef on the burger they going to brag on it for days, how it is made with a quarter pound of the finest Angus beef and things of that nature.

This menu said nothing of the sort all it said was a bacon cheeseburger with everything on it. But when this thing came out, I was quite surprised. There was no less than a half-pound of beef on this bad boy.

Everybody that knows me knows I have a big mouth, but it was not fitting around this burger. Don’t get me wrong I certainly tried, but very much so unsuccessfully. In the end the burger got the best of me and I wound up eating the beast like a prissy man, fork in one hand and knife in the other.

Not only was this monster of a burger huge. But the flavor was also astounding. I have absolutely no complaints about this burger. One of the best I have ever had.

Other Foods

If you are not a big beef fan, you might be happy know that they have a delicious chicken burger. Not with the same magnitude as the classic beef, but a tender, sizeable portion with excellent flavor.

The French fries were good. Nothing special, just your typical French Fries, but I don’t have any complaints.

Overall I was very satisfied with La Costera. Which was not only very good, but quite reasonable too. I paid 200 pesos (about $5.50) for my whole meal, which included a vegetable soup appetizer, the massive burger, fries and a coke.

With the price and the quality I would definitely go back and venture to say it is probably one of best deals in Sosua.

You can find it at Pedro Clisante 32, Sosua and you can reach them by telephone with the following number 809-571-4447.

Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration

Santiago de los Trienta Caballeros (Saint James of the Knights) is located in the northern region of the Dominican Republic and has several places that are definitely worth visiting. As a resident of this fair city, I’m always open for places to go, and the Santiago Monument is one I would recommend for anyone who finds themselves here looking for something to do.

A Local Hot Spot
Situated on the corner of Avenida Francia and Las Carreras, the monument is a popular place. After any event of Dominican note, (like when Martha Heredia won the Latin American Idol, Amelia Vega won Miss Universe, or whenever the local Aguilas baseball team wins), the monument is where everyone heads to celebrate. The whole downtown area is impassable during these occasions, and it is probably wise to avoid the whole general area if you don’t want to get caught up in the chaos.

History
Designed by the architect Henry Gazón Bona and built by the dictator Rafael Liónidas Trujillo in the 1940’s, it was originally named “The Monument of Peace from Trujillo” in his own ego inflated honor. Standing 70mt (229ft) tall, it was crowned by a statue of Trujillo mounted on a horse, and the 365 stairs that lead to the top were set to represent the fact that Trujillo cared for his people every day of the year. That would seem to be a somewhat ominous message considering how he cared for them…

After his assassination, in 1961, his statue was torn down and the name of the monument was changed to honor the heroes who restored the country’s independence from Spain in the War of Restoration of the 1860’s.

Recently, in a process that took over a year, the structure was remodeled inside and out.

The Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration

The interior it is now a museum to the heroes of the restoration, containing statues and other works of art that commemorate Dominican heroes. The statues depict the different restoration heroes, one of the great musician and Navarete native Ñico Lora, and an area reserved for the great baseball players of the local Aguilas (Eagles) team. Among the art displayed are scenes from the 1863-1865 Restoration War battles.

Special attention was given to landscaping the gardens that surround the monument, planting trees, flowers, and other plants that are indigenous to the country. Before it was kind of sparsely landscaped and unattractive, but now it is quite nice.

A Magnificent View
If you have the stamina to go up a year’s worth of stairs you will find one of the most beautiful views of the city. On a nice clear day you can see from the historic Hermanos Patiño bridge all the way to the León Jimenez Museum on the other side of the city. So, make sure you have your camera with you and didn’t leave it in the car, because you don’t want to have to “run down” 365 stairs to get it!