The Bad news: They seem to have some issues getting it configured properly. Hopefully that will improve in the future.

There are a variety of ways to get an Internet connection. Which one you choose will depend on the speed you need, how long you wish to have it, and how much you are willing to pay.

Hotels: If you’re just staying for a couple weeks it is best to choose a hotel with WiFi. Many of the hotels and “All Inclusive Resorts” offer this to their guests. You can ask before booking your hotel to see if they offer this, but it is unlikely they will be able to tell you how fast it will be. The Internet is pretty new here and not many people seem to understand bandwidth.

There are other options…..

Internet Cafés: You will find many WiFi Hotspots in almost every town and city you go to. Most are small one-room shops where they may be packing in a large number of people. Some are true “Cafés” like you would expect in the United States and Europe giving you separate tables and offering coffee and other items, most are just small packed rooms where they have set up a bunch of computers on long tables around the room and share a 2-3 Mb Internet connection.

Services like Skype and MagicJack will work if there are not too many people, but start to have problems when there are more than 2-4 people in the Café. One person doing a large download can keep you from using Skype or MagicJack successfully.

If you don’t have a computer, most of these “Cafés” have ones to offer you. After you have finished checking your mail etc. be sure to go into the browser on the computer and delete the history and any passcodes that may have been saved.

Use your own equipment: Another choice is to you’re your own equipment and get a temporary Internet phone plan with one of the local providers. If you have a Blackberry or IPhone it is pretty easy to go into one of the providers (Claro seems to have the best range) pay about $5 to get a new mini sim chip to put in your phone and sign up for a plan.

If your Internet capable phone is from the United States it is very likely you will need to have your phone “unlocked”. This is a simple programming procedure, while they can’t unlock it in any of the phone shops, they will be able to send you to a shop (usually nearby) that can provide the service for about $10. Unlocking your phone simply means making it capable of being used by a provider outside of the United States

Getting an Internet capable phone (Blackberry, IPhone etc) to work to provide your computer an Internet connection can be a little more difficult in the Dominican Republic. While it is Common in the US using the same equipment, it does require being set up properly and most of the shops in the Dominican Republic seem to be unable to do this right. It is probably best to go to one of the large stores in Santo Domingo or Santiago to get your phone set up. You can read my story about my efforts to get it done at Dominican Republic Internet.

Calypso Beach Hotel

The Calypso Hotel is a smaller hotel located about a 5-minute walk from Boca Chica’s beach. While walking to the beach from the hotel you walk down streets lined with some of the local artwork most of it having an island flavor to it and also quite good.

One of the advantages of having the hotel a little ways away from the beach is that it is also a little ways from the very noisy Calle Duarte (Duarte street) where most of the Boca Chica nightlife is centered around. It would be hard to call anywhere in the Dominican Republic “quiet” but the small distance from the particularly loud areas help.

One of the main highlights of this charming little hotel are the employees. We got to know several of them pretty well in our stay; all are friendly and do their best to make your stay enjoyable. If you stop by, say hi to Andreas, Rafael and Rosa for us! The staff also goes to great efforts to make sure that the hotel is clean at all times. The pool and the patio areas are well maintained and comfortable.

Calypso Pool

The building itself is an older building that they appear to improving regularly, at this point the rooms are not in the same state of repair that you would find in a new building but the design and age of the hotel is part of what gives it it’s charm. While clean, expect the bathrooms to be a little worn with an appearance of age. The beds were comfortable and each room had air conditioning, color TV with cable, and Wifi.

Each room (that I seen) has it’s own balcony overlooking the pool or the street in front of the hotel. Personally I like the ones overlooking the street. There always seems to be something going on out there and it is usually rather entertaining to us foreigners. Don’t forget the mosquito repellant though. You will want it whenever you go out in the evenings and likely when you go to bed at night.

The security is good, there is always a guard outside the front door and watching over the cars. There is also an eating area where you can relax at the table and snack on something you picked up at one of the local mercados or stores.

This hotel review was based on my last visit to the Calypso Hotel on 12/20/09.

Calypso Beach Hotel
Caracol Esq 20, Boca Chica,
República Dominicana
(809) 523-4666

View From Room

Calypso Hotel Patio