Dominican Republic

Visited: March 2012, July 2014, February 2016

Duration of visit: 14 days

Capital city: Santo Domingo

Population: 10.3 million (2016)

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

• Spectacular whale watching in Sanctuary of the Humpback Whales.
• Exploring fabulous beaches on a scooter around Samaná peninsula: Playa Rincon, Las Terrenas, Cabarete.
• Santo Domingo – first permanent European settlement and the biggest metropolis of Caribbean.
• Family trip to Punta Cana and Santo Domingo.
• Business meetings and looking for the right connection.

Famous explorer Christopher Columbus discovered the island whilst working for the Spanish Crown in 1492. He named it La Isla Espanola and later called it by the Latin name of Hispaniola.

The Dominican Republic is the most visited country in the Caribbean with over 6 million visitors each year and captures over 20% of the total Caribbean tourism market.

The country is famous not only for beautiful the beaches, but also for merengue and bachata – the tropical, rhythmic music, and baseball – there are over 100 players of Dominican origin across American professional baseball leagues.

I visited Dominican Republic on three occasions with different purposes and in a different way:

• As a businessman to hold meetings regarding projects of security documents in Santo Domingo (2012).
• I spent four days in a beach resort in Punta Cana and a day in the capital Santo Domingo in a family trip with two small kids (2014).
• As a backpacker, I travelled around the island by local transport and rented a scooter to take advantage of good weather and flexibility to stop at various villages, beaches or attractive spots (2016).

The Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. Both territories were part of the same country approximately 200 years ago. They are worlds apart these days. Dominican Republic is a perfect destination for those who want to enjoy the beach and, at the same time, stay close to a big – modern city which offers all advantages of city life.

Stunning coastlines, a multitude of visitors, nice and green countryside, perfect climate, amazing whale watching opportunities, excellent food, wi-fi on long distance buses … are some of the features to expect.

The most memorable aspect of my experience was riding a motorbike along the stunning sandy beaches, tasting delicious seafood, talking to friendly locals …. until the motorbike broke down … and the easy-going local lifestyle magically solved the problem.

When I crossed the border from Haiti to Dominican Republic, the contrast was visible immediately. Spanish language, different – mestizos’ population, higher standard of living, better infrastructure and much more comfort to travel at lower costs.

The immigration officer was skeptical about the reason why I would visit Haiti.

“I am a backpacker, visiting Haiti and Dominican Republic on the same trip,” was the most honest explanation I could offer.

He just laughed back and answered: “I understand you backpacking around Dominican Republic, but visiting Haiti!”.

We just laughed to each other and I kindly nodded to him, understanding what his opinion on the neighboring country was.

After gaining independence from France, Haiti would become one of the poorest countries in the Americas, while the Dominican Republic has developed into one of the largest economies of Central America and the Caribbean.

My first stop in Dominican Republic was the second-largest city, Santiago de los Caballeros, in the north of the country. Santiago de los Caballeros was among the first European settlements in the Americas; an important strategic city in the Dominican War of Independence. The culture-rich city boasts an enviable collection of historic buildings and monuments, backed by fascinating history of war and trade.

Downtown is nicely renovated with some interesting churches, a cathedral, a park and museums. Monumento a los Heroes de la Restauracion is one of the most prominent landmarks in the city. Originally built by dictator Rafael Trujillo in his own honor, the eight-story edifice was later rededicated to the brave Dominican soldiers who fought for independence against Haiti.

My main objective of this trip was elsewhere, but it is good to understand history and politics before heading to the beach!

There is only one reason to visit Samaná; whale watching from January to March attracts more than 45,000 visitors every year. I had approached whales before in Panama, but the amount of the biggest mammals that is possible to spot in Samanà, is really high.

A visit to the Sanctuary of the Humpback Whales in Samaná is one of the most beautiful excursions in the Dominican Republic. About 2,000 humpback whales come to reproduce in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Whales come to give birth to their little ones because the whalebone, when born, has too thin layer of fat to withstand cold waters for up to a year. After giving birth to their babies, the whales prepare their return to the north. Since 1986, this underwater platform of coral origin with an average depth of 20 meters, called Banco de Plata, has become a sanctuary for the protection of whales.

It is pretty easy to spot whales on a tour boat and it is 100% guaranteed that in the period from January to March you will definitely spot a few. During our trip, we spotted 3 whales that came very close to the boat, and another dozen that were identified from a medium distance.

I didn’t see the whales jumping out of the water and almost flying through the air, as the most spectacular photos in the agency, but it was still extremely interesting to observe parts of the body, fins and tails of this huge mammals.

I rented a motorbike to pay a visit to one of the top listed beached in Dominican Republic – Playa Rincon. The motorbike was not in perfect conditions, but I didn’t have many options or time to wait for another day.

After two hours and many stops on the way to observe the beautiful nature of Samaná peninsula, I arrived to Playa Rincon; very remote and not so easy to access on a winding road up and down hills. I enjoyed a swim, a snack and rest under a palm tree.

Life is a beach in Dominican Republic!

For most part of the day I appreciated docile and calm waters of the bay. Five kilometers of pristine, undeveloped white sand beach line bay of calm turquoise waters, peppered with coconut trees, casual restaurants and only few people, who were nicely distributed along the beach. The fish for lunch was fresh, fries just right and coconut chilled over ice.

On the way back my motorbike started to predict troubles. I had problems starting the engine, when driving uphill the engine was losing the power. I was lucky to stop just in front of one of the plenty mechanical workshops along the road. It was getting late and cool in the afternoon and I was not dressed up properly to drive at night.

I called the rental agency and they sent a car to pick me up since the mechanic was not able to fix my motorbike and the workshop was closing down. We loaded my motorbike on the back of the pick-up and arrived back to Samaná when it was already dark.

The next morning, I rented a new scooter, which was part of the compensation package after the previous day breakdown. A warm morning with sunshine and delicious breakfast were forecasting a beautiful day. Traditional Dominican breakfast filled me up with energy: boiled and mashed green plantains (mangú) with eggs, fried cheese and bread, accompanied with orange juice, were delicious.

Cascada Limón waterfall is a kind of a tourist trap on the way to one of the nearby beaches.

It is promoted as an adventure that takes you on a 2.5-kilometer journey through thick forest, on horseback or on foot down lush hilly terrain, while spotting flora and fauna along the way.

There were too many people along the path to notice the nature or spot any animals. A wide swimming hole under Limón cascade, which drops 52 meters from the top of Sierra de Samaná, was packed with loud visitors. Many people arrived on horses that could be rented just off the main road. With all the noise, screaming and extensive group of people I didn’t appreciate it that much.

I chose to proceed north on my scooter to explore the coastal town Las Terrenas. It is a popular destination for a weekend beach break for foreign visitors, as well as for locals living in Santo Domingo. The concept of the town is very different from all-inclusive hotels’ areas such as Punta Cana, where the beach access is practically allowed only to hotel guests.

Here, in Las Terrenas area, various beaches around the town are easily accessible, while many small hotels, guesthouses, restaurants and bars are located a little bit off the sea. I parked just off the road, had a swim and lunch in an improvised restaurant.

No luxury, but delicious simply prepared shrimps with rice under coconut palm on sandy beach with a fantastic view of the turquoise sea.

There is nothing more that I could ask for.

It was for the second time in my life that I stayed in an all-inclusive hotel. The main reason being that with small kids this could be the best option to really enjoy the beach.

We choose a 4-stars hotel with typical package that this kind of accommodation can offer: all you can eat buffet style restaurant, swimming pools, beautiful sandy beach, free alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, and entertainment for the kids. This was a winner, since cocktails were really good, with high quality ingredients and non-alcoholic version available also for my kids.

Drinking piña colada and playing in the water was definitely cool. The beach was nice, but covered with harmless seaweed in the morning that after hours of hard work employees finally managed to remove from the beach. The night show was genuine and unique every night that we stayed there.

For the second half of the trip we decided to visit Santo Domingo. I had a business meeting with one of the biggest IT companies in Dominican Republic, we were slowly discovering The Old Town with emphasis on kids’ friendly locations: ice-cream stops, pigeons feeding in front of cathedrals, car toys racing on beach promenade and simply observing every day activities of Dominicanos. It is incredibly inexpensive to afford any activity for kids.

Santo Domingo became the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas and it is now the oldest continuously inhabited city and the first seat of the Spanish colonial rule in the New World.

Santo Domingo is not only the capital and the biggest city of Dominican Republic, but also the largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean with a population of approximately 3 million people. The city’s Colonial Zone was declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The Cathedral of Santa María la Menor in the Colonial City is the oldest Cathedral in the Americas; the construction begun in 1504 and it was completed in 1550.

We also visited IKEA store. As of 2014, It is interesting that outside of the USA and Canada, on American continent, IKEA is only located in Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Since we were living in Panama at that time, it was kind of fun to visit IKEA after a long time. The parents left the kids in the store’s playground and walked around freely for an hour.

Through the years I have been in contact with various companies and businessmen of Dominican Republic. Due to a rather big population and size of the country, the competition and presence of international companies is much bigger than anywhere else in the Caribbean.

Local people are well trained, professional and knowledgeable, with a typical Latino attitude, which often reflects in delays or informal way of agreements. If you are not patient or ready to wait for the right opportunity for a long time, the chances for success in Dominican Republic are very limited.

As well as anywhere else in the region, if you want to do serious business operation, a strong, well positioned and well-connected local partner is a must.

A bunch of families run the largest business operations, know each other, compete and, if necessary, also cooperate. The access to them is difficult, but it is a prerequisite for success.

Dominican Republic is a perfect destination to enjoy beach, nature, history and city life. Apart from all inclusive hotels and exclusive semi-closed beaches, there are many opportunities to really connect with locals and join them in the areas where foreigners are in minority.

Baseball, merengue, bachata, beaches and home to Christopher Columbus’s first New World landing point in 1492, are trademarks of the Eastern part of Hispaniola island. People know how to treat foreigners, infrastructure is great, seafood taste delicious and travelling is inexpensive.

These are some of the reasons why I classify Dominican Republic, next to Cuba, as my favorite destination in the Caribbean.