Travel - Down in the DR

I know that it has been over 2 weeks since we got back, but my feeling is that it is better late than never so here I am with an entry. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about Joanna and I took a little vacation earlier this month to the Dominican Republic. We left Philadelphia International on Friday, June 9 and returned 5 days later on Wednesday, having spent 4 full days relaxing in the Caribbean sun (typically with a drink in hand). Having never been there before I had some obvious worries, ranging from food and water to the weather (it was their supposed rainy season), but after coming back I find myself hard pressed to come up with any complaints.

Our vacation was spent at the Viva Wyndam Dominicus Palace, found just outside of La Romana in the southern part of the Dominican. We found and booked the resort online with a package that was all-inclusive and very affordable (The Dominican is probably the most affordable vacation destination among the Caribbean islands). By all-inclusive I mean that upon arrival we placed our wallets in the room’s safe and excluding a snorkeling trip they were left there the entire time. Everything from the flight, to transportation to and from the hotel, the room, food, drinks, and entertainment were all included and we had no issues with anything.

The resort itself was absolutely gorgeous, as you can see from the pictures I’ve included, and right on the beach. That is where we spent most of our day just lounging with drinks from the poolside bar or swimming in the sea. Our room was less stunning perhaps, but very clean and comfortable, (all I was really looking for) and the balcony with a gorgeous view of the resort was a nice bonus. The food, likewise, may have been disappointing if you were looking for 4 stars, but we were more than happy, with the dinners especially at restaurants ranging from Italian to Mexican and a grille.

Before arriving we had talked about taking a day trip to Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital, but we ended up being very happy spending the entire trip at the resort and on the beach without worrying about the hastle of busing into and around the city. The one exception was the last day when we took the above mentioned snorkeling trip. It was actually my very first time snorkeling and a very cool experience. The highlight for the excursion was obviously snorkeling on the reef as well as in a natural pool that was home to a number of starfish, but we were also brought to visit a few small, nearby islands. All very gorgeous.

The following day we headed back to Philadelphia and as I said before, there really isn't anything I could think of worth complaining about with the trip, except maybe that it ended too quickly. We had a great time and even the weather was perfect, minus a brief downpour and thunderstorm Tuesday night.

That said I would note a couple of things for anyone thinking about going. One is that it is a major European travel destination and you shouldn’t expect to hear much English spoken while there, though the majority of the staff seemed to speak at least some English. It certainly helps if you have some understanding of Spanish, but completely unnecessary. Second, it is probably not a great place for singles looking to meet people, but it is a great resort for couples and families. And personally I think it would be a great place for a group of friends to get together (note for future). Hard to beat a place where you can drink for free all day and night on the beach, swim in the Caribbean, and play some volleyball, water polo, etc.

Now I’ll leave you with some pictures and with that, Hasta pronto.