Bret and I spent seven full days in the sun and sand last week. The Dominican Republic was absolutely amazing. So here's the story:
We flew into Santo Domingo. Easy flight - Savannah to ATL. to Santo Domingo. The Viva Wyndham Palace (our resort) is about 1.5 hours from the airport. So instead of being smart Americans and taking dependable ground transportation to the resort, Bret and I decided to RENT A CAR. What? Yup -that's right - we drove in the Dominican. Even after EVERY website and blog said "please stupid Americans, do not drive in our country - there are no rules of the road." And they're correct. NO RULES. We dodged potholes that were bigger than our car and deeper than the french drain Bret built in the backyard. Motorcycles popping out of nowhere and cutting you off at every pass. We thought we were being adventurous and would explore outside our resort in our vehicle, but really - we were just dumbasses. So after 2 hours and getting lost in La Romana, we finally made it to the Viva resort.
We were shown to our room - a third floor balcony room overlooking the beach. Cute room with amazing views. We explored the resort and found so much we liked, and little that we disliked. The beach is amazing - you could walk out in the clear blue water for nearly 100 yards before you couldn't touch any longer. Kayaks, Sunfish, snorkeling, and windsurfing - all available right off the beach at the sports "hut." There were multiple pools with multiple bars that served me many multiple rum punches throughout our stay.
One thing I must mention is that the resort is Italian-owned, so 85% of the guest are....Italian! 10% are French and the rest are...well...a mix of Dutch, Canadian, and lastly...American. We met a GREAT couple down there - Matt and Laura. They were good Southerners from SC and were on their honeymoon. My broken Spanish got us through a few rough spots, but otherwise we felt like we were in Europe - and we LOVED it!
The food was....okay. Mostly Dominicans trying to cater to Italians - lots of pasta, bread, and cookies. You could absolutely count on a carb coma everyday at lunch. Which wasn't so bad since everyone took a siesta anyway.
There are 4 restaurants and three buffets on the property (did I mention this was our first all-inclusive??). Anyone who knows me, knows my stomach issues - but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. And the toilet flushed efficiently (not like the Bret "incident" in Mexico last year).
Every night, the hotel hosted "Animacion" which was a show put on at a big theater on the sister property right next door. The animation staff worked their tails off and were quite entertaining.
BUT, the highlight of our trip, was def. the trapeze. OMG, I was like a giddy schoolgirl - flying through the air, over and over again. The video on youtube is pretty hilarious.
So, after a week, we got back in our rental car that we never used and made the harrowing trip back to Santo Domingo. We stopped at these cool caves on the way and didn't get killed while the kids on the side of the road washed our car at a stoplight and pounded on our windows for money (lock the door Bret!!!).
If you're looking for a vacation - the DR is really amazing. It's inexpensive, easy to get to and just plain beautiful. We'll absolutely return. And we won't rent a car.
We flew into Santo Domingo. Easy flight - Savannah to ATL. to Santo Domingo. The Viva Wyndham Palace (our resort) is about 1.5 hours from the airport. So instead of being smart Americans and taking dependable ground transportation to the resort, Bret and I decided to RENT A CAR. What? Yup -that's right - we drove in the Dominican. Even after EVERY website and blog said "please stupid Americans, do not drive in our country - there are no rules of the road." And they're correct. NO RULES. We dodged potholes that were bigger than our car and deeper than the french drain Bret built in the backyard. Motorcycles popping out of nowhere and cutting you off at every pass. We thought we were being adventurous and would explore outside our resort in our vehicle, but really - we were just dumbasses. So after 2 hours and getting lost in La Romana, we finally made it to the Viva resort.
We were shown to our room - a third floor balcony room overlooking the beach. Cute room with amazing views. We explored the resort and found so much we liked, and little that we disliked. The beach is amazing - you could walk out in the clear blue water for nearly 100 yards before you couldn't touch any longer. Kayaks, Sunfish, snorkeling, and windsurfing - all available right off the beach at the sports "hut." There were multiple pools with multiple bars that served me many multiple rum punches throughout our stay.
One thing I must mention is that the resort is Italian-owned, so 85% of the guest are....Italian! 10% are French and the rest are...well...a mix of Dutch, Canadian, and lastly...American. We met a GREAT couple down there - Matt and Laura. They were good Southerners from SC and were on their honeymoon. My broken Spanish got us through a few rough spots, but otherwise we felt like we were in Europe - and we LOVED it!
The food was....okay. Mostly Dominicans trying to cater to Italians - lots of pasta, bread, and cookies. You could absolutely count on a carb coma everyday at lunch. Which wasn't so bad since everyone took a siesta anyway.
There are 4 restaurants and three buffets on the property (did I mention this was our first all-inclusive??). Anyone who knows me, knows my stomach issues - but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. And the toilet flushed efficiently (not like the Bret "incident" in Mexico last year).
Every night, the hotel hosted "Animacion" which was a show put on at a big theater on the sister property right next door. The animation staff worked their tails off and were quite entertaining.
BUT, the highlight of our trip, was def. the trapeze. OMG, I was like a giddy schoolgirl - flying through the air, over and over again. The video on youtube is pretty hilarious.
So, after a week, we got back in our rental car that we never used and made the harrowing trip back to Santo Domingo. We stopped at these cool caves on the way and didn't get killed while the kids on the side of the road washed our car at a stoplight and pounded on our windows for money (lock the door Bret!!!).
If you're looking for a vacation - the DR is really amazing. It's inexpensive, easy to get to and just plain beautiful. We'll absolutely return. And we won't rent a car.
