The Dominican Republic (La República Dominicana)

Our party of six traveled to the Dominican Republic (La República Dominicana) for eight nights this past week (late June into early July) during the seemingly overblown online angst regarding health safety in the Dominican Republic. One of our party of six had lived in "the D.R." for two years, but it was the first time in that nation for the rest of us and we all loved the experience!

I intend to publish several blog posts about our experiences in the Dominican Republic.

We lodged at the Dreams Dominicus La Romana for the entire time we were there and absolutely loved it. It was a great location for activities starting in Bayahibe and gave us easiest access to the postcard-worthy Saona Island and Catalina Island.

With eight nights in the Bayahibe-based resort, we had seven full days in the Dominican Republic (the day before the first night and the day after the last night were largely travel days). Of the seven full days, we spent two of them (one toward the beginning of the trip and one toward the end of the trip) participating in activities within the resort. For the other five full days, we ventured outside of the resort. These are the things we were able to see and do while in the DR for the first time (for most of us):

• Resort Days
• Saona Island (speedboat departed from Bayahibe)
• Catalina Island (catamaran departed from Bayahibe)
• Bavaro Splash: Speedboats and Snuba (activity in Bavaro/Punta Cana)
• Tres Ojos National Park and Santo Domingo
• Bayahibe Submarine and Snorkeling

We flew into and out of the Punta Cana International Airport. I will be covering some airport details and other tips and observations related to our Dominican Republic trip in a separate blog post.

We're already missing the DR! We'd love to return to the Bayahibe area and Dreams Dominicus La Romana again because they were fabulous, but we'd also love to see parts of the Dominican Republic that we did not get to see on this initial trip (such as Rio Chavon near La Romana, Haitises National Park, Altos de Chavón, Santiago de los Caballeros, Pico Duarte, San Felipe de Puerto Plata, Salto El Limón and 27 Charcos/27 Waterfalls, and Amber Cove.