96 hours in the Dominican Republic <3
We flew from SFO to JFK to STI. We rented a car and drove about an hour or two to Puerto Plata. My friend is from the Dominican so he knew how to drive though the crazy streets of Santiago and all the way to Puerto Plata. I can only compare the style of driving to Mexico City… no rules, no rookies.
WHERE TO STAY: The Confresi Palm Beach Resort. This was my first time staying in an all inclusive resort. I always thought that staying at a resort would be boring and one would run out of things to do AND you don’t get an authentic experience of the city. But this resort changed my mind. The Confresi has so many different locations within the resort, you need to take a little shuttle to get to each area. There was beach access, endless amount of pools with endless drinks, a casino, restaurants, clubs and buffets. It was nice to have everything there and not having to figure out where to go.
WHAT TO PACK: I hate being cold on the plane, so I tend to dress warm. Wearing leggings isn’t ideal when stepping off the aircraft in STI. It was so humid and all I wanted to do was rip off my leggings to put on shorts. I would recommend changing before arriving or having a change of clothes early assessable to change into when you arrive. In my suitcase I overpacked dresses, skirts, off the shoulder tops, sandals, my sony camera, go pro, a hat and bathing suits. We stopped at a market to buy sunblock, after sun aloe vera, and snack for the road.
WHAT TO DO: On the beach you need to buy a pineapple and a coconut drink from the locals. They crush the fruit and poor rum into either fruit, poor some ice and top it off with a straw. Your life will forever be changed!.
Besides eating, beaching and drinking, we also went waterfall jumping, and hermit crab searching. My Go Pro died after day one and I lost my charging cord somewhere along the trip. So I couldn’t capture the beauty of the waterfalls and the hike through the jungle. Damajagua Falls contains 27 waterfalls and each trail has a different level of intensity. We did a moderate trial. I jumped off one waterfall and chickened out not the second ( I hate the falling feeling). The rest of the way down were natural water slides, some were scary but I did them anyways. The hike included transportation to and from the hotel, drinks after the hike and a tour to a shop where men hand made cigars. We got a free cigar and we got to choose from different flavors.
We also checked out an old castle that was built by the Spanish years ago. Theres a staircase that leads to the ocean, this is where you can find so many hermit crabs!
And last but not least, when on the road stop by the fruit stand that are off the road and pick up mangos and ice cold coconut water! Make sure you ask for it cold, its the best thirst quenching drink you can have in the heat.
Leave a Reply