November 9 - November 17 2024.
I had some vacation days that I hadn't used. The year was coming to an end soon. Rather than lose my vacation days I took a short trip to the Dominican Republic. I landed in Puerto Plata and bumped along the north coast. I took carro publicos to Sosua and then Cabarete. I stayed in Cabarete for a couple of nights and then worked my way across the north coast, ending with 3 nights in beautiful Las Terrenas.
It rained in Puerto Plata and Cabarete, but never for the whole day. The north coast beaches are beautiful with nice surf. I ate lunch in a giant Sosua sports bar. Cabarete has gone upscale since I was there a million years ago. The beach bars are nicer and the vibe is different. Still love that beach though. It rained when I was planning to go to Playa Grande. But my bus passed by and it is still magnificent. Undeveloped. Nagua looked ok. There are beaches, but they look dirty, unmanaged.
The highlight of the trip was definitely Las Terrenas. I stayed about 100 feet off of Playa las Ballenas, about a ten or twelve minute walk from the town center. A great little hotel with wonderful breakfasts and a nice pool area. Hotel Coco Plaza. I would definitely recommend it.
Las Terrenas has grown a lot but Las Ballenas is still a beautiful beach. I developed a routine. I enjoyed included hotel breakfast. Open menu. Great coffee. Then spending spending mornings and afternoons on the beach. And evenings by the pool, always had it to myself. I ate lunch at a little place that made chicken wraps and juice. And dinner at Empanadas y Mas, a four table dinner place next to the hotel run by a nice family. My waitress was the 12-year old daughter. After dinner I had a beer or two at the hotel and then walked along the beach into town.
There was an air conditined sports bar with 18-20 year old kids working as bartenders. There was an open air bar catering to ex-pats. And there was a restaurant-bar where I met the husband and wife owners. Nice people who I talked to for a while one night. The next day I saw them working at their other place over on Playa Ballenas. Hard workers.
I was sorry to leave Las Terrenas. My last night in the Dominican Republic was anti climatic. I had an early morning flight from Santo Domingo airport so I took a bus in from Las Terrenas the afternoon prior and stayed in Boca Chica. I'd never been there before. The beach isn't great. Easy to get a bite and beer though.
