November 9 - November 17, 2024.
I had some vacation days that I hadn't used, and 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 carros públicos to Sosúa and then Cabarete. I stayed in Cabarete for a couple of nights and then worked my way across the north coast, ending with three 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 Sosúa sports bar. Cabarete has gone upscale since I was there a million years ago. The beach bars are nicer and the vibe is different. I still love that beach, though. It rained when I was planning to go to Playa Grande. I'll catch that next time. Nagua looked okay. There are beaches, but they look dirty and unmanaged.
The highlight of the trip was definitely Las Terrenas. I stayed about 100 feet off Playa Las Ballenas, about a ten- or twelve-minute walk from the town center, at a great little hotel with wonderful breakfasts and a nice pool area: Hotel Coco Plaza. I recommend it.
Las Terrenas has grown a lot, but Las Ballenas is still a beautiful beach. I developed a routine: I enjoyed the included hotel breakfast—open menu, great coffee—then spent mornings and afternoons on the beach, and evenings by the pool, which I always had to myself. I ate lunch at a little place that made chicken wraps and juice, and dinner at Empanadas y Más, 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-conditioned sports bar with 18- to 20-year-old kids working as bartenders. There was an open-air bar catering to expats, 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 Las Ballenas. Hard workers!
I was sorry to leave Las Terrenas. My last night in the Dominican Republic was anticlimactic. 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. It's easy to get a bite and a beer, though.
