I was going to let this comment pass but... Mach, I'm sure your parents may have been confused or worried (many ugly people down here, I'll grant you that ) but the fact is if they were walking down a beach, no one would have robbed them. All those beaches are private beaches. There was a huge local controversy not too long ago. The politicians just changed the current Constitution to a new one that will be signed this next January 12th. One of the biggest points of contention was the fact that beaches in general are not of public domain.

Punta Cana/Bavaro is the most important tourist zone in the country. Anyone who may contemplate "disturbing the peace" gets into a world of trouble!

I visit Punta Cana pretty often. One of my closest friends in life has a summer home at Punta Cana. We go out to dinner all the time. Never had any problems whatsoever.

What people try to sell you is **** like Ambar, Larimar and things like that.

I will grant you that there are a lot of drugs in the DR. I'm sure tourists get offered drugs too. If someone approaches you offering any drug, tell them to go **** themselves!

 

that's cool, i found the story strange myself, they were probably drunk

 

Or they were paranoid because of all the drugs they just bought!

 

Lol you guys

The fact is I can understand Mach's parents. People trying to sell you **** are a pain in the *** around here. Artie and Paul will discover that soon enough

 

Rafa, where in DR are you? Did you get affected by the earthquakes?

 

Artie, where did you find this deal? I am looking for a trip for the wife and I and this sounds perfect and easy on the pocket book.

 

TravelByJen : Travel agency specializing in discount travel and personal service

Advertised price is $599 and it turned out to be $900 after the taxes and transport from airport to hotel and stuff.

 

Thanks man. I will be checking that out.

 

Let me know when you plan on coming and I'll check some local deals.

 

Sorry; I hadn't seen your post Artie. I'm in the Capital (Santo Domingo). Nothing happened on this part of the island. I live around 400 kms away from the epicenter (about 240 miles) and I did not feel anything.

It blows my mind to see the carnage in Haiti.

BTW; Bavaro is the farthest point from Haiti in all the DR. You'll be staying about 500 miles from Haiti.

 

UPDATE:

First and foremost, I wanna say a huge THANK YOU to Rafa and his family for the AWESOME hospitality that they showed the 4 of us. That really made the trip worthwhile. Rafa first took us to the speed shop to see his car, then invited us to his house (which is about 1000x nicer than my house here in the states) and made us lunch with Spanish and Dominican foods. Then he took us around the city and showed us the US embassy, the dominican White House, a local cigar shop (which supplies Jay-Z with his cigars), and then to the historical part of Santo Domingo. Great trip to the city.

Other things from the trip:
We stayed at a really beautiful all-inclusive resort. They made the drinks really well which included one day that me and paul got FUCKED up on 151. Paul ended up pulling my passed out body into the pool and hilarity ensued from there.

We took a Jeep Safari that was AWESOME. They took us to a sugar plantation, up into the mountains, showed us a lot, then took us Zip lining, a little horseback riding, and ended by going to a beach in the Atlantic Ocean.

Another day we rented ATV's from this one place and did a beach tour with the ATV's. They took us on some sick sand dunes and thru mud and water and stuff. That was a blast too.

Another day we rented a boat that gave us a sea-side tour of part of the island and then took us snorkeling. Major fun there too!

Overall the trip was WELL worth it. 82 degrees in the day, 70 degrees at night.

Only thing that sux ***** is Customs.



THANKS RAFA!!!

 

Man, sounds like you guys had a blast! We had cold crappy weather hear, if that's any consolation.

 

Ditto everything Artie said about Rafa and his family, they were the most gracious hosts. Hopefully we will have the opportunity to visit again and spend more time in his company.

 

Lunch with Rafa and his family.

That's him at the head of the table. To his right is his wife(not really visible in pic), his son Charlie, his son Rafa. To his left, my girlfriend Jes, me, Artie's friend Cristy. Artie is taking the pic.

 

sounds like a ton of fun.

and man on man is Rafa cool for doing all that


YOu tha man Mr. Rafael

 

There was none of that while we were there.

 

I don't know how I missed this thread.

To Artie and Paul: you guys were a blast! Both my sons had a really good time. We would definitely enjoy getting together with both of you anytime. You guys rock!

Paul; say hi to Jessica for me. You've found a keeper there. I hope to get invited to that wedding someday!

Artie; my son Charlie thinks you're DA MAN!

 

Hey we like Russians too Vlad

 

Thanks Rafa. We really did have a great time there. Thanks for taking us around again! I'm going to smoke one of those Galiano cigars today for my birthday!

 

He's not joking. The guests at the resort we stayed at were about 80% Russian. And I'm talking about they came from the motherland, not the USA.