Has anyone gone on vacation to the Dominic Republic?

Question

Staying at the Bavaro Princess and wondering if anyone has been there. If so, how was it, would you go back again? I heard that it was a good resort but some people have said that it's not a good place to go. I don't know if they were talking in general or about another resort. Anyway.... Please let me know.

Answer 1

I've been to several hotels in Punt Cana and have visited many others.

The Bavaro Princess is a great resort - lots to do all day and night, plus the rooms are ALL Jr. suites and the food is great. They have eight restaurants, eight bars, and nightly entertainment. I send clients there all the time and get really good feedback from them. The resort comes highly recommended - I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

I was at the new RIU Punta Cana Palace in May - WOW. Drop dead gorgeous and what a beach! Actually, all the RIU resorts in Punta Cana line-up one right after the other on this beautiful stretch of beach, covered with palm trees. The RIU right next to us was the RIU Palace Macau, also a beautiful resort. Next to the Macau was the RIU Bambu, then the RIU Tiano, both a little down-scale from the "RIU Palace" resorts, but really nice places. I found the staff to be great at all of them, as I walked down the beach and sampled the food and beverages at them all.

Punta Cana does not have many off-resort activities or places of interest - its kind of a laid-back, chill-out and enjoy your resort vacation. All hotels have tour desks for the 20 or so tours that are available.

Most of the tours happen in or on the water; the array of water sports options offered right on the beach is amazing: catamaran boat rides, double-decker party boats, restaurant dining at sunset on the sea, parasailing, glass bottom boats for marine life observation, sports fishing, diving, snorkeling, flying boats, speed boats. The boat taxis can take you from one hotel to another via the beach. There is also banana boating, kayaking, windsurfing, sailing and beach volleyball.

But here are other activities to consider:
Safari-type excursions on four-wheel bikes, buggy rides, jeep safaris, monster trucks or helicopter rides for a privileged view. A dozen of companies offer these adventure tours that take the tourists to observe tropical wilderness, visit a countryside home where typical Dominican food lunch will be served, examine tropical crops, take a dip at a deserted beach or for a swim in a cool river.

Horseback riding is also popular in Punta Cana with the option of riding on deserted white-sand beaches, making for great photography.

Punta Cana has year round beach weather - with the high season from mid December to mid April. The rainy/hurricane season is mid August to mid October, so take that into account when planning your vacation.

Go on line to Apple Vacations (I've put the link below for you) and check-out everything. They have full details and pictures of all the hotels, and you can design your own package and switch the hotels in and out until you have exactly what you're looking for. Then it allows you to send what you've created over to a local travel agent to take care of everything for you at no additional cost!