Dominican Republic North Coast Adventures

When: Dec 6th thru Dec 13th 2015

What: Explore the North Coast of Dominican and then head to Punta Cana for a wedding

Who: Andy+Caitlin joined with Bret and Matt for North Coast. In Punta Cana we met-up with ~15 friends!

Trip Overview:

North Coast of Dominican is way too much fun and full of adventure. We went cliff jumping at 27 Charcos which was crazy + fun + scary which is always a great combo. Huge ziplines at Monkey Jungle which allowed us to explore the island in a different way (not to mention the cute monkeys when we were done). Crazy culture everywhere with brightly colored houses, insane motorbikes, and lots of locals trying to enjoy the good life!

• 4 nights in Cabrete
• 3 Nights in Punta Cana for a friend’s Wedding!!
  • Full day of driving from Cabrete to Punta Cana along the North Coast

Cabarete:

Enjoying a coconut drink on the beach at Cabarete:

Monkey Jungle Zip Line and Monkey Park:

Way too much fun especially when you finish zip lining and play with monkeys for a couple hours. It was a quite day when we were there so the only ones zip lining and then the only ones inside the cages at the Monkey Jungle. Don’t miss out here:

Our awesome guides: 

One aspect which was interesting was talking to a number of people who were displaced due to the earthquake in Haiti back in 2010 and now many of them are working in Dominican Republic. Several of our guides were from Haiti and many vendors were as well; you could tell the struggles that they had endured over the past few years.

27 Charcos: 27 Waterfalls of Damajagua

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147290-d627325-Reviews-Damajaqua_Cascades_27_Waterfalls-Puerto_Plata_Puerto_Plata_Province_Dominican_Repu.html

Teleferico Cable Car in Puerto Plata: 

On the way home from 27 Charcos we stopped and rode the Cable Car up to the top for some beautiful sights. Some free-lance tour guide accompanied us and we really didn’t realize what was going on until we were in it; however, at the top in this unique forest, he showed us many interesting plants, leaves from grapefruit, etc, and told us a bit about the history of the area. Great pit stop:

Staying in Cabarete in an AIRBNB: 

Favorite part about the North Coast of Dominican is that all of the hotels are small and boutique and there are a lot of rental houses. We stayed in one that was ~10min walk from the beach in the middle of what locals called the “barrio” where all of the local houses are. The neighbors were all really friendly and the canal behind the house you could paddleboard and canoe on!

Driving from Cabarete to Punta Cana: 

Exciting. Dominican Republic is like a video game with your life when driving 🙂

Punta Cana Wedding: 

Punta Cana is beautiful but a complete 180 from the rest of the island. If you enjoy American style, isolated resorts with minimal dining options this is your place. I preferred everywhere else that we went due to the cultural elements which make the Dominican special, however, the beauty and practicality of location made up for the tourist feeling!

Food: