Anybody been there? What’s it like? My girlfriend’s birthday party is there.
I was there once. I don’t know how helpful my memories will be…I was 12 and all I remember are the nude beaches. Beautiful, idyllic, white sand/blue water, miles of gorgeous beach. Oh yeah, they had nude archery too.
I don’t know what the current conditions are, but I saw that the island has recently been through a devastating flood and is at the moment not a good place to be. Hopefully your girlfriend’s b-day is far enough away that the island will have a chance to dry out.
I’m sure it will be a great bash. Have a safe trip, enjoy and have fun!
I’ve been to the south coast/Boca Chica area. The scuba diving sucked.
The DR isn’t known as a scuba destination but Punta Cana is spposed to be one of the better areas there although there might be a lot of problem with run off causing poor visibility recently.
I never felt totally safe there, be careful where you go alone, at least where I was. Didn’t like the presense of military police with machine guns on the beach and roped off tourist only areas. Lots of hucksters after the tourist dollar so keep close tabs on your wallet. Hookers hitting on you everywhere. It might not be the same in Punta Cana.
Been to a number of the islands but the DR is definately not my favorite. For a friendly, safe Spanish speaking island I’d highly recommend Cuba, but I uderstand US citizens aren’t allowed to go there.
It is totally awesome there-
My wife and I went there on our honeymoon. We stayed at one of the all inclusive resorts (Name of the place was Secrets- the most out of the way place on the Island).
Of course, it you’re going there thinking it’s like the Bahamas, it’s far from it. The weather is great, the rum flows HEAVILY, and it’s a place to just go and do absolutely nothing. But, all the resorts are on a compound (which you can’t see unless you go through a hike in the woods), and the gates are guarded. It’s first class service all the way in the compound, but outside of it, it’s a total slum crime scene, and unless you feel like getting mugged, don’t even think of going for a run off of the compounds.
They have all sorts of things to do, but most people turn it into a huge drink feast. We had all you can drink alcohol for a week, and unlimited food. The staff is great, and some of the tours are incredible. There is one that is a trip to the zoo where you can even swim in a tank with the dolphins (you actually get to hold on to them and they tow you around the tank), which will blow your mind.
Keep it all in perspective and enjoy it for some RR, and you’ll have a great time. If you’re freaking b/c of a lack of training- well, you can take the words of my wife to me in that case- “oh, shut up and have another cerveza ya tri geek!”
…don’t drink the water!
Rob
a friend went there last year, had a great time.
girlfriend?!!! I thought you swore off women?
My wife and I spent the last winter holiday in Dominican Rep. - we got to travel across the island and spent a day in Punta Cana.
Punta Cana is the highlight of DR’s east-coast, the main attraction being the beautiful white sand beach - longest/continuous beach I’ve seen (30+ miles) - excellent for looong runs! 
The area is majoritary all-inclusive resorts, pretty well isolated from the “outside”(local) world. These all-inclusive things offer you all the fun-entertainment, food, drink etc. Did I mention that dominicans have no access in the resorts? Not even to the beaches stretching along the resorts! Luckily, by state-law, every first 50 m of beach is public accesible so we drove to one of the ends and then walked the beach for miles along various resorts - some of these pretty classy. Dancing/partying on the beach/in the ocean is part of the daily fun - scuba, sailing trips to closeby attractions/islands are also offered.
Tons of info can be found on their popular website http://dr1.com/travel/puntacana/ particularly in the FORUMS - Travel/General and Travel/Trip Reports area - http://www.dr1.com/forums/search.php?searchid=126408.
I’ll upload some pics tomorrow if you’re interested…
Tom,
Where are you staying? I just got back three weeks ago. My wife and I have vacationed there for the past 5 years. Let me know if there are any specifics you need to know about the area.
David
A big resort. It should be pretty secure.
I’m looking forward to it. Great place for a birthday party.
-More of a casual thing. We started dating about 9-10 weeks ago. I’ve known her all my life. Sweet girl, very smart, way too attractive for me to deserve.
I truly doubt anything serious will develop, but it is nice to have someone to eat with, watch movies with and say good night and good morning to.
She talks on the cell phone more than Paris Hilton though. Last night when I told her I had to get up for a race at 4:00 AM she said, “What are the things you do in these triathlons again?”
don’t be so quick to put yourself down. maybe you can convert her. I may be a cynic, but I’m still in favor of romance (or at least it’s poor cousin, lust). on the other hand, did you take her to the nude beach?
We haven’t gone yet. We leave next week.
I doubt she’ll ever be an athlete and that is fine with me.
Nice girl though.