July 2017
Do you ever dream of waking up on a remote island? The sun shines through the narrow gaps in the straw roof above your head. The crashing of clear blue waves against white sand and the ruffle of palm fronds in the wind are the only sounds you hear. The sweet scent of a fresh coconut in your hands is intoxicating as you stare out into the endless sky. Clouds fade into the distance…
For us, this dream became a reality when we spent July 4th in the Dominican Republic and made the most of a long weekend by exploring the beautiful island for four days with Rikun’s family.
94 Hours Left…
As the plane slowly descended from the sky we began to see the deep blue ocean that wraps the island. We arrived into the Santo Domingo airport on Friday, picked up our rental car, and sped off to the historic capital city.
We were greeted by friendly staff and a shot of Mama Juana (a local drink) at our quaint, boutique hotel – Luca Hotel, in the heart of downtown. We took the rest of the afternoon to walk the cobblestone streets of Zona Colonial, the UNESCO world heritage site and historic central neighborhood of Santo Domingo, deemed the oldest permanent European settlement in the Americas.
In the central square, Parque Colón, stands the famous 16th century cathedral, Catedral Santa María La Menor. From there, we walked through Fortaleza Ozama, the oldest fortress built in the Americas. We strolled through Calle las Damas where we came across a man wielding a machete to split open fresh coconuts. What better way to cool off? We picked up a few to enjoy as we strolled through alleyways in the main plaza.
We walked to the shoreline and sat down on the beautiful patio of Adrian Tropical. Our meal started with a small bowl of sancoho, a traditional hot stew made with meat and tubers. We continued to feast as they laid out plates of fried plantains, fresh avocado, grilled shrimp, steamed fish, and mofongo (fried mashed plantain with pork cracklings) and washed it all down with a few bottles of Presidente, the country’s national beer.
After enjoying our lovely meal we decided to walk along the waterfront back to our hotel to enjoy a nice evening on the rooftop patio. The Luca Hotel has a beautiful rooftop with a hot tub, grill, and hammock. The patio is a welcome escape from the bustling capital city below. We tried a local rum called Ron Barcelo (which quickly became a dear friend of ours throughout our trip) and had a few more ice cold Presidentes – it was a relaxing end to our first day.
76 Hours Left…
The next morning, we ate a quick breakfast before we set off for Las Terrenas, a small town on the Samana peninsula on the northeast coast of the island.
The journey involves driving through two massive mountain ranges on either side of the island.
We drove the winding roads until we finally made the last turn toward Samana and were rewarded with the image of a classic “Wish you were here!” postcard picture. We pulled off the road to soak in from afar the beach we were about to live on during the next leg of our trip. We excitedly jumped back in our SUV and cruised down to sea level.
We checked into our beautiful casita at Sublime Samana, where you truly feel you are living in a private beachfront resort. Upon check in, we were greeted with a sweet & sour passionfruit-guava juice and some cold towels.
The beautiful property is lined with palm trees and greenery and set the perfect scene for us to enjoy the island’s tropical climate. We made our way to our casita which was complete with a living room, kitchen, hot tub in the master bathroom and a roof with lounge chairs and another hot tub. Casitas line the property from the pool all the way until your toes hit the sand. With little to no cloud cover, the sun’s beauty was truly on display and the scorching heat was beating down on us.
We headed to the beach for some fun – including kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, snorkeling, and playing fútbol. We ordered a round of Presidentes which still had the ice frozen on the bottle! After thoroughly enjoying ourselves in the ocean for about 7 hours, the sun was beginning to set, so we set off for downtown Las Terrenas which was about 15 minutes away by car.
We roamed the lively beachside town before settling into a table at El Cayuco. We devoured plantains, garlic shrimp, beans, fresh grilled fish and a king size squid ink paella. Of course, all while washing it down with Presidentes. Then, we picked up some groceries and Dominican cigars from Super Pola (a nearby supermarket) and headed back to enjoy a rum & coke while soaking in our rooftop hot tub.
52 Hours Left…
We devoured a traditional Dominican breakfast and some fresh fruit at Sublime Samana right on the edge of the pool. We were ready to hit the waves again and decided to walk over to the neighboring beach, Playa Coson.
For lunch, we stumbled upon Luis Restaurant and couldn’t resist sitting down for an amazing seafood meal. Luis Restaurant is located right on Playa Coson and serves up the freshest fish, crab, shrimp, and lobster you can imagine. The highlight is watching the chefs grill it right in front of you as your toes play in the sand and your fingers wrap around a bottle or two of Presidente. This was by far our most memorable meal in DR.
In the afternoon, we saddled up and adventured to the center of Samana peninsula on horseback. Our final destination was the magnificent El Limón waterfall. The water was absolutely freezing and the moss covered rocks were extremely slippery, but after melting in the heat of the hike, we were ready to dive in. We climbed the rocks, went spelunking in the caves, and got drenched under the mighty force of El Limón.
We arrived back at our casita in time to enjoy the sunset and a light snack at the beachside bistro.
We drove to downtown Las Terrenas where we built up quite the appetite after walking through the lively streets. We sat down at La Terrasse and ordered grilled garlic shrimp and crawfish which were accompanied by buttery garlic rice and broccoli.
28 Hours Left…
We left bright and early to traverse the whole island and make our way to Punta Cana, the most well-known and talked about area in DR. We were staying at Melia Caribe, an all-inclusive resort (which is pretty much the only type of hotel you can find in Punta Cana) and it was a completely different vibe than Sublime Samana.
Melia Caribe’s expansive grounds felt like an entire town in and of itself. We were excited to see what all the hype was about in Punta Cana, so we dropped our bags in our room and walked over to the pool bar and beach. It was 4th of July, so the party was in full swing with the DJ playing all the hits! We spent hours making friends with fellow party-goers dancing to tropical house music as we carried drinks to and from the numerous pool bars to the ocean. We watched huge cruise ships glide across the sea a few miles out but also kept an eye to the sky to avoid colliding with jetskiiers and parasailors taking off and landing all around us.
After a quick lunch at the resort, we decided to venture out and explore some of the nearby beaches considered hidden gems. We visited Bavaro beach and Macao beach and thoroughly enjoyed the serenity of both.
We had dinner back at Melia Caribe after a heavy dose of beach-hopping. Our time in DR was coming to a close so it was only fitting to end it the same way we started it. We ordered our last round of Presidentes and felt grateful that the island treated us so well during our first weekend adventure to the Caribbean together.
4 Hours Left…
The next morning we packed our bags and flew out of the international airport in Punta Cana to head home to San Francisco.
We constantly daydream about being on the most perfect beach together, hand in hand. As we visited every new beach in DR, the scenes felt so familiar and comfortable because they so closely resembled every fantastic image our minds had ever conjured. The Dominican Republic was truly an island under the sun that we look forward to returning to and further exploring together.
