The first time I came to the Dominican Republic was in August (2014). A friend met me down there, and we rented a beat-up SUV and spent about two weeks exploring the country by the seat of our pants; picking towns, beaches, and cliffs to go explore.
Santo Domingo: Exploring the oldest city in North America.
We started off in Santo Domingo, and looked around the Colonial District, where Christopher Columbus established the first European Settlement in the "New World". The neighbourhood was young with the University being close by, and also full of tourists, all roaming around the pedestrian friendly streets. Eating seafood and sipping pina-coladas and Presidente in the squares was a highlight. We then headed to Boca Chica where we played frisbee with some kids on the beach, and got to know some of the locals as the sun set while, again, drinking Presidente.
Tree house dining room
The best part was exploring Samana. We stayed in a tree house and in a small local Inn for near Play el Valle. Staying in the rain forest was refreshing. I think it was the best sleep we got, sleeping in the tree, open to the elements, and covered by a huge mosquito net. It was gorgeous. The beach nearby was beautiful. The waves were huge, the rocks were perfect for bouldering, and there was a great local grocery store that sold, again, Presidente.
Playing around on rope
Bouldering/ swimming combo at Playa el Valle
The eastern tip of the peninsula was just as good as Playa el Valle. Las Galeras was so beautiful. We checked out the beaches, then did some exploring to find Boca de Diablo. The coast line with Boca de Diablo is terrifying, and totally worth eating lunch (canned tuna, crackers, and giant avocado) and marveling at the violent waves.
Las Galeras
near Boca de Diablo
Boca de Diablo part 2
That night we did some research into climbing, and contacted some local guides who gave us some tips. We drove as far as we could into the rainforest, and asked the man selling jewelry with his family on the beach if he knew how to hike into Playa Fronton. He ended up guiding us the entire day, throughout the jungle hike where we met coconut farmers, and to the Playa Fronton where we climbed and snorkeled. The guide had absolutely no problem scaling palm trees to get coconuts, but he refused to try out belay climbing. He would have kicked both of our asses, I'm sure :)
Rain forest hike with our guide
Hiking into Playa Fronton
We climbed easy routes because the guides we contacted, as well as our local tour guide, told us that a lot of the bolts were rusty, as you'd expect from a life on a salty coast. The view from the top of the climbs was so gorgeous- with the rain forest, rock formations, and the Caribbean sea.
Woooooo
View from the top (never does it justice)
I wish I would have spent a bit longer in this part of the Island. The people and the food were lovely, and the vibe was so good.
Climbing gear cleaned and dried after the climb
After Las Galeras, we took the beautiful drive to Cabarete. At least it was beautiful, until it turned dark, and then it was terrifying (zero street lights on the highway and ...different.... traffic laws make for sketchy night-time driving). In Cabarate we stayed at a hostel and lived off of sea food. The original plan was to try kite boarding, but since not many people can learn how to kite board in one day, we decided to go back to 1995 and wind surf. Turns out 1995 is good times.
Best meal ever.
Wind surfing
All-in-all, road tripping part of the island for a week and a half was a really awesome experience. The next time I went to the DR though, it was even better.
