Discovering the Dominican Republic

Having only gotten a brief glimpse into the Dominican Republic in 2017, when we were there for our wedding. We wanted to take some time and explore more of the country and see what it had to offer besides all-inclusive resorts.

Santo Domingo

Our overnight ferry from San Juan, Puerto Rico arrived early on Saturday morning, but unlike most arrivals on this trip we were greeted by a car and driver thanks to our friends Thomas and Noel. We spent the rest of the day eating and wandering our way on the guided tour of Santo Domingo!

Bayahibe

We spent most of our time in Bayahibe diving with Scuba Fun! Our first day of diving took us to the Parguera & Peñon dive sites. During these days we saw moray eels, crabs, lobsters, stingrays and lots of different fish. Our second day of diving took us to El Chicho Cave. Because the bottom of this cave is made up of rocks and does not have any sediment, we did not need to have cave certification! During this dave we had crystal clear water and swam through a tunnel passed stalagmites and stalactites. The length of the tunnel was about 190m (625 ft) and at the end you come in a dry cave!

Las Terrenas

During our time in Las Terrenas relaxing on beautiful stretches of white-sand beaches and clear blue water. On our final day there we took a boat tour of Los Haïtises National Park with Flora Tours. The national park is home to 4 types of mangroves, over 200 species of birds, and multiple caves. Some of the caves are home to drawings from the Taino Indians and date back to the beginning of the 16th Century!

Cabarete

We used Cabarete as a base to explore the North Coast. Our first few days were spent lazing around on the beach and Touring the Brugal rum distillery.

The highlight of our time there was hiking, swimming, jumping and sliding our way along the 27 Waterfalls of Damajagua!

Jarabacoa

Our final stop was the mountain town of Jarabacoa. During our time here we climbed to the top of mount Mogote, went canyoning down waterfalls along the Jimenoa River and want paragliding over the top of the mountains!