Yes, the “child” on the photography above is me. How you can already imagine I went to the Dominican Republic a few years ago, precisely in 2005. One of the advantages of having divorced parents is that you have duplicate holidays and on that summer, the first they were split, both of them took us to amazing places! With my father we went for a cruise on the Adriatic sea, from Venice to Athens, passing in Croatia, Montenegro and some Greek islands. With my mother we spent two weeks in an all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic, more precisely in Bahia Principe San Juan.

Advantages of being in an all-inclusive resort? Everything is already paid, we don’t have to check the money to know if we can order another drink or which dish we choose dependently on the price; We don’t have to go to the supermarket, we don’t have to cook, everything is wonderfully waiting for us! Daily entertainment, a safe environment, indeed taking a holiday from the world!

Disadvantages? We do not really know the country, especially if we choose to actually don’t leave the hotel.

Obviously when I was 13 I was not too worried about these issues but my mother was and so she took us on two excursions outside the hotel where, although in a still quite controlled environment, we might have a little notion of how people lived the Dominican Republic. We saw a bit of their crafts and a lot of their landscapes!

The first excursion was a horseback ride through the surrounding villages, with stops for baths, visits to banana plantations and lunch in a restaurant in the middle of the jungle. The tour continued on a school bus (the classic yellow buses) to the boat that took us for a ride through the mangroves of the river San Juan. In the same boat we entered the sea and did some snorkeling. We ended the day at Playa Grande, with locals making brats to tourists and a much wilder and beautiful beach than the hotel itself offered.

The second visit actually did not include anything local or typical. It was a day in a kind of aquatic zoo, where we still had the opportunity, myself and my sister, to swim with dolphins, an experience that I will never forget, especially from the moment I realized that they are not cuddly, but actually have a texture of “fish”.

My mother still took the opportunity to take a scuba diving course and license, while we had fun in the hotel different pools – what I liked most was the bar in the water – or on the hotel beach!

Relevant informations:

• We flew to Puerto Plata airport, with a stop-over in Madrid, but I do not remember with which company we flew. As we arrived late at check-in we were separated, which is annoying, especially with “kids” and for so many hours …
• It has been 12 years and I do not know how the hotel is at the moment, but I highly recommend it! All the food was excellent, super friendly staff, super fun. The hotel even had a semi-private little street, just before arriving at the hotel, with lots of bars and shops, so the grown-ups could go party there while others were sleeping without bothering anyone! My mother liked it very much, I never went there at night…
• One of the reasons we went was because kids under 12 didn’t pay – that is, my sister. Find out if there are still any campaigns like this and take the kids!
• The price was per week. The jet lag was pretty strong so stay for two weeks to enjoy it to the fullest.