With more detailed descriptions of the press trip coming this week, I wanted to post some scenes from our 5 days on the Dominican Republic’s Northern Coast. Occupying nearly two-thirds of the island of Hispanola in the Caribbean, the Dominican is best known for its beautiful beaches, tasty rum and quality cigars. Growing up in Montreal, the most affordable spring break trips were to Punta Cana in the Dominican and as a result most travelers remained woefully uninformed about the other attractions that the country has to offer. This press trip appealed to me for that reason: it was a perfect opportunity to read up on the tangled history of Hispanola as a whole, and to try some of the adventure activities that the North Coast is known for.
A sampling of the pictures from our trip:
Simple and beautiful: view of El Portillo beach on the Samana Peninsula, taken from the Gran Bahia Principe El Portillo.
A delicious lobster dinner at the Sea Horse Ranch in Cabarete.
One of many beautiful caves to explore in Los Haitises National Park
The rolling hills of the Samana Peninsula on the way to Salta El Limon.
View of Salta El Limon, cascading falls near Samana.
Bottle of rum, sandy and sea-soaked on Cabarete Beach.
Samana Peninsula and its curving bay from my room at the Gran Bahia Principe Cayacoa.
A group of happy travel bloggers in Cabarete, post 27-falls adventure trip with Iguana Mama
More to come from the DR in the coming days!
-Jodi
I am a former lawyer from Montreal currently eating my way around the world, one country at a time. Marshmallow enthusiast, volcano climber and cave spelunker - and also a geek. Traveling since April 1, 2008. See the 
Looks beautiful!
Looks like you had a great time! I’ve never really been interested in the Caribbean, but maybe you just changed my mind – this is a beautiful island. Thanks for sharing!
Those are terrific photos, Jodi! Especially that waterfall–wow!
I’m pretty sure that I’d just like to print out that first photo, mount it on a wall, and just stare dreamily at it for a long while.
(also, I don’t know that I’ve introduced myself, but I’m Naomi, and I’m loving this blog :)
Beautiful pictures! It looks like a wonderful place, one more to add to my already long list of places to visit one day… ;) I especially liked the picture of the waterfall (that is AMAZING!!!) and the one of the islans with the bridges between them, stunning!
Looks like an amazing waterfall, I would love to take a dip in that. Nice looking plate of lobster too!
Looks like a fantastic trip. What a nice side trip from NYC. I had never had much interest in the Dominican Republic, but when I first heard about this trip came up my interest started to rise. Now seeing these photos make me want to go! A white sand beach sounds nice right about now :)
Gorgeous photos Jodi- like Audrey, I never really had much interest in the D.R. before, but now I am really looking forward to seeing what else you guys did there! :-)
Wonderful photos. You seemed to have lot of adventure trips.. Enjoy!!
Salta El Limon looks really beautiful. Would love to get to the DR someday!
The picture of the falls is so cool!! Can’t wait to read all about it :)
Jodi, gorgeous photos! I’m looking forward to reading about your adventures on this trip.
Those falls are INCREDIBLE!
Every picture looks amazing!
I went to the Dominican Republic when I was 16 on a package holiday with a friends family, there not quite the exploring type so we didn’t get out much but I do remember a boat trip with some pretty amazing views. Would be nice to go back and do it properly.