Scenes from the Dominican Republic’s North Coast

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 North 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.

 

Photos from North Coast of the Dominican Republic:

One of the most dramatic things to happen on the trip occurred in Los Haitises National Park — photo below. Andrea, another woman on the press trip, jumped off our boat and into the beautiful waters of the national park. Unfortunately she scraped her leg against a screw on the boat as she leapt off of it, tearing through skin almost to the bone and surprising herself in the process. Luckily I had sutures and antibiotic cream and a robust first aid kit with me — there is a REASON I recommend it heavily on my World Travel Resources page! — and was able to help her fix it up until we got to the hospital.

Cue us all in the bus on the long drive back to the bigger city, me asking another person on the trip to hold Andrea’s leg together so that I could suture it up and then wrap it in gauze to tide her over.

The bad news is that she couldn’t partake in the rappelling we did the next day. The GOOD news is that she was fine, and the doctor patched her right up, quickly. The even better news is that it was the basis of a friendship, one that I have no doubt years later will still be in place.

Often it’s not just the places we see or the things we eat that make things memorable, but the crazy stories from the people we’ve met along the way. We all know this already; it’s human nature. But even on an organized trip things can go awry, and I am happy I was there to help when they did!

(Now no one makes fun of me for having a first aid kit, I  will tell you that!)

The ideal beach scene on Samana's El Portillo Beach, Dominican Republic.
Simple and beautiful: view of El Portillo beach on the Samana Peninsula, taken from the Gran Bahia Principe El Portillo.

Lobster dinner in Cabarete
A delicious lobster dinner at the Sea Horse Ranch in Cabarete.

Exploring caves in Los Haitises National Park
One of many beautiful caves to explore in Los Haitises National Park

Rolling hills near Samana, on the way to El Limon
The rolling hills of the Samana Peninsula on the way to Salta El Limon.

El Limon waterfall near Samana
View of Salta El Limon, cascading falls near Samana.

Cabarete dominican republic north coast
Bottle of rum, sandy and sea-soaked on Cabarete Beach.

Beautiful Samana Peninsula, dominican republic north coast
Samana Peninsula and its curving bay from my room at the Gran Bahia Principe Cayacoa.

dominican republic north coast
A group of happy travel bloggers in Cabarete, post 27-falls adventure trip with Iguana Mama

-Jodi

14 thoughts on “Scenes from the Dominican Republic’s North Coast”

  1. 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!

  2. 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 :)

  3. 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!

  4. 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 :)

  5. 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! :-)

  6. Jodi, gorgeous photos! I’m looking forward to reading about your adventures on this trip.

  7. 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.

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