Rania Hammond

This port of call was my least favorite. I don't even know why the ship would choose this area as a port of call. After visiting it, I realized that staying on the ship was probably better for us. The beaches are the most beautiful beaches, but the people and the area around there are really frightening. Our taxi driver first took us to Bayhibe beach (30 minutes away) only to find a bunch of nude women laying out. Although there were families there, a few from our ship, I asked the taxi driver to take us to a different beach. He then took us to a cleaner beach (Dominicana Beach) located on a resort. We were not allowed to use any resort facilities here, not even the bathrooms. We saw more passengers from our ship here. However, there were also topless women (I believe they are French tourists because they did not look like locals) but we felt more safe here because there were more US tourists. Although we enjoyed the beach here, there was nothing more to offer: no bathrooms, no bars, no restaurants. There were a few souvenir shops on the beac, but be careful, because they really try to rip you off. Bargain big. If you feel you are paying too much for something, don't buy. Be aware too that almost everyone speaks little or no English. One thing I wanted to note here is that the taxi is very expensive. Try to bargain with the driver before he takes you anywhere. Another thing to note about the taxi driver is that he takes you to your destination, waits for you, and then drives you back to the port. Therefore, don't pay him until he takes you back to the port, otherwise he will take off with your money and you won't have a taxi to take you back. All in all, I didn't like this port much and would have preferred to stay on the ship. If you are visiting this port, it is probably best and safest to do a shore excursion.

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