I just returned from a 9 day trip to the Dominican Republic by myself. I flew into and out of Santiago direct, via jet blue. Great trip and it was surprisingly relaxing to travel alone, my first time doing so. I had no issues with scamming or danger.
I began by pipelining hard on badoo approximately 8 weeks prior to departure. One great thing about Santiago, tons of girls on badoo. I paid about $35 for superpowers for 6 months, but I can't even remember what that does for me. I also signed up for Dominican cupid, but didn't pay the fee, so that was pretty much useless, save for they gave out a 48 hour free messaging time, whereby I extracted 6 or 7 facebooks/numbers
A few of the women I was especially interested in wanted to skype/talk on the phone prior to arrival, did this with a couple of them.
I felt like it may have been a detriment, especially with one girl, to have given her too much attention via skype. Don't over chat them up, but keep in touch every 5 days or so via chat.
Badoo
Great resource. I landed armed with about 40 numbers. Out of the 40, I would say 12-15 I was excited about meeting, them being regular girls, either students or with jobs, and non pro's. I liked keeping things on Badoo, but be prepared to shift things over to facebook, MSN or whatsapp. Also, I didn't make a huge effort to have an awesome profile, with spectacular pics or details etc... and my facebook profile is a little shady as I keep it super private.
In terms of being able to tell who is a hooker, some girls will straight up ask you to send them money after a while, usually the super hot ones. I would say 3 or 4 girls out of a hundred I chatted with did this. Also, if you're getting one word, bland responses, yet she is still talking to you, she is probably just hoping you'll bang her for some cash. I set my location to Santiago to get more responses. Within the first 5 or 6 messages I would tell them I am american and coming down there to visit, and it's my first time. I found this to be less of a problem than I anticipated.
Language
At the outset, my spanish was decent, say a 4 out of 10. Chatting with chicks in spanish on the internet with the help of google translate is a great way to improve your skills, and I would say I elevated to a 5.5/6 by the time I arrived. After 9 days of speaking spanish I would say I'm at a 6/6.5 speaking is a bit more difficult than writing. Language skills are crucial, as most regular girls don't speak any reasonable amount of english.
Logistics
Stayed at Hotel Matum at the advice of another forum member. Also got a lot of other helpful small details from DR experts on this forum so thanks a lot!! 2500 pesos/night. It's a nice hotel that is poorly maintained, with a casino and a nightclub that is usually open till about 6 am. However pool is pretty crappy and there are bugs in the room. Location is great as most of the action is around the monument, which is walkable, although walking alone at night is not advisable. Not sure if this was exagerrated to get me to take cabs. Staff is friendly and helpful to your gaming.
Brought an unlocked blackberry with me a purchased a sim card from Orange. There are a lot of cell phone companies, Claro seems to be the biggest. Was a bit expensive, surprisingly, wound up paying about 1400 pesos for 9 days of usage. Girls arent too into texting, found it more effective to call. Similarly, because the person calling pays, the girls often will call you and hang up immediately so you call them back
Dancing
All the chicks dance. If you are into nightclub approach game, dancing skills are essential, as it is often too loud to talk even if you speak spanish. I can't really dance for shit, tiny bit of bachata.
Ladies
Basically set up 2 dates a day, lunch and drinks. Be prepared for your date to be at least 30 to 60 minutes late. Wound up having 3 flakes in total out of 13 scheduled meet ups. Banged 3 chicks, hummer from a 4th, made out with another 2 in 7 days in Santiago.
Sosua
If you like hatian prostitutes and overweight european tourists, you will be in heaven there. Otherwise, avoid this place like the plague. Tried shoring a few bartenders to no avail. This place is worse than Thailand as the whores will simply revert to begging for money once they see you are not interested. At least in Thailand, the whores are fun to have a few drinks with and have pleasant attitudes for the most part. Not here. The people are abrasive once they realize your pocket is closed. However, the beach was very very nice and clean water. I had originally planned on spending about 5 days in Santiago and 4 in Sosua/Cabarete, but I bee lined it back to Santiago after 2 days here because there are regular girls in Santiago.
Nightlife
Using the monument as a clock try:
Puerta Del Sol -- 4 ocklock. Very comfortable for a day date, and a lot of university women there at night. Went twice in the daytime for dates and approached a mixed set at night and they were friendly, we had some drinks. I drank a bit too much though....had to call it a night early.
Don't know the names -- 7 ocklock, 4 or 5 bar/clubs right next too each other. Also a nice restaurant right there called marisco center for a date.
Ahi Bar. Next block downhill from previous, and a few bars right next to it. Nice atmosphere, sunday is a good night, karaoke, little bit more relaxed and quiet atmosphere.
Lovera Bar -- take a cab there. If you are into bootyliciousness this is a good spot to go. Didn't take a girl home from there, it's a little difficult to tell who's a pro and who isnt. Dance floor game essential here. I would recommend getting there either a bit early so you can get a table and solicit women over. I showed up @ about 130 am and it was packed, couldn't move, to loud for me to get anywhere using spanish.
For day game there are 3 major malls in the city and each has a nightclub. Walking around the town center, west of and downhill from the monument is not an especially great daygame spot.
Management
Difficult to manage all the girls. I am not a great liar and had to make up a bunch of stories about when I was in sosua, when i wasnt, when I'm coming back. You tell one girl you're not available, then your date flakes, it's a lot to handle, although this isn't something I have ever been great at. I guess you can double book yourself but I don't feel right doing that kind of stuff.
Dress
Thanks to this forum I packed some nicer clothes instead of shorts and flip flops, and clearly it made a big difference. Not sure being suited up is a great idea, but jeans and a button shirt improved my experience from previous travels.
Food
Worst part of the country. Very difficult to maintain a healthy diet and I saw very few people eating vegetables/salads or anything green. Loot of food trucks and empanada stands. I feel an obesity epidemic coming on in 10 or 20 years. Everything is caked in ketchup and mayonaisse.
Rolling Solo
I found traveling alone to be surprisingly relaxing. Didn't have to have a summit for every little decision. I went out 1 night alone and met some people, and another night with a dude from the hotel, so it's not a problem and a great way to work on inner game. Will return to DR again soon. Flights are too cheap, and life in US is too shitty not to.
I began by pipelining hard on badoo approximately 8 weeks prior to departure. One great thing about Santiago, tons of girls on badoo. I paid about $35 for superpowers for 6 months, but I can't even remember what that does for me. I also signed up for Dominican cupid, but didn't pay the fee, so that was pretty much useless, save for they gave out a 48 hour free messaging time, whereby I extracted 6 or 7 facebooks/numbers
A few of the women I was especially interested in wanted to skype/talk on the phone prior to arrival, did this with a couple of them.
I felt like it may have been a detriment, especially with one girl, to have given her too much attention via skype. Don't over chat them up, but keep in touch every 5 days or so via chat.
Badoo
Great resource. I landed armed with about 40 numbers. Out of the 40, I would say 12-15 I was excited about meeting, them being regular girls, either students or with jobs, and non pro's. I liked keeping things on Badoo, but be prepared to shift things over to facebook, MSN or whatsapp. Also, I didn't make a huge effort to have an awesome profile, with spectacular pics or details etc... and my facebook profile is a little shady as I keep it super private.
In terms of being able to tell who is a hooker, some girls will straight up ask you to send them money after a while, usually the super hot ones. I would say 3 or 4 girls out of a hundred I chatted with did this. Also, if you're getting one word, bland responses, yet she is still talking to you, she is probably just hoping you'll bang her for some cash. I set my location to Santiago to get more responses. Within the first 5 or 6 messages I would tell them I am american and coming down there to visit, and it's my first time. I found this to be less of a problem than I anticipated.
Language
At the outset, my spanish was decent, say a 4 out of 10. Chatting with chicks in spanish on the internet with the help of google translate is a great way to improve your skills, and I would say I elevated to a 5.5/6 by the time I arrived. After 9 days of speaking spanish I would say I'm at a 6/6.5 speaking is a bit more difficult than writing. Language skills are crucial, as most regular girls don't speak any reasonable amount of english.
Logistics
Stayed at Hotel Matum at the advice of another forum member. Also got a lot of other helpful small details from DR experts on this forum so thanks a lot!! 2500 pesos/night. It's a nice hotel that is poorly maintained, with a casino and a nightclub that is usually open till about 6 am. However pool is pretty crappy and there are bugs in the room. Location is great as most of the action is around the monument, which is walkable, although walking alone at night is not advisable. Not sure if this was exagerrated to get me to take cabs. Staff is friendly and helpful to your gaming.
Brought an unlocked blackberry with me a purchased a sim card from Orange. There are a lot of cell phone companies, Claro seems to be the biggest. Was a bit expensive, surprisingly, wound up paying about 1400 pesos for 9 days of usage. Girls arent too into texting, found it more effective to call. Similarly, because the person calling pays, the girls often will call you and hang up immediately so you call them back
Dancing
All the chicks dance. If you are into nightclub approach game, dancing skills are essential, as it is often too loud to talk even if you speak spanish. I can't really dance for shit, tiny bit of bachata.
Ladies
Basically set up 2 dates a day, lunch and drinks. Be prepared for your date to be at least 30 to 60 minutes late. Wound up having 3 flakes in total out of 13 scheduled meet ups. Banged 3 chicks, hummer from a 4th, made out with another 2 in 7 days in Santiago.
Sosua
If you like hatian prostitutes and overweight european tourists, you will be in heaven there. Otherwise, avoid this place like the plague. Tried shoring a few bartenders to no avail. This place is worse than Thailand as the whores will simply revert to begging for money once they see you are not interested. At least in Thailand, the whores are fun to have a few drinks with and have pleasant attitudes for the most part. Not here. The people are abrasive once they realize your pocket is closed. However, the beach was very very nice and clean water. I had originally planned on spending about 5 days in Santiago and 4 in Sosua/Cabarete, but I bee lined it back to Santiago after 2 days here because there are regular girls in Santiago.
Nightlife
Using the monument as a clock try:
Puerta Del Sol -- 4 ocklock. Very comfortable for a day date, and a lot of university women there at night. Went twice in the daytime for dates and approached a mixed set at night and they were friendly, we had some drinks. I drank a bit too much though....had to call it a night early.
Don't know the names -- 7 ocklock, 4 or 5 bar/clubs right next too each other. Also a nice restaurant right there called marisco center for a date.
Ahi Bar. Next block downhill from previous, and a few bars right next to it. Nice atmosphere, sunday is a good night, karaoke, little bit more relaxed and quiet atmosphere.
Lovera Bar -- take a cab there. If you are into bootyliciousness this is a good spot to go. Didn't take a girl home from there, it's a little difficult to tell who's a pro and who isnt. Dance floor game essential here. I would recommend getting there either a bit early so you can get a table and solicit women over. I showed up @ about 130 am and it was packed, couldn't move, to loud for me to get anywhere using spanish.
For day game there are 3 major malls in the city and each has a nightclub. Walking around the town center, west of and downhill from the monument is not an especially great daygame spot.
Management
Difficult to manage all the girls. I am not a great liar and had to make up a bunch of stories about when I was in sosua, when i wasnt, when I'm coming back. You tell one girl you're not available, then your date flakes, it's a lot to handle, although this isn't something I have ever been great at. I guess you can double book yourself but I don't feel right doing that kind of stuff.
Dress
Thanks to this forum I packed some nicer clothes instead of shorts and flip flops, and clearly it made a big difference. Not sure being suited up is a great idea, but jeans and a button shirt improved my experience from previous travels.
Food
Worst part of the country. Very difficult to maintain a healthy diet and I saw very few people eating vegetables/salads or anything green. Loot of food trucks and empanada stands. I feel an obesity epidemic coming on in 10 or 20 years. Everything is caked in ketchup and mayonaisse.
Rolling Solo
I found traveling alone to be surprisingly relaxing. Didn't have to have a summit for every little decision. I went out 1 night alone and met some people, and another night with a dude from the hotel, so it's not a problem and a great way to work on inner game. Will return to DR again soon. Flights are too cheap, and life in US is too shitty not to.
