Trip Report – Las Terrenas, DR
Happy #*%^! New Year to my fellow Rooshers!
I have been in both Havana and the DR recently. I will get around to posting my third Havana trip report in another thread. While I make some comparisons between DR chicas and their Havana counterparts in this post, I am mainly writing to brief you guys on a piece of paradise that I found. While this is a good area to not only to shore or to engage a semi-pro/pro, but also, an ideal place to bring one of your regular girls with you for a relaxing holiday.
Las Terrenas - Samana, DR
Samana is a small peninsula in the north east part of the DR. The closest airport is AZS (Samana – el Catey). It is a 30 minute drive to las terrenas. There are a number of other villages further afield (probably just as nice) in this area such as: Limon, Samana, Las Galareas. The whole area is designed for beach, sun and fun. There is a wide variety of eating options in the town and along the beach – in addition, there are a couple of fully stocked grocery stores in town. There are several all -inclusive hotels in the area but I don’t recommend as there are a variety of condos/houses for rent on Airbnb. In addition to the locals, Las Terrenas is home to a sizeable expat and tourist population that hails from France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and the USA. These are not the typical tourists as they seem pretty chill, multilingual, and well behaved.
Logistics
I found a flight from Toronto on Air Canada vacations (AC Rouge ) for CAD$500 return. West jet, Air Transat also serves AZS for a similar price. Prices do go up to $1200 in high demand periods. Transfer from the Airport to surrounding villages normally costs US$100 but I found a shared transfer service for US$30 return! I was the only passenger each way and they honoured the price – be sure to tip! Check out http://www.tropiclink.net (DR airport transfers). I don’t recommend flying into SDQ and doing the trip in the highway, while a beautiful drive, has a lot of accidents. You don’t need a car or moped. Everything you need like beach, bar or town is easily accessible by foot. You can take busses to the outlying areas or rent a scooter. If going off road there are the 4WD utility vehicles. A car isn’t necessary. In any event, be careful as there are a lot of motor bikes and the like on the road with crazy drivers behind the wheel. There is a saying…”if you hit a local keep going” - the locals will kill you.
Apartments
I rented a condo in the centre of town for CAD$600 week. It was small but well equipped and had good logistics. There are a variety of price/quality options in the area both in the town and in the 3Km stretch of beach around the town. I opted to cook a lot of my meals to save money – the CDN dollar is in the toilet at present.
Safety
The area is generally safe given the local economy dependence in tourists and expats. Take all the usual precautions – money in shoe, fake wallet, bring what you need… The locals are friendly and a bit of Spanish goes a long way. Having said that there are a lot of crimes of passion in the DR and people are poor. It is legal to carry a knife and gun in the DR. Best to interact with the expats and the locals in their social circle. I spent some time dancing with some of the semi-pros (after telling them I wasn’t going to be a client), bought them drinks and they were upset with me when I wouldn’t pay them for their time. The girls were quite upset and acted aggressively – is switched to mixing with the expats at that point. From what I can tell the locals aren’t quite as savvy as those in Havana at ripping off tourists – maybe because they have a job of some sort?
Bars/Chicas
The main bar in town is Bar La Bodega. It gets going around 11pm every night. At high season many girls come in from Santo Domingo for a “working holiday.” Girls are mixed races ranging from negrita, mulatta, and Latina. Also of all shapes and sizes. I find the girls in Havana slimmer and more educated than in the DR. The DR is a rough place and I sense that these girls have given and received some violence in the course of their young life. Havana girls are scared to death of the cops -violence involving a tourist is rare in Cuba. In the DR there are lots of examples of Johnny tourist getting killed, robbed by a girl they were with. I didn’t score with a local girl but I was going to I would be sure to get a photo of their ID and check their purse for drugs/weapons. My sense was the girls in the DR are more hardened full timers than the many Havana chicas – as they are usually a lot of once a month semi-pros in HAV.
The other bar is Clandestino – it is in the barrio de los Pescadores a short walk away. Not sure if when it gets going but I was there for an after party until 5am one night. I also met some top-drawer DR girls there!
Most bars have dancing - salsa, bachata, merengue and reggaton. If you don’t dance learn at one of the studios in the town. Drinks in the bars cost RD 150 – bartenders are really appreciative if you tip them RD50.
During the Day
Not much to do except sleep in and go to the beach. There are a couple of dance studios in the town. One is in Bar La Bodega the other is up near the bank complex and is called “by-Bolivar”. You will not only learn to dance there but also meet other foreigners.
The beach is tranquil and spans several KM each way from the town. There are a variety of day beach and dining/bar options. Also lots of girls that I saw at Bar La Bodega cruising the strip – (good for pipelining?)
There are plenty of tour companies for excursions of various difficulties. There were some high quality scuba outfits there as well.
My take
Las Terrenas is a laid back place to chill and an economical break from the cold Canadian winter. If I return, I will bring my own girl from Canada and look like a rock star. If I want to run around I will go to Havana.
Happy #*%^! New Year to my fellow Rooshers!
I have been in both Havana and the DR recently. I will get around to posting my third Havana trip report in another thread. While I make some comparisons between DR chicas and their Havana counterparts in this post, I am mainly writing to brief you guys on a piece of paradise that I found. While this is a good area to not only to shore or to engage a semi-pro/pro, but also, an ideal place to bring one of your regular girls with you for a relaxing holiday.
Las Terrenas - Samana, DR
Samana is a small peninsula in the north east part of the DR. The closest airport is AZS (Samana – el Catey). It is a 30 minute drive to las terrenas. There are a number of other villages further afield (probably just as nice) in this area such as: Limon, Samana, Las Galareas. The whole area is designed for beach, sun and fun. There is a wide variety of eating options in the town and along the beach – in addition, there are a couple of fully stocked grocery stores in town. There are several all -inclusive hotels in the area but I don’t recommend as there are a variety of condos/houses for rent on Airbnb. In addition to the locals, Las Terrenas is home to a sizeable expat and tourist population that hails from France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and the USA. These are not the typical tourists as they seem pretty chill, multilingual, and well behaved.
Logistics
I found a flight from Toronto on Air Canada vacations (AC Rouge ) for CAD$500 return. West jet, Air Transat also serves AZS for a similar price. Prices do go up to $1200 in high demand periods. Transfer from the Airport to surrounding villages normally costs US$100 but I found a shared transfer service for US$30 return! I was the only passenger each way and they honoured the price – be sure to tip! Check out http://www.tropiclink.net (DR airport transfers). I don’t recommend flying into SDQ and doing the trip in the highway, while a beautiful drive, has a lot of accidents. You don’t need a car or moped. Everything you need like beach, bar or town is easily accessible by foot. You can take busses to the outlying areas or rent a scooter. If going off road there are the 4WD utility vehicles. A car isn’t necessary. In any event, be careful as there are a lot of motor bikes and the like on the road with crazy drivers behind the wheel. There is a saying…”if you hit a local keep going” - the locals will kill you.
Apartments
I rented a condo in the centre of town for CAD$600 week. It was small but well equipped and had good logistics. There are a variety of price/quality options in the area both in the town and in the 3Km stretch of beach around the town. I opted to cook a lot of my meals to save money – the CDN dollar is in the toilet at present.
Safety
The area is generally safe given the local economy dependence in tourists and expats. Take all the usual precautions – money in shoe, fake wallet, bring what you need… The locals are friendly and a bit of Spanish goes a long way. Having said that there are a lot of crimes of passion in the DR and people are poor. It is legal to carry a knife and gun in the DR. Best to interact with the expats and the locals in their social circle. I spent some time dancing with some of the semi-pros (after telling them I wasn’t going to be a client), bought them drinks and they were upset with me when I wouldn’t pay them for their time. The girls were quite upset and acted aggressively – is switched to mixing with the expats at that point. From what I can tell the locals aren’t quite as savvy as those in Havana at ripping off tourists – maybe because they have a job of some sort?
Bars/Chicas
The main bar in town is Bar La Bodega. It gets going around 11pm every night. At high season many girls come in from Santo Domingo for a “working holiday.” Girls are mixed races ranging from negrita, mulatta, and Latina. Also of all shapes and sizes. I find the girls in Havana slimmer and more educated than in the DR. The DR is a rough place and I sense that these girls have given and received some violence in the course of their young life. Havana girls are scared to death of the cops -violence involving a tourist is rare in Cuba. In the DR there are lots of examples of Johnny tourist getting killed, robbed by a girl they were with. I didn’t score with a local girl but I was going to I would be sure to get a photo of their ID and check their purse for drugs/weapons. My sense was the girls in the DR are more hardened full timers than the many Havana chicas – as they are usually a lot of once a month semi-pros in HAV.
The other bar is Clandestino – it is in the barrio de los Pescadores a short walk away. Not sure if when it gets going but I was there for an after party until 5am one night. I also met some top-drawer DR girls there!
Most bars have dancing - salsa, bachata, merengue and reggaton. If you don’t dance learn at one of the studios in the town. Drinks in the bars cost RD 150 – bartenders are really appreciative if you tip them RD50.
During the Day
Not much to do except sleep in and go to the beach. There are a couple of dance studios in the town. One is in Bar La Bodega the other is up near the bank complex and is called “by-Bolivar”. You will not only learn to dance there but also meet other foreigners.
The beach is tranquil and spans several KM each way from the town. There are a variety of day beach and dining/bar options. Also lots of girls that I saw at Bar La Bodega cruising the strip – (good for pipelining?)
There are plenty of tour companies for excursions of various difficulties. There were some high quality scuba outfits there as well.
My take
Las Terrenas is a laid back place to chill and an economical break from the cold Canadian winter. If I return, I will bring my own girl from Canada and look like a rock star. If I want to run around I will go to Havana.
