Robsons-Adventures_Holiday Reports-Diary

5/5 Due to the early flight departure from Gatwick to the Dominican Republic, I traveled to Gatwick the day before and booked myself into the Ibis Hotel, this is a reasonable value hotel (for this country - I do believe hotels in this country to be a rip off compared to the rest of the world). The Ibis is only 10 mins from the airport and is next door to the Gatwick Manor with its lovely tithe barn bar.
6/5 My flight was on a Thomsons 767-300 aircraft, which considering it was a charter was reasonably comfortable, but there were plenty spare seats on the flight. Good view of the coast as we arrived at Puerto Plata, before a sharp turn (to avoid the hill that overlooks the town) to land. As we walked along the walkway from the stand to the immigration lounge there was a merengue band playing. Grateful for any tips! Details on clearing immigration are reported in the outline of my reports. I was the first person on the Odyssey coach, but it didn't take all that long for the rest to come through and my hotel was the first drop off, about 20 mins from the airport. After checking in and unpacking, it was time for a quick investigation of the hotel, then out into the town and town beach to investigate. Well those of you who know me, will know I have to explore rather than just sit around. The entertainment in the hotel was 'Swing Night' which was surprisingly professional.
7/5 Took a nice walk along Sosua Beach after breakfast, which was a nicer beach than the small one at the hotel, but not lovely white sand like Cancun or the Far East. Back at the hotel I tried some snorkeling but there was nothing to see. 'Latino Night' in the hotels amphitheater, which was very popular and standing room only. Afterwards there was a live merengue band playing on the beach, but I didn't stay to listen to them.
8/5 Impressed with the quality of the diving equipment at the hotels diving club apart from the fact that we had to push the boat into the water from the beach. Once back from the diving (2 dives returning to the shore between) I went into the town and booked a couple of tours with Mel Tours (cheaper than hotels and recommended by others). Dinner was in the Jalpeno Mexican restaurant which was rather nice, after which I walked into the town, but it was very quiet.
9/5 I felt a bit rough and the sea was certainly rough today and it was hard work getting the boat out to sea. Fed some fish with bananas during the 1st dive which was good fun. Very difficult getting ashore again after the dives. To calm my nerves from the rough diving I went for a massage (350 peso) at a place round the corner from the hotel, which was pretty good. Pirate Show tonight.
10/5 Only 2 of us today for diving, but sea to rough for the boat; we eventually managed a shore dive, which was all right once in the water. In the afternoon in the town I was confronted by what I though was a timeshare tout, but it was a sales pitch with a difference (25 weeks holiday for £2100) At 16:00 there was a heavy downpour which lasted 30 minutes and it remained cloudy afterwards.
11/5 Woke to the rain pouring and not just showers! Jeep Safari trip today, surprisingly it still went ahead despite the weather. The Jeep had a roof but was open at the front, so everyone got absolutely socked. The highlight of this trip was to a waterfall, but we were glad of a coffee stop to dry off first. The plan was to climb up 7 levels of the waterfall and slide/jump back down, however, with the amount of water coming down we could only managed 2 levels, but it was still good fun. There was some pretty bad flooding in parts of Puerto Plata on the way back.
12/5 Very early start to today, with a bus picking me up at 05:40 as I was on a trip to Santo Domingo. It had continued very wet overnight and there had been landslides and a number of deaths across the country, but it was drying up now. It was a long drive to the capital city and it must be said I was a little disappointed, however, it may have been better if I had been allowed to wonder on my own rather than with a guide. The cathedral although quite small was rather nice. It was a lot of traveling for a relatively short time in Santo Domingo, but with the way the weather was back in Sosua it was worth the trip as we only had one heavy shower at lunchtime.