The Dominican Repubic

The DR is like the Cabo of the East Coast, and the least expensive of the Caribbean islands. The DR knows how to do all inclusive hotels. The live aqua was likely one of the most beautiful resorts I have ever stayed at. The property was so pretty. It provided what I always envisioned vacations should be. There is this hope I always carry when I check into anywhere that means a vacation. One where life is easy, that your in the perfect relationship, that you can eat anything anytime (they had 7 restaurants onsite), that the sun will always shine down on you, that the flowers smell good and are always blooming. I felt that way when I was here. I didn't want to leave.

The Island itself is still catching up to the influx of tourists that they continue to host. The Marina is where the water has that blue Caribbean look, its also where they run all of their water activities. Mostly on utility boats. There is a section in the ocean where you can "swim with the dolphins" and its very small and confining, made me feel sorry for those dolphins.

I tried to customize our experience out of the Marina. We just wanted to sail around for a few hours and have lunch on the boat. This took hours to try to set up, they are used to the pre set trips and don't have a lot of flexibility. We ended up on this large utility fishing boat. There wasn't any area to sit really, but they did their best. They took us out and forgot the food, so had someone run it out to us. I appreciated that they tried to make this work but they just aren't really set up for these requests, so if you go here, pick a hotel that you love and manage your expectations when you go to the Marina. This is where its not the Cabo of the East, but they are working on making it safer and more friendly for visitors. They just aren't there yet, but its still a great getaway to hit the Caribbean for a little less than most of the other islands.