Travelling To Dominican

[Phikshin]

So, I'm planning on travelling to the Dominican Republic around November 10th or so. I was wondering which is better for beaches, sun/shade, cleaner water, etc...Punta Cana or Puerto Plata?

Also, which (if any) credit cards offer travel insurance (Trip Cancellation, medical, etc) and have a low/no annual fee.

[sketchED]

Went to Puerto Plata in late Aug & stayed @ the Grand Oasis Marien, it was a really nice resort, however after speaking with many of the other guests ... the consensus was that Punta Cana was much nicer, (white sand, more commercialized, no rocks) and generally more things to do ... mind you we had an amazing time @ GOM, it is very intimate and you get to meet many people, unlike Cancun or the other commercialized resort cities.

Make sure you go on tripadvisor.com & do your homework on the resort your interested in ... look @ the overall common themes with the reviews and don't take each one literally as many people have very different expectations and needs

As for travel insurance, I think RBC sells it for about $25, however mine is covered under CIBC Divident Platinum $79 annual fee for medical insurance only, not too sure if any credit cards have trip cancellation ... if you intend to be covered for trip cancellation make sure that you purchase the insurance prior to making a down payment or full payment of a trip (some places have a clause that you must purchase the insurance within a certain time period of placing any sort of deposit) ....have fun

[Phikshin]

That's sort of what I heard although I heard that the water was nicer on puerto plata (no seaweed washes up against you, etc) not sure if theres any truth behind that

[boyoflondon]

Keep in mind that Puerto Plata is a much older resort destination and many of the resorts are due for renos or have undergone some. I have personally been to Breezes Puerto Plata and Occidental Allegro Playa Dorada. The beaches were not amazing or anything, but you could go far without encountering sea weed.

Punta Cana is the newer part and resorts/beaches are much nicer. My parents have gone once and they really liked it. Some family friends also went and they had a great time with the whole family.

If I had the choice, I would check out PC.

[mlc2000]

Keep in mind that Puerto Plata is a much older resort destination and many of the resorts are due for renos or have undergone some. I have personally been to Breezes Puerto Plata and Occidental Allegro Playa Dorada. The beaches were not amazing or anything, but you could go far without encountering sea weed.

Punta Cana is the newer part and resorts/beaches are much nicer. My parents have gone once and they really liked it. Some family friends also went and they had a great time with the whole family.

If I had the choice, I would check out PC.

My wife and her 2 sisters just went to Breezes. The room conditions were deplorable. mold in the bathrooms, they switched rooms 3 times in 2 days. One room they had no safe key so they had to carry their airline tickets/passports with them to the beach. They met a couple who were getting married and their wedding rings / passports were stolen from their safe.
Resort staff said they did not need to call police, they resort security would conduct investigation and since the couple were leaving in 2 days, they would not be able to complete the investigation that quickly.
in other words they were SOL.

On the 3rd day, they left the resort in favour of Grand Oasis Marien, which was 10X better than Breezes.

[jpatel1984]

Keep in mind Puerto Plata has yellow sand beaches and Punta Cana has white sand.

cheers!

[MoboMofo]

We went to Cabarete which is close to Puerto Plata last summer.
Stayed in a brand new condo that we got via VRBO.com for 600 bucks a week. Here is the review I wrote on DR1 forum. DR1 is full of travel advice. I met a wonderful expat lady from there on DR1 forum and she met us at the airport and toured us around the island. I don't know if you will be that lucky, but it pays to be nice, and do your research on the internet. Have fun.

http://www.dr1.com/forums/trip-reports/78796-hicks-sticks-visit-cabarete-part1.html

http://www.dr1.com/forums/trip-reports/78863-hicks-sticks-visit-cabarete-part2.html

http://www.dr1.com/forums/trip-reports/79093-hicks-sticks-visit-cabarete-part-3-a.html

http://www.dr1.com/forums/trip-reports/79350-hicks-sticks-visit-cabarete-part-4-a.html