Punta Cana Dominican Republic

Trip date: July 2018

Take 3 indecisive friends and place them in front of a travel agent and watch what happens. In the beginning of the year my 2 long time friends and I decided it was time for a girls trip. One of them had just gotten a passport so we were super excited to go out of the Country and put it to use! When the three of us get together we are known for being very indecisive. I think it is just the way our personalities mesh. We often “It doesn’t matter to me, whatever y’all wanna do” each other to death! So of course we couldn’t decide on a destination ahead of time. We went to the travel agent and simply gave her the following parameters: 1- Our Budget 2- Full Week 3- Somewhere Tropical. 

It didn’t take our travel agent long to come up with a great deal to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. We did not object! We signed paperwork and put down our deposits that day!

The Resort

We stayed at the new adults only Riu Republica All Inclusive Resort, built in 2016, so it had quite a modern feel. I stayed at RIU properties in Jamaica before so one of the first things I noticed was all of the similarities, from the employee uniforms, to the property grounds, and even entertainment. The property was huge, it had 9 restaurants, 10 bars including swim up bars (my favorite!), 8 swimming pools, and it was located right on the beach where they also offered a variety of water activities. One of my favorite things about staying at the RIU is the bar that is included in the room and restocked every 2 days.. Cheers!

The employees at the hotel were great! Shout out to Louis who works for Apple Vacations and hooked us up with our excursions, and our favorite bartender David! David was a very attentive and talented bartender, he discussed with us his aspirations and told us he taught himself English by working at the resort and interacting with the guests…impressive. There were many others who treated us so well, and even a chef who made us pizza in the shape of a heart, que lindo 🙂

During the day, we usually found ourselves spending a lot of time at the pool, either in the water at the pool bar socializing with other vacationers or relaxing poolside deep inside of a book sipping a frozen drink.

A couple of nights we partied at the Disco Pacha club on the resort. It was a good time, but became a bit repetitive with the same song line up each night. I would have also liked to hear more local music rather than American music….being that we weren’t in America.

Food/ Comida

The resort had 2 main buffets that were open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and several specialty restaurants open for dinner only where reservations were preferred but not required. All of the specialty restaurants had a different theme and they were either buffet style or offered 3 courses. If you decide to eat at the steakhouse be prepared to be rolled out! The portions are huge and you WILL be full. The highlights for me were the daily fresh fruit and the jerk chicken station that was located near the beach. Basically, you could never go hungry!

Activities/ Ocupaciones

I’m used to getting to know the culture and way of life at places I visit. I want to know the music they listen to, the food they eat, and even historical facts about the area. I knew this trip would be a little different because we didn’t have any tours planned and we knew we would spend most of the time at the resort, which was cool for me for a change. I would finally be getting some much needed relaxation. However, we did venture out a bit. Included with our Apple Vacations package was a Mundo Authentico shopping tour. The plaza was located about 20 minutes from the hotel. The shopping experience included a tour of a cigar factory where they hand make the cigars. We were able to test them out, learn about cigar making and watch the process. Next we visited a jewelry store that highlighted the Larimar gemstone, a special type of stone only found in the Dominican Republic. The pieces were beautiful and affordable. We also visited a coffee shop where we were able to sample coffee from the island and a bar where we sampled local rum. I made sure to pick up a bottle of Mama Juana from the gift shop, this is the signature drink on the island made up of rum, wine, and honey soaked in a bottle with tree bark and herbs… it’s an acquired taste.

Another excursion we did was to Bavaro Adventure Park where we enjoyed horseback riding, Dune Buggying and a dip in a man-made waterfall before having an authentic local dish (nothing too special but it was the best food I had the whole week). Make sure you pack old clothes and sneakers for this adventure!
Click here to see what else this adventure park offers.

We used Robin Ernst as our travel agent. Check her out!
Travel Dreams Unlimited
Robin.Ernst@consultant.com
717-823-6231
Robin made the booking process super easy by laying out all of the details for us and providing a payment plan. By Mid-May we were all paid off and ready to go!

Wine Glass Half Empty: I would have liked to see more of the island
Wine Glass Half Full: The resort was beautiful and it was great to relax and have fun with my girls! I found out my Spanish was better that I thought!

Have you ever been to the Dominican Republic? If so, what is your favorite thing to do there? Leave a comment below 🙂