The Rough Guide to Dominican Republic [Paperback]

Sean Harvey (Author)

Book Description

Series: Rough Guides | Publication Date: February 1, 2000

A comprehensive handbook to this diverse Caribbean destination of the Dominican Republic, this guide features detailed coverage of fishing villages and historic cities, and reviews of hotels, restaurants and bars.

Editorial Reviews

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Where to go

As stated, many visitors head directly for beachfront resorts, and there's much there to admire, to be sure. The southeastern part of the country probably has the loveliest all-inclusive resort zones, Bvaro and Punta Cana, both holding more pristine coastline stretching for kilometres on end, broken up just by coconut trees and, of course, hotels. These are slightly outshined, if not in attractiveness then by sheer magnitude, by Playa Dorado along the north coast, the largest all-inclusive complex in the world. Fortunately, Playa Dorado is close by Puerto Plata, an historic city worth examining for its wealth of Victorian architecture and proximity to developed stations like windsurfing capital Cabarete, to the east, and less trammelled villages such as El Portillo, home to the remains of Columbus's first colony, to the west.

More great beaches are scattered about the Saman Peninsula, poking out at the country's extreme northeast. Its primary city, Saman, also serves as a base for checking out the humpback whales that migrate to the Bah'a de Saman in the winter to mate and give birth and for boat tours to the lush mangrove swamps of the Parque Nacional Los Haitises, on the interior of the bay. The sand and surf theme continues in the southwest, mainly straight down the coast from Barahona, where you'll find isolated beaches with not many crowds at all on the pebbly waterfront - and, correspondingly, not many facilities either.

On the southern coast the capital city, Santo Domingo, offers the most fulfilling urban experience, and should obviously be on anyone's itinerary, not least because it has the country's largest airport; in addition, there are the historic forts, churches and homes of the Zona Colonial and, on a more modern note, the nation's top museums, restaurants and nightlife, scattered all about. Santiago, tucked away in the interior Cibao Valley, ranks a distant second, though there are no better areas to learn about the history of tobacco and see the production of cigars - a major Dominican export - firsthand.

If you're seeking a bit more adventure and outdoor life, you needn't look too hard. The Cordillera Central, the island's largest mountain range, should be a high priority: in addition to choosing between several-day treks through the wilderness to the top of Pico Duarte - the tallest peak in the Antilles - you can head to Jarabacoa, a resort town blessed with four waterfalls in its immediate vicinity and featuring all manner of mountain sports, or less developed Constanza, a circular valley short on tourist development but chock full of natural grandeur. Few visitors make it out to the rough Haitian border along the DR's western edge, but there are compelling sights here as well - though the singular experience of slowly trawling along desolate roadway, if some of the track can even be called that, straddling two distinct nations is likely the greatest attraction. Chief among the natural highlights, however, is Lago Enriquillo, a saltwater lake the size of Manhattan, inhabited by hundreds of iguanas, thousands of tropical birds and even American crocodiles.

When to go

There are two distinct tourist high seasons in the Dominican Republic, the summer months of July and August, when travellers from the northern hemisphere have some time off to get away for a couple of weeks, and the winter season from December through late February, when the Dominican climate is at its optimum, having cooled down just a bit from summertime. You'll therefore save a bit of money - and have an easier time booking a hotel room on the spot - if you arrive during the spring or the fall, which is just fine, as the temperature doesn't really vary all that much from season to season. In the Cordillera Central mountains, you can expect temperatures to be about four degrees cooler on average than in the valleys and along the coast - making those spots prime targets for wealthy Dominicans looking to escape the summer heat.

Keep in mind also that the Dominican Republic is right in the centre of the Caribbean hurricane belt, and gets hit with a major one every decade or so; the most recent was 1998's Hurricane Georges, which annihilated much of the year's harvest and wiped some small villages completely off the map. August and September is prime hurricane season, though smaller ones can occur in the months before and after those, so you may want to play it safe and schedule your trip accordingly. If you are on the island when a hurricane is about to strike, your best bet is to head immediately for the closest high-end tourist hotel, which should have a protected shelter for its guests. Definitely do not wander around outside, and don't be fooled by a brief respite of calm - you may well be in the eye of the hurricane, which means the destruction will start up again soon.

Summer is the traditional rainy season in the Dominican Republic, but with weather patterns somewhat disrupted in the past couple of years, you can expect short bursts of rain a few times a week - most of them lasting no more than a couple of minutes, to be quickly followed by sunshine - regardless of the time of year.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Rough Guides (February 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1858284465
• ISBN-13: 978-1858284460
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,041,898 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #41 in Books > Travel > Caribbean > Dominican Republic

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If there's a better guide I haven't found it!, August 31, 2003

By 

Andrew Dennison (Near Tucson Arizona USA [e-mail]) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rough Guide to Dominican Republic (Paperback)

I have treveled in the DR and Haiti many times over the last 20 years doing volunteer work and this is by far the best guidebook I have run across! I read the customer reviews and noticed one that said "Good book, but lack of DR Reality". This book deals with off the beaten path and does it very well indeed! If one visits Santo Domingo or Puerto Plata and Sosua in the north, you will not encounter the country's great poverty. These are the cities of the elite and wealthy. How much poverty would one expect to find in Beverly Hills? The presidential palace and most diplomats live in Santo Domingo. There are squatter slums on the outskirts of even this great city. Where this guidebook excells is in taking you away from the big cities to the smaller towns and villages. If you want to know how to ride in the back of a pickup to adventure.. to visit Batays where sugarcane is harvested.. to see the dangerous frontier along the Hatian border, to see how common Dominicans live, to find the cheapest places to stay and to eat... This is the only book of its kind out there! I recommend the Lonely Planet guidebook along with this one for virtually all the info one would ever need on one's trip. In all fairness This is a book for the would be adventurer... the person unafrade to venture off the tourist paths. The other reader commented "We visited the DR and we don't know how they wrote 80% live in poverty..." Be prepared to confront extreme poverty outside the capital city and affluent areas. Hospitals are ill equipped and non staffed.. carry health supplies with you and get to Santa Domingo or Puerto Plata if possible if you need hospitalization. Many rural schools have closed because the teachers could not survive on their meager stipend. The travel becomes dangerous near the Haitian border as Dominican police are scarce and not able to do much there. Almost everywhere there are frequent blackouts.. most homes have a generator because this is a common problem.. dont count on electric shavers, hair dryers or other appliances and pack some candles in your bag when you venture on this route. BE PREPARED to see things other tourists never see! Dominicans are kind and generous and will go to extreme lengths to help you. DO LEARN some Spanish as in rural areas you will need to communicate and most English speakers are in Metro areas. Puerto Plata and Sosua in the north have large colonies of Jewish and German people so if you speak German you can find someone there. I hope my comments here are helpful to someone.. and don't be afrade to venture off the tourist path!

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars By Far the Best Travel Book on the Dominican Republic, March 22, 2000

By 

Janet Dempsey - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rough Guide to Dominican Republic (Paperback)

If you're going to the Dominican Republic you've got to use this book. I brought four different books with me on my trip to the Dominican Republic and this was the one that I found was by far the most accurate. It had great, honest coverage of the all-inclusive hotels, comprehensive coverage of all the major tourism areas, like Santo Domingo's colonial district, Puerto Plata, Punta Cana, Cabarete etc. But what was most helpful were the terrific recommendations for sights to see that weren't in any other guidebook. My husband and I were able to explore Taino caves that have depictions of Christopher Columbus' three ships. These caves were in the middle of a wilderness national park and no other guide book even knew that they existed. Also by far the best restaurant and bar recommendations. Highly recommended.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars To the Dominican Republic and back., February 18, 2000

By 

Michael Supple (Elmira NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rough Guide to Dominican Republic (Paperback)

If you must settle for only one guidebook on the Domincan Republic then you MUST settle on this one! Mr Harvey certainly covers all of the mainstream tourist destinations in great detail but what intrigued me is how he encourages readers to venture off the beaten path and then leads you down that path. Of course the information is the most current as the book was published within the last month. I have never had the pleasure of visiting the Dominican Republic but plan on doing so this summer. I feel fully confident that Mr Harvey's Rough Guide will get me there and back. Five stars indeed!