Snorkeling and Punta Rusia

We took an amazing tour called Paradise Island. You can see their website at www.cayoparaiso.com . We took a jet boat for 30 minutes across the ocean to a small sand bar island. On the island they have a bar set up and a place to put your things. They have a small hut for the snorkelling gear as well.

We went snorkelling by a coral reef and it was amazing. The staff give you bread. You hold it in your hand and swim out. When you are out there you smoosh it up and the fish swarm you to eat the bread! It was great for taking photos with the underwater camera. We saw so many fish. The water was so clear and warm! Made me want to learn to scuba dive!

After snorkeling they took us along the shore to see the mangrove trees in the national forest. That was pretty cool. The roots of the trees were amazing!

Then we went to Punta Rusia. Which is a little fishing town. They had a bar and restaurant there for us. We had a buffet lunch. The food was really good!

Behind the restaurant they had a little petting zoo sort of thing with goats, iguanas, and some birds. As well as a fountain.

Behind that on the road, was the town. I took a walk down the road and took pictures of the buildings and the people.

Sosua Beach

Sosua Beach is a great little town. The beach there is amazing and it's great for snorkelling because it is in a bay, the waves aren't as rough as they are at Cabarete Beach.

Sosua Beach is located 15 minutes from Cabarete and about 30 minutes from Puerto Plata. It is very touristy. There are many many vending stalls along the beach. It is very shady down there and a really cool experience!

Cabarete

Cabarete (Cah- Bah- Ret-Ay) is the town that our resort was located in. It was a lovely little town. The locals were so friendly with us all the time. Always saying Hola with a big smile. Stopping to chat with us about where we were from and saying "welcome home!" It was great!

The shopping there was good. There is a wonderful bar called Jose O'Shay's and it is run but a Canadian. It is an Irish pub and it is kinda cool. We went there once for drinks. Mostly it is used for cutting thru to get from the beach to the street in town!

The way they drive is amazing! There are basically no rules and pedestrians don't have the right of way...in fact I don't think they know what right of way means for anything! lol

Puerto Plata

We spent alot of time in Puerto Plata the last couple days. We met some locals and they took us to see the real Dominican Republic! It was great!

We did a tour of Puerto Plata including the Brugal rum factory which was really cool, we went to the amber and larimar museum, Sosua Beach (which is just outside of Puerto Plata). The best part of the tour was that they allowed us to walk around downtown Puerto Plata without our guide for 2 hours! That was the best! We got to see the people, take pictures and just hang out and people watch!

Some of the pictures posted here are from the tour and others are from just hanging out in Puerto Plata with our friends! They took me on a drive to find a homeless person. I love this photo of him too!

Our Resort

We stayed at the Viva Wyndham Tangerine. I loved this place! It was a 5 minute walk to Cabarete. The hotels located at Playa Dorada are about 40 minutes to any major centre. So you really can't leave the resort on a whim.

We were rarely at the resort because we were always in Cabarete! It was such a nice little town. A tourist town but still a nice town! We found two really cheap dollar store type shops that weren't pressuring people to come in and shop. There is a scotia bank in town with an ATM. There are many places to eat at and shop at. There are also many smaller hotels that aren't all inclusive in town as well. There are also TONS of kiteboarding lessons places!

Our Resort was a 4 star. It was a nice place with lots of ammenities. We hardly used any of the things they had to offer! The staff went out of their way to make you feel welcome and to make sure that you were happy while you were there. The tour desk was great for answering any questions you had. They had a money exchange right in the resort which was nice...no need to find a reputable one in town!

Outback Safari Tour

On Saturday we went our second tour call the Outback Safari. It was amazing! Our tour guide was George. All the guides were so great! They told us all about life in the outback for Dominican People. We learned about some of the history of the Dominican Republic. We saw a typical Dominican home. We also got to hold crabs and an aligator! That was soo cool! We had such a great time on the tour. If anyone goes to the Dominican Republic this is a MUST DO THING!!!!

Kite Boarding

The resort that we stayed at was in Cabarete. Which is known for it's amazing kite boarding. We didn't try it but it was sure fun to watch them zip along on them. They have a large kite (almost like a parachute) that is strapped onto their waist and then they have a board strapped to their feet.

The locals that do it often can really get some air! It is amazing to watch! Any day there are over 100 kiteboarders on the water. It was amazing to us that they never tangled up in each others lines!

All along the beach there were kiteboarding schools!

Dominican Republic!

I had an amazing time in the Dominican Republic! We barely spent any time on the resort at all. We met a local and we hung out with him and his friends. They took us to the local bars, taught us how to merengue, salsa and cha cha! It was a blast!

We saw so much of the country and the people. Such friendly people there! Everywhere you go people are calling out Hola! with a big huge smile! They try so hard to speak english even if their english is very limited! We were made to feel so good while we were there!

Walking down the street all the moto-taxi (motorcycle taxis) drivers would call out "Hey Pretty Woman you need a ride? You come I take you!" lol it was great!

We want to go back again. We didn't get to see and do everything we wanted to in one week. It just wasn't enough time!

A special cake for a special Day!

Today we celebrated our Christmas. Every year I get a special cake to celebrate what would have been my fourth child's birthday. Sadly she died when she was a month old and never got to have a birthday party.

I ordered her cake this year, once again from a friend who does AMAZING cakes. I told her I wanted it to be girly and I wanted flowers and I wanted a fairy on it. She could do as she liked within those parameters!

This is what she came up with! I am sooo happy with the cake! She also makes them TASTE good too!

The kids were very happy with all their gifts! We had a wonderful dinner complete with Christmas Crackers which the kids loved! They all had fun playing and visiting with their Grandparents as well.