Greetings from the Dominican Republic
For this March of 2008 trip, we flew in to the Santiago airport and found that before entering – you will have to buy a tourist entrance card for $10.00 per person.
Be sure and purchase this card prior to getting into the immigration line or you will have to exit immigrations and purchase the card. Then you will be at the back of the line once again.
Unfortunately, there are few signs to let you know about the tourist card requirement.
We stayed in Puerto Plata and arranged with a driver to take us to our destination. This hour and a half drive on the Tourista highway takes you through many small communities nestled in the mountains and offers several outstanding views of the mountain ranges.
Our driver, Joseph was very professional and handled the mountain pass with no problem. Driving this route could be very treacherous for someone who did not know the area and it seemed for worse than even Jamaican roads. If you decide to rent a car and venture out yourself, be wary of the Motorconchos (motorcycles). They pass you on the left, right, and seem to have a death wish!!
We finally arrived at our destination for the week in Puerto Plata at the Iberostar Costa Dorada. Nestled on the north coast, this all inclusive resort is very large and has several restraunts to choose from.
The food was not top quality but there were many choices. It was kind of your standard faire buffet stlye food you could find stateside – nothing spectacular.
The Iberostar Costa Dorada is also close to other popular north cost destinations such as Cabarete and Sousua.
So far so good at this resort. It is very large and seems to have all the amenities of your standard large scale all inclusive resort.
One thing that is very good here is the spa. The prices are very reasonable in comparison to other resort areas and they offer a wide variety of services. My masseuse Leo (odd name for a girl) did a aromatic one hour massage for $60.00 USD. Go to any half way decent resort and you will pay at least $100.00 for the same service.
We were set up for a garden view room but we were upgraded to a complimentary poolside ground floor room (bonus!! 
) the rooms were a little small but clean and very usable so no problem there. The towel game was in full effect here but if you place your stuff by 8:00 am you had no problem.
The ocean left a lot to be desired. We like the turquoise blue water that you get in most places in the Caribbean but because Puerto Plata lies on the north cost you get the Atlantic tides and it churns the water. It was kind of disappointing but what can you do. Try Punta Cana for better water quality if you have to have turquoise blue water.
This resort seems to cater to many european customers and south american customers. You get a very diverse crowd at this hotel.
We also wanted to check out the investment opportunities in the area and met with a couple of real estate agents for a tour of different available properties. We focused on apartment style developments in pre construction phases along with completed projects.
We had been talking with a married couple that work for Re-Max in Sousua. Arthur and Sally Byrd are a couple of part time ex-patriated New Jersey folks that really know the lay of the land down here and if you are looking for real estate down here I cannot recommend anyone more than Arthur and Sally. http://www.coralbayrealestate.com/ Real estate in the carribean comes with many twists and turns and no one can explain and guide you better than these two wonderful people.
