15/09/2023
Dominican Republic - Fast Facts:
Louise Rush - Once in a Lifetime Holidays is currently out in Dominican Republic, scouting for the perfect hotels for our clients and getting a feel for the area. None of the team have been, until now...
🇩🇴 Caribbean holiday hotspot!
🇩🇴 The time is GMT-4 (currently 5 hours behind UK due to British summer time).
🇩🇴 Average flying time 9hr 15 mins direct (my outbound was closer to 8 hrs 30 mins).
🇩🇴 Local currency is the Dominican
Peso. £10 is roughly 710 DOP. US dollars are widely accepted.
🇩🇴 The country shares it’s island with Haiti.
🇩🇴 Santo Domingo is the capital, a colonial city with UNESCO world heritage status.
🇩🇴 The annual carnival held in February is a colorful tradition with elaborate costumes and lively parades.
🇩🇴 DR is home to the highest peak in the Caribbean, (Pico Duarte) as well as the lowest point (Lake Enriquillo).
🇩🇴 Sargassum (floating seaweed) is generally worse during the summer months as the hurricanes wash it to shore but it is unpredictable and like many places. Some resorts/ areas don’t experience seaweed at all. Note - Dreams Macao doesn’t get seaweed at all. This is now abundant in many areas of the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.
🇩🇴 Some of Jurassic Park 3 was filmed in the Dominican Republic…
🇩🇴 And leading on from that one… DR is known for it’s amber that often contains prehistoric fossils, making it a valuable resource for both jewellery and scientific study.
🇩🇴 Baseball is the most popular sport.
🇩🇴 Some beaches have golden sand and green water and some have pure white sand and blue oceans so choose wisely depending on your preference!
🇩🇴 The Atlantic Ocean merges with the Caribbean Sea so some beaches tend to be choppy waters, unsuitable for swimming.
🇩🇴 Mosquitos are a thing. Use bug spray from the your hotel - it’s much more effective than what we get in the UK.
🇩🇴 Lake Enriquillo is the largest saltwater lake in the Caribbean and home to crocodiles, iguanas, and flamingos.
🇩🇴 DR one of the Caribbean's largest economies, with major industries including tourism, agriculture (especially sugarcane, coffee, and cocoa), and mining.
🇩🇴 Before the arrival of the Europeans, the island was inhabited by the Taíno people. Many words, such as "hurricane", "canoe", and "barbecue", originate from the Taínos.
🇩🇴 DR is the birthplace of merengue dancing.
🇩🇴 Sanoa island is a paradise island baby sister to Dominican Republic and used for scenes in Pirates of the Caribbean… today we’re going there on a catamaran!!
Photo of Louise on one of the beautiful beaches. Get in touch if you want to find out more about the hotel recommendations. We have our very own in house expert 💙✈