General Info

[Skittels]

Try to take several bank cards/credit cards with you to the DR (or whatever country you go. It will help a lot if you need more money than the skimpy 5000 pesos you get from the atm machine at a time. This amount varies by the way depending what they have in stock. So if you need it on the last day you could be in a surprise.

Tip 1: You can do another withdrawal on the same ATM, I could untill the limit of 15K.

Tip 2: It is possible to withdraw some extra with the same card from another ATM at the same day, but seems limited.

Tip 3: Make sure you have several cards at hand to raise your withdrawal limits. This is cheaper than having to go back with a taxi with another card.

Tip 4: Never ever trust on one Credit Card or one Bank Card, make sure you have at least 2 from both and from different banks/companies.

Tip 5: Especially for Europeans, use the ATM, Changing from Euro to Dollar to Peso, will need a heck of a good rate to cope with the unwanted double charges. And keep in mind that a credit card is not ment for cash withdrawal, you will get a nice extra charge for that too.

Tip 6: Allthough allmost everything can be done in USD, it is advisable (cheaper) to get at least 5k peso as soon as you are in the country, the cabby will now a working ATM.

Tip 7: If you plan to come back smuggle (its not allowed) some cash out for the next time, it is convenient on the airport when you return and need some tips.

Tip 8: If you buy dollars in Holland from GWK you will get a voucer for returning the dollars to a period to the same rate and without fee! With the dollar tapdancing around in respect to the euro this can be very handy.

Tip 9: Make sure you can stash the cash safe and do not walk in sight with a pocket book of cash. People overhere seem to make approx 2-3usd/100pesos a day!

For the dutchies, an ATM is a "pinautomaat or flappentap" and for the belgiums no an ATM is not a vibrator (pinnen=having sex). ;-))

[Ford]

It appears that, thanks to the aggressive measures taken by the Fernandez government and the owners of the "all-inclusives" to counteract the soaring price of the RD Peso - the value of the RDP has plummeted from 26 rdp to 1 usd one month ago to a price of ONLY 27.5 rdp to 1 usd today! (LOL)

You just can't fight capitalist markets or the inevitable re-patriotization of dollars back into the DR due to the holidays. (It burns us every year around this time - check the charts) Too many factors working against us!

Things just gotta" improve by the spring!

Cheers.

[Chris P]

Hey,

Anyone see Miss Dominican Republic in Miss World? She came second (that wouldn't happen if she was with me ;-) She was dark-skinned Latino, looked over 6 feet tall and was drop dead gorgeous.

Hey Jimmy,

Why don't you get her down to the Palace? ;-)

[Skittels]

If you come from Holland and use a "T-Mobile" card with international access you might be out of luck, it seems like it does not work (well at least not in puerto plata or in punta cana).

However if you have an "Orange" card, then it should work. This network pops up in the network search everywhere and it's available in europe too.

Alternative buy a 100 peso calling card and use it instead.

Note if you call holland the procedure for a calling card is:
[311]
{tone}
[Calling card secret code]
{some jabadabadoo in spanish on how much the account is}
[011] = to indicate that it is not the DR or the States
[31] = Holland
[123456789] = number without the [0] Else it will not work.

[Grand Pollo]

If you want a quality experience for your group, try Blackbeards Adult Resort http://www.blackbeardsadultresort.com near Puerto Plata although not 4 star they are quite good by DR standards and your group will be guranteed a good time.

GROSSLY overpriced girls for the convenience of them coming around there. For newbies a good place to start but you'd tire of paying double in short order I think. Nice hotel though. And since "Jah Cool" is going to the capital a touch of a long commute.

[Culebra]

Jah Cool,

Driving - Don't do it if you don't have too. It's pretty cheap to hire a car, diver or taxi to take you wherever you want to go and you don't have to worry about those CRAZY Dominican Drivers. I have been all over the world including asia, europe & other latin american countries, and Dominicans take the prize for the WORST drivers. If you are only there for 3 or 4 days, you can easily hire a taxi by the hour/day or evening and you can relax & enjoy the scene.

If you want a quality experience for your group, try Blackbeards Adult Resort http://www.blackbeardsadultresort.com near Puerto Plata although not 4 star they are quite good by DR standards and your group will be guranteed a good time.

[Jah Cool]

We want to be Santo Domingo. To be honest, I really don't care what hotel we stay at, as long as there is running water and its pretty clean. My friends are the ones who are particular, but can be talked out of that. As long asI am near the beach I will be cool.

Thanks again.

[Grand Pollo]

You might want to narrow it down a bit in your question to other than the entire country. There are not many 4 star places that are guest friendly other than the Jaragua and certainly non of the all inclusive resorts are period.

[Jah Cool]

Hey guy,

Me and 2 of my friends are going to the DR in March of 05. We are a little green on which hotels allow girls or have girls there. We are looking at staying at a 3 or 4 star place if possible. Also, we will be renting a car while we are there and was wondering how is the driving scene down there? WE are from the Virgin Islands so we are familiar with narrow roads, just need to know how crazy the drivers are. Would like to know where most of the sexiest chicks are so we don't have to be chasing back and forth for the pussy.

Any help is very much welcomed.

Thanks,

Jahcool

[Ford]

Boy, it seems like a million years ago (but it was only 4 months) when on July 6th I recieved an exchange rate of 53rdp to 1usd in a casa de cambio on Ave Tiradentes in Santo Domingo.

Now (11/12) the RD Peso has dropped below 30 to 1 and continues to fall. Incredibly, the DR1 reported yesterday that steps are now being taken by the government to try to artificially "deflate" the strentgh of the dollar because of a sudden shortage of pesos in circulation! Did you ever believe you'd live to see the day?

I think the govenrment is correct to get involved - if the peso if permitted to sink to a level of 20-22 to 1 it will kill tourism, and push us "hobbyists" to other countries in search of value.

Cheers,
FORD

[Reality]

Thanks for the info guys, hey do any of you guys know if there is a hotel like Black Beards in the Santo Domingo area? I live in Puerto Rico and for some reason its cheeper for me to fly to Santo Domingo (120 to 200 bucks round trip) than it is for me to fly to Puerto Plata (300 cheapest i could find). What hotels do you recomend? and what are the premo spots for mongering? be it economical and quality.

[Boriman]

You can get a phone from the US but you need to make sure that it is not locked into a network and that it accepts a sim card. Once in DR you just go to a phone store and have them change the chip to an orange chip (make sure that the guy gives you back your original chip). All Nokia phones are good for this. Also, European phones are easier to use in the DR because they are not locked. You can buy phones to use in the DR on ebay. Also, there is the issue of the roaming charges for phones that use US service but from what I hear as more and more international service is being introduced the price should go down but this will be a while. I've talked to many workers on the job and the international service is becoming more of an option. I talked to John at Blackbeards about the phones and he said that it would be very expensive to install and the pbx system is a pain in the ass.

[Grand Pollo]

Anybody know what the deal with cell phones is in DR? for the life of me i couldnt get mine to work (i use cingular) if i go back i would like to be able to have cell phone comunication since Blackbeards has no phones.

It is a bit of a gamble with roaming to say nothing of costing a mint.

Buy an Orange or Verizon/Codetel phone and use calling cards - they are available new as cheap as RD$600-900, and the cards start at RD$100. You will have the advantage of a local # the chicas can call as well and when the card runs out you still receive calls for free. If you are a frequent visitor they hold the number for the 50-70 days a card is good for plus at least 90 on top of that so a trip every 5 or 6 months you should be OK.

[Reality]

Anybody know what the deal with cell phones is in DR? for the life of me i couldnt get mine to work (i use cingular) if i go back i would like to be able to have cell phone comunication since Blackbeards has no phones.

[Racker]

I read internet webpages of local newspapers almost daily. For what I read crime has grew a lot in the recent weeks. I read articles about murders, at least five daily, in average. Lots of robbery, bank and stores assaults across the country. My girlfriend get robbed near el Conde yesterday, at noon. A country that looks for safe for me in recent times now looks like a dangerous place.

I thought the Dominican Republic was a high crime area in any case. Its probably full of desperate people. Yet Ive known people who have gone there, and none were attacked. Yet, a good friend of mine was robbed and beaten at a train station in Connecticut. Go figure.