These past few weeks have been a whirlwind! I finished my summer internship, went off on a trip to Punta Cana, came home for a day, and left again to Halifax. Since then I’ve been moving and settling into a new place, hanging out with friends I haven’t seen in 8 months, and getting ready for school to start up this week! So this post has been on the back burner. But alas, here is my Dominican Republic trip recap!

Stay

The beauty of travelling to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic is that you will likely end up at an all-inclusive. Food, alcohol, and most activities are all paid for. At the Majestic Colonial Resort, we only had to pay for our shuttle to/from the airport, tips, and an optional excursion (discussed below).

With the pros of an all inclusive, comes the cons. Mass production of food and alcohol means you aren’t going to get quality steak and red wine. The food/drinks are not the best, just good enough.  Always got to be careful of food poisoning. I got sick one day but luckily it wasn’t as bad as most cases.

Sun, Sea, & Sand

With only 5 days in Punta Cana, we spent a lot of time sitting by the ocean and being in the pool. The waves are very subtle – don’t come here with intentions to surf (go to Tamarindo, Costa Rica) – but this means it’s good for chilling in the water without a current dragging you places.

Because of the seaweed, we spent most of our time in the pool (we are babies, yes I know). The pool was really refreshing to stand in (it wasn’t deep). Plus, there is a swim-up bar if you want to hydrate or get drunk.

The Entertainment

Every night, there would be a mini disco, a show, and an actual disco. At the mini disco, we’d sit around candlelit tables outside, order drinks, and then be dragged to the dance floor for some fun. Then it would move onto a show. I went to two shows, the Circus and Karaoke. After that, at 11pm, the actual disco occurs. I’m embarrassed to admit, I never made it to the disco. After spending all day in the sun and getting burnt, I was exhausted after the show.

There are activities happening throughout the day as well: volleyball games, Mr. Sexy competitions (for a laugh), beach Zumba, water Zumba, yoga … you can also rent kayaks and boogie boards for free. At our resort, Tuesdays consist of a huge foam party with music and dancing. The picture below is just as the foam was starting to fill the pool. At one point, the foam was taller than us – it was madness, fun madness.

Saona Island

This was the one excursion we paid for. I love sailing, especially on catamarans, so when I heard there was a sailing excursion to a secluded island, I was all in. This excursion cost about $90 USD per person, so it was expensive, but I think it was worth it. The sailing portion was over an hour, just enough time laying on the tarp to give me a vicious burn (oops). Beyond tanning on the boat, they played music, passed around rum and coke, and had a Zumba class on the main deck. Once we got to Saona Island, we had three hours to chill. We were told this island, has very few inhabitants, and visitors are not allowed to stay overnight, as it is a national park. The beach has lovely white sand and the water is bright and blue (seen in the header image). They served food and drinks there as well. Then speed boats came to pick us up to take us to a sand bank where we got to hold live starfish. That was really cool. The starfish were a lot thicker than I thought they’d be – not like the decorations you’d buy for your house. After a bit of time there, the speedboats took us back to our port. This may have been my first time on a speed boat, and it was thrilling. Our group was split in two so the boats decided to race. We all got soaked as we hit the waves.

Though all-inclusives aren’t my ideal vacation anymore – so much to see beyond a resort – it was a great way to end my summer before heading back to school. I love being by the ocean!