I have been traveling to brasil for the past 14 years, unfortunately, I am in a situation where I can’t afford to go to brasil 5-6 times a year anymore. It just too damn expensive!! For the past 2 years, one of my best friends has been trying to persuade me to give the DR a try. He was constantly telling me that the women are on par with brasilian women, but at 1/3rd the price. A couple of weeks ago, he sent me a link with a promotion that Jet Blue was having, only $330 roundtrip from NYC to Puerto Plata. Since a couple of my buddies would already be down there, I finally decided to take the plunge and give the DR a shot. I just returned from 10 days in Sosua and here are the major points about my trip.


CONS

1) Mosquitoes – Holy Shit!! I was fucking destroyed by the mosquitoes in Sosua I was covered with bites all up and down my body, its like they had a feast on my legs. Plus, I got some sort of rash all over my body. I don’t know if it’s a heat rash, beg bugs or what, its like small patches of tiny, red bumps on my stomach, arms, thighs and even on my back. I have been scratching myself to death since I got back to the states! !! Bug Spray is a must!!

2) Begging – Everyone in the DR is either trying to rip you off or begging you to death!! I wasn’t ready for the adults who constantly hound you for 100 pesos, I was ready for the little kids, but the adults are 10 times worse than the children, they will follow you for blocks begging for change.

3) Daytime Activities _ Absolutely NOTHING to do in Sosua during the daytime!! No malls, no cinemas, no tourist attractions, NOTHING!! I found myself sitting by the pool all day long waiting for 10PM to arrive. A couple of days I watched the world cup or called over a cutie to spend a couple of hours with me, but for the most part I was bored to death!

4) Spanish Skills - I foolishly thought I could get by on my portugese skills, big mistake. 90% of the time, people had absolutely no idea what the hell I was talking about! Even basic questions I couldn’t communicate properly! If I ever decide to return, I will definitely have to study the Rosetta Stone CDs, so I can get my Spanish up to par.

5) Food – I am half Puerto Rican, so I know good Spanish food when I eat it. I was surprised about the lack of excellent Spanish restaurants in Sosua. I was really looking forward to eating awesome Spanish food every single night and I pretty much just at the hotel everyday.

6) Hotels – I stayed at Terra Linda. Nice new place, but over priced at 70-80 bucks a night. Almost all the other hotels in the immediate area were 4-0-50 bucks a night. The terra Linda doesn’t want to cater to the monger crowd, they are going after the European family market. Which makes no sense, because families will stay at all inclusive hotels, not at a hotel right around the corner from “hoe central”.

7) 2 Immigration forms? – I know this is petty but it was annoying as hell! Why did I have to fill out an Immigration form when entering the country and another when I was leaving the country?!

8) Renting a Car – Since Sosua sucks during the daytime, I was thinking about renting a car to zip around to other cities. Everybody and their mother warned me not to do it. Any accident, even if it wasn’t my fault, would result in my visiting the inside of a Dominican jail for a couple of days until I bought my way out of the situation! It sucks that things are so corrupted against gringos.

9) Prices – While I admit that the DR is cheaper than Rio, its not THAAAT cheap!! My buddies kinda exaggerated how cheap the DR is and its really not. Rather than paying 100 bucks for TLN, I was paying between 50-75 bucks. Instead of paying 50 bucks for afternoon romps, I was paying 30 dollars. I didn’t see any termas/casas in Sosua, so I cant comment on the prices to get laid in those establishments.

10) Sex Skills - This was my biggest gripe! The lack of sexual passion! Now I knew they wouldn’t compare to brasilleiras, but still, these are Spanish women, I expected them to bring the heat!! I was extremely disappointed in the sexual skills and passion that the Dominican women exhibited. I fucked 9 women on this trip and 5 of them were duds, 2 were average and two were excellent. Those are horrible odds!!!

I have been spoiled by brasilian women who love having sex for 2-3 hours and multiple rounds. I couldn’t handle the Dominican girls who would ask me why I hadn’t cum after only 20 minutes; it was such a turn off. Plus, it was rare for me to get a morning session, so I saw no reason to pay for all night when they are just going to run out the door in the morning without fucking me. Out of 9 women, none of them fucked me before they left the next day.


Pros


Safety - I felt 100% safe walking around Sosua at all hours. I never once felt in danger or felt like I might be robbed even when walking towards groups of Haitian or Dominican men in the middle of the night.

Flights – I love the 4 hour flights from NYC and the prices couldn’t be beat. Less than 400 bucks for a round trip ticket? That is awesome!

Caberete – Sosua didn’t have shit to do during the day time, but Caberete was loaded with activities for cheap. From 5 hour horse back riding trips, to wind/kite surfing on the beach! I definitely plan on learning how to wind surf the next time I go to the DR, only 300 bucks for 3 days of lessons.

Apartments – The apartments in Sosua were really nice and you could rent for an entire month for only 500 dollars. They were big one bedrooms, with ac, internet and most buildings had nice pools as well.

High Turnover – The greatest thing I liked about Sosua is the high turnover. Unlike Rio where the girls will work in the same terma and in Help for years! Sosua constantly has new girls who bus in for the weekend to make money!

The women - Although there are not as attractive as brasilians, I have to say I was surprised how many attractive Haitians and Dominicans I saw every day! They may not have a lot of 10s, but there were hundreds of 7&8s.


I have to admit, I did have a nice time in Sosua and I will definitely give it another chance. Is it an adequate substitute for Rio? Hell fucking no!! I look at Rio as heroin and Sosua as methadone. I wont get as high as I did with Rio, but at least it takes the edge off! LOL!!!!!!!!

Thumper
I totally agree with your comparison. Rio is just a special place. If you expect to have the same feeling in Sosua, you'll be disappointed. However if you want a quick flight and a cheap 4-5 days to tide you over til your next Rio trip, Sosua works very well.

Yup, Sosua is for short trips when you just want to swing in and swing out fast. With some spanish and a proper hotel, like New Garden, you will really improve your vacation in there.
Oh i have suggestion for your daytime activity: Fuck. LOL.
Zen.

Here are some notes regarding your observations...mind you things may have changed quite a bit since I was there the last time 4 yr ago.

1- No comment.

2- They can be a real pain in the ass no? I prepare myself for the children and women...the men I am rude to and tell them to fuck off.

3- Other than the little beach and maybe a walk around Charamico that is it. But you got it Cabarete is a bit more entertaining. Puerto Plata is pretty boring and not worth the long ride other then one visit to Crystals (some 10s there)

4- No comment (I am fluent)

5- Dude...does the food suck or what? I did score on a couple of the family owned places where they had some killer and cheap home made eats.

6- If you look around you can get condos from 30-50 bucks...much better deal than the hotels in that price range. My first trip or two my technique was to stay at a hotel and spend the first day shopping around for apartments. You can always talk to Mark (Rocky's owner) and he will hook you up. In fact you can stay at Rocky's (very very basic) for a couple of days (free pick up at airport) and find an apt then.

7- No comment.

8- I rented a car on the last trip and it was a BLAST! The pick up opps increase exponentially for semi pros and...I know everyone says there are at least all semi pros in Sosua but plenty of normal chicks in La Union in PP, etc.

9- Ok...i have not been there in a while but I do not remember ever paying more then $20 TLN. Exception was hotties at Crystals which I think ran for $40-50.

10- I had no complaints in this dept myself. I did have a few rather non-skilled ones but those were the younger ones..new to the game?

I stopped recommending the DR after my 3rd trip. Much better options in many other places aside from the fact of checking out other parts of the world. I only recommend if only a few days available and able to score a super cheap tix.

Oh...and stay away from Boca Chica...that sucked...and not in the good way.

Thanks for the report. I havent been to D.R. yet. I have been to Rio, Colombia, Thailand and PI. I liked Help and haven't been since it has closed. I also first went when the dollar was much stronger. I like the free lance scene.

I plan on going to DR. If i was going with a group I think I would rent a house listed on VRBO. looks like they have nice homes to rent which is a plus. You could have your own party during the day with a group of people.

Rio has nice apartment but not too many nice houses. Same with Cartagena. Apartment are nice in Cartagena but the houses are expensive. I stayed in Costa Rica once with a group in Los Suenos next to Jaco. Have the big two story house with a pool was great.

People are pretty aggresive trying to sell you stuff in cartagena so I am use to that. Also a lot of beggars in Manilla. The kids follow you around.

I like Rio but some of the prices are high. The apartments are not too bad and partying in Lapa is not expensive. I went to the Carnival and we went to Lapa a lot. It was fun and cheap with everyone partying in the streets.

You should try Colombia if you havent. I have been to Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Cartagena and San Andres. Each city if different and has pros and cons. There prices for girls is good in Colombia.

Thumber,

If you haven't been to Colombia I would suggest going there. If it is a long stay I would suggest two cities. Each one has pros and cons.

Bogota- I have only been there once. If you are with a group they have nice apartments to rent with a maid. It is a large city so the traffic can be bad. The do have stuff to see during the day. The have some nice places to go out. You can probably fly there for pretty cheap and non-stop.

Medellin- Probably the nicest city. Lighter skin women. Has great weather. Never been but there is a fashion week and the flower festival. The lake and rock near medellin is very nice. Bring your own girl there. I went during the week and it was slow. There are party boats and a zipline on the weekend. Be a great side trip.

Cali- Salsa dancing. A lot of places to go out. Not to much during the day. All the cities have nice malls to kill some time. Great casas and some fun strip clubs.

Cartagena- On the beach so it is more busy during the week. Fun to party. The old town is cool. The beach is not nice but fun to party and pick up women. The clubs are fun. Some all pros and some are a mix of pros and non-pros. Cartagena is always fun. On a long stay I would hit Cartagena and another city.

Spanish helps a lot.

I have been to DR two times and have rented a car each time. It was one of the best investments. No problem driving...for me, it was easy to drive....pretty laid back. I slept until 1-2pm almost everyday (since I went out all night the night before, usually returning to the hotel around 3:00 or so AM), time passed fast....Ate breakfast, went to the beach, then started drinking early evening, dinner, girls, more drinking & listening to music....In some of the previous posts Cartagena was mentioned...I think Sosua is about the same. Actually I was more bored in Cartagena at times then I was in Sosua. In my opinon, then beaches in Cartagena suck compared to Sosua.

It is a laid back Caribbean island....just come prepared, with lots of beach time, swimming, books, magazines, etc...and it is pretty nice to hang-out. By 5:00pm each day I was feeling pretty good after a bunch of beers...Now, if you are non-drinker I can see a problem in my formula.

A weekend is perfect....anything more, too much. I will be back, but only for a quick 2-3 night trip.

Got a great Haitian girl that I met on my first trip and subsequently hit up on my return trip...and will once again when I return soon.

Sosua and nearby Cabarete feel like the northern part of Brazil. Super laid back. I really like Cabarete.

When I went the last time, I only saw one working traffic light between my driving from the airport, Sosua, and Cabarete. Pretty awesome!

A perspective from a monger living in Rio...traveling to DR and Sosua to monger :-) For me it is leaving the big city to party, drink, and fuck on a Caribbean island and a small one traffic light town. Good stuff!

lovingmarvin,

You are correct about the beach not being nice in Cartagena. It can be fun to drink and pick up girls but the water and sand are not that nice. San Andres is a lot nicer but you need to bring your own girl there. Santa Marta is a little nicer but prob. need to bring a girl there also. Santa Marta is pretty quite.

Cartagena is nice because you can go out 7 nights a week. Tu Candela, Mister Barbillas, and other plaes are fun if you like going out. You can end at Electra if you want to stay out all night. Buying bottles is the way to go if you are going to drink a lot. You can gamble if you want. It is small enough to learn the city pretty fast. Old town is pretty cool.

Cartagena has a varity of women no matter what coloe skin you like. Most the girl are not from there so long term is easier. They do not need to go home.

I havent been to the carnival in barranquilla but I would hit the carnival and cartagena in the same trip.

Colombia in general is a must see if you havent been there. Each place is different. One plus I do see in DR is the houses for rent. Haven't been there yet.

The DR has been in my cross hairs for some time now but with 10 cons I think I'll pass. The most serious con is number 10. We all put up with a handful of negatives on each trip but if the whole purpose of the trip, hot latin pussy, is not good, why go?