I've been traveling the world a bit, and I like meeting new women in my adventures. Just want to say that I went to the DR for the very first time recently. I heard about Sosua but ended up staying in Costambar, near Puerta Plata. Costambar is a quiet, residential area, and the beach was only a 5 minute walk away from my hotel. If you're into the nightlife, you'll probably want to stay in Sosua instead.

I liked Costambar, but that's because I wanted to avoid all the craziness of bars and clubs, and I wanted some peace and quiet. I had a great time. I managed to pick up a chick (no P4P) who was hanging out at the beach, and luckily for me she knew English. So the next day we went out and she showed me around Puerta Plata, and then took me to Cabarete, where we hung out at night with a bunch of her friends. I'm definitely going back to the DR, but this time I think I want to check out Sosua. HTH FWIW

(08-24-2009 11:11 PM)Lumiere Wrote:  

(08-24-2009 01:03 AM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  Lumiere,

If you were staying a week in DR, is it better to set up shop in Cabarete or Sousa?

Nightlife, girls, food and beautiful beaches wise.

Thinking of staying http://www.cabaretecondos.com/ or http://www.piergiorgiopalace.com/

Thoughts?

Other recommendations?

Gracias.

- MPM
The Guide to Getting More out of Life
http://www.thegmanifesto.com

Prices of accomodation in Cabarete seem way too expensive to me (unless you want to learn to kitesurf and do a deal with a school - a lot of them will rent you a basic room for a decent price as part of your schooling).

Cabarete is a less than $1 bus ride from Sosua. Nightlife rocks far more in Sosua.

Beaches are nicer in Cabarete but bearing in mind the cost, that there is a bus every 5 mins from Sosua and you are there in 10 mins ...

My advice? Stay in Sosua. Stay for a few days first and get the layout of both places down.

Stay in Casa Valeria.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-...ublic.html

It's a smart, small clean place with a small swimming pool that's run by a nice Dutch couple that speak fluent English.

There is a cheaper place two doors down (between Valeria and small supermarket on the same road) that I stayed in as well run by a german guy that seem to not speak Spanish or English which is odd. Stayed there because it was cheaper and I was on a long haul stay learning kitesurfing.

Basically.

Cabarte = Kitesurf action. Better beaches and parties on the beach (albeit in only 3 bars, all of which are basically next to each other).

Sosua = Cheaper to stay. Way better nightlife. Wayyyyyyy more chick action (the vast majority will be semi pros who will want money but I f-closed a barmaid there a number of times without money every being raised as a subject, she just liked me so it IS possible.)

BTW. If you bump into american guys at the bars there on holiday, be wary of hanging with them. There are a LOT of guys from NY that are basically NY gang guys. The kind of guys that would scare you and you would avoid like the plague if you bumped into them on the NY metro.

Flights from NY are super cheap, quick and they go there to bang the cheap hookers and semi-pros.

Special recommendations : After a day of kitesurfing, typically I would go down to the centre of Cabarete beach. They have this one bar (I think its called LAX) that does a 2 for 1 mojito offer between 6 and 8 PM and their Mojitos are absolutely great and cheap.

A couple of doors down from there there is the best pizza restaurant in the whole damn country. I think its called Pomodoro. I lived there 8 months and travelled the entire country and there is no question in my mind that thats the best pizza in the whole country.

The spicy sausage pizza there is amazing (damn, I am getting hungry typing this).

So. Day kitesurfing followed by happy hour mojitos on the beach watching the beautiful sunset, followed by Pomodoros pizza (also served on the beach), followed by a trip back to Sosua to rock the bars (and maybe a little poker action at the casinos) was basically my ideal day.

Enjoy.

I agree with Lumiere 100% I've lived in both for a few months at a time once in sosua and another in cabarete so I'll share my experiences,

I would stay in sosua more going on ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT LOL you do have the pros but there attitude completely changes when I told them I was living there so I hardly ever had to pay to play.

However when I was in cabarete I would run into alot more tourist women europeans, german, israel, egypt, etc etc who would always acting like girls gone wild so ... it depends

like Lumiere said I would stay in sosua catch a taxi for 20 pesos less than a $1 over to cabarete during the day kiteboard cause the wind usually doesn't come in until about 2pm until maybe 6pm then happy hour at LAX (bar) wings & fries $125 pesos or 6-7pm 2 for 1 mojitos and pizza & pasta till about 9 or then taxi back to sosua and be out until 3 or 4 am,

i would also recommend getting a cell phone sim card ($15) over there so you have a local number for the chicas ( i just unlocked a att cell phone before I got there and just popped it in no problem) I would always tell em minana (tomorrow)or however you spell it and they would blow me up the next day and if you are paying for it the prices are about 1/3 of what they are on sat

Also I would stay at hotel seabreeze is sosua no question nice super clean rooms free wifi plasma tvs safe, security guard, tight security they hold your "guest" id until you walk them out the owner is hella cool and will give you the 411 on whatever ya wanna know, fyi "tell him you ordered pizza " lmao he'll know

I was down in the DR again -- this time to Sosua. I stayed in a hotel in the El Batey neighborhood, not far from the main street where all the restaurants and bars are.

I actually liked Costambar better. Sosua was a bit too noisy and crowded for my taste. Wasn't really into the P4P scene either. Sosua beach is nice, but it felt a bit small and crowded, not like in Costambar. I hung out mostly in Cabarete which is about 15 minutes away by motorcycle. If I had had more time, I think I could have easily pulled some really fine looking chicks -- it's pretty easy to meet and chat up girls there, but you need a few days at least.

Yeah sosua beach isnt up to much so i just would always take the 10-15 min bus ride to cabarete when in beach mode

Lumiere,

Una pregunta mas .

Are the bars and clubs in Sosua and Cabarete super mellow on the dress code tip?

Basically, I am trying to find out if I should pack nice shoes and slacks?

If it is not necessary, is it an advantage? or is it sneakers and flip flops at night?

There is no dress code dont worry

if you wear shorts and flips flops at night though you will be the only one dressed like that

pants tshirt and sneakers is just fine

how much does kite surfing lesson cost. Going to need one of those multi day lessons ?

It's the best place in the world to learn kite surfing. That's where I learned.

It's also oone of the cheapest.

Talk to the all the schools on Cabarete beach. As long as they know you are taking a week or two of lessons you should not be paying more than about $45-50 for the whole day including a guide.

There are plenty, shop around :

http://www.google.com.br/search?q=kite+s...=firefox-a

In Florianoplis, for comparison, it costs more than $100 PER HOUR just to hire the gear. No guide. No lessons.

(12-02-2009 06:23 PM)Lumiere Wrote:  It's the best place in the world to learn kite surfing. That's where I learned.

It's also oone of the cheapest.

Talk to the all the schools on Cabarete beach. As long as they know you are taking a week or two of lessons you should not be paying more than about $45-50 for the whole day including a guide.

There are plenty, shop around :

http://www.google.com.br/search?q=kite+s...=firefox-a

In Florianoplis, for comparison, it costs more than $100 PER HOUR just to hire the gear. No guide. No lessons.

$50 a day seem pretty good. ts like $800 for a 3 day course up here .

(12-03-2009 12:50 PM)NeVerGymLess Wrote:  

(12-02-2009 06:23 PM)Lumiere Wrote:  It's the best place in the world to learn kite surfing. That's where I learned.

It's also oone of the cheapest.

Talk to the all the schools on Cabarete beach. As long as they know you are taking a week or two of lessons you should not be paying more than about $45-50 for the whole day including a guide.

There are plenty, shop around :

http://www.google.com.br/search?q=kite+s...=firefox-a

In Florianoplis, for comparison, it costs more than $100 PER HOUR just to hire the gear. No guide. No lessons.

$50 a day seem pretty good. ts like $800 for a 3 day course up here .

Yeah that's a a stupid price.

For that price the schools in DR will sell you a very good quality set of your own kitesurfing gear. Kite, lines, board the lot and then you never have to hire again.

I would have picked up a set myself except I am on this round the world trip now and its too much to carry.

Just got back from Dominican Republic. Stayed in Sosua and cruised Cabarete.

First off, thanks to Lumiere and everyone else for all the tips, you really hit a bullseye.

Stayed at Casa Valeria, great spot and super cheap.

Here is a quick breakdown:

Cons:

Real small, and I was there an "off week" (which was cool), but it is hard to keep a low-profile.

There are a lot of German Kooks. The Dominican guys are cool though, if not trying to hustle you a lot.

Pros:

Tons of fly girls. Girls are really sweet and feminine. Think opposite of typical American girl.

Super Cheap. Haven't been on a trip this cheap in I don't know how long. Good meal with 2 Presidentes = $10.

Relaxing.

Special tips:

Go for the bartender girls. Almost every girl is a pseudo-pay for girl, but the bartenders are your best bet.

I would usually go to the restaurants, post up, and spit game at bartender girls. Invite them to the beach.

I went Dolo, but is a good place to go with a running partner, to have someone watch your back.

Anyone that has any questions feel free to ask me, I think I have the place pretty wired now.

- MPM

G, you should write up a complete trip report. Where to go, what to see, where to eat, all that jazz.

Yeah I go so sick of running into chicks that wanted pay for play at the regular bars that I switched to gaming the barmaids.

As I posted in my lay report, I got two different barmaids back to my place the same night. The first one actually asked me for cash for the lay too so I kicked her out and called the other one over. No such problems with her.

She became my DR regular girl.

(12-19-2009 07:47 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  Just got back from Dominican Republic. Stayed in Sosua and cruised Cabarete.

First off, thanks to Lumiere and everyone else for all the tips, you really hit a bullseye.

Thanks

Did you check out that place that I mentioned that does the great pizza and place with the awesome mojitos?

Lumiere,

"Yeah I go so sick of running into chicks that wanted pay for play at the regular bars that I switched to gaming the barmaids.

As I posted in my lay report, I got two different barmaids back to my place the same night. The first one actually asked me for cash for the lay too so I kicked her out and called the other one over. No such problems with her."

Yeah, that was a solid tip.

That being said, I don't doubt that you could pay almost any girl in Sosua. I saw some of the barmaids on the nights off, kind of "working it".

But let's face it, almost everyone has a price, especially in poor countries. I definitely don't hold it against the girls.

It is just the way it works. I was able to swoop two girls that were way down with me. If I was there longer I could have swooped more. But the town was closing in on me a little.

"Did you check out that place that I mentioned that does the great pizza and place with the awesome mojitos? "

Yeah. Great tip. It was called Pomodoro, you were right.

Here is how slow it was: I was the only one eating in Pomodoro.

Was it busy when you were there?

Also, I never felt in any danger at all, but do you think that place is real safe? Or do you think you can be mugged there?

I am hyper-paranoid of getting jacked, especially when rolling Dolo.

Chopper Read once said "Just because I am paranoid, doesn't mean people aren't trying to kill me." I prescribe to that theory. Which made me not push my luck too, too much. Or as much as I would normally, when I know my surroundings.

Side note:

One morning I saw two teenagers in a Caribbean style street fight. One with a long bamboo style stick, the other with half a cinderblock.

The one with the stick won.

Solid action.

(12-19-2009 10:43 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  That being said, I don't doubt that you could pay almost any girl in Sosua. I saw some of the barmaids on the nights off, kind of "working it".

Well the problem with the barmaids is that they see, every night, girls right in front of them earning $$$ for lays mainly from dumb tourists (Especially NY black american gang guys. Their poor $$$ passes for bling the in DR)

You just have your game tight so they don't file you in the same dumb tourist category.

(12-19-2009 10:43 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  Was it busy when you were there?

Moderately. Clubs in sosua were busy every night. Cabarete is always quieter.

(12-19-2009 10:43 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  Also, I never felt in any danger at all, but do you think that place is real safe? Or do you think you can be mugged there?

Like anywhere you need to keep your wits about you but basically yeah, it's safe.

Main threats are likely to be from the NY gang trash or from getting caught in the wrong place at the wrong time when the police there are opening fire on someone.

I used to live there and I never had a single problem even though people were warning me how dangerous it is to be walking around at night.

I never felt in any danger.

Can you guys breakdown the "ethnic mix" of the girls in Sosua and Cabarete??? Is it like Brazil , where you have black skinned girls, white skinned girls , and brown skinned girls, PLUS all the MIXED girls that are "multi -racial"......how would you guys describe the "look(s)" out there??? thanks.

(12-21-2009 06:18 PM)Giovonny Wrote:  Can you guys breakdown the "ethnic mix" of the girls in Sosua and Cabarete??? Is it like Brazil , where you have black skinned girls, white skinned girls , and brown skinned girls, PLUS all the MIXED girls that are "multi -racial"......how would you guys describe the "look(s)" out there??? thanks.

Great question. From wiki:

"The ethnic composition of the Dominican population is 73% multiracial, 16% white, and 11% black.[1] The multiracial population is primarily a mixture of European and African with a notable amount of Taíno influence.[23] The country's population also includes a large Haitian minority. Other ethnic groups in the country include West Asians—mostly Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians. A smaller, yet significant presence of East Asians (primarily ethnic Chinese and Japanese) can also be found throughout the population."

That being said, I would say the girls don't look very Brazilian.

They seem to have more Taino and black mix with less Spanish, very exotic, some real beautiful girls. It is kind of hard to explain. Way more African than Puerto Rican girls for sure.

Girls have nice lips, and butts.

But keep in mind, I was in Sosua and Cabarete, I think the upper class girls in Santiago and Santo Domingo would be a different story.

The girls are very sexy and sensual. They are true overachievers, they don't have much, but they got sexy swag down for sure.

The girls dress down sort of during the day, and look hot. At night, its high heels and skirts.

Makes American girls look silly.

All in all, the girls there get a big thumbs up from me.

I hope this helps. Maybe Lumiere could confirm or deny.

Those stats look pretty sound to me

they are basically a mix of african black and taino indian

very few white european

Quote:That being said, I would say the girls don't look very Brazilian.

They seem to have more Taino and black mix with less Spanish, very exotic, some real beautiful girls. It is kind of hard to explain. Way more African than Puerto Rican girls for sure.

I agree 110% with G.
Not even grading Dominican women on a curve will they ever compare to Brazilian women. Also,
I am no Dominican History professor but from the little that I do know, Taino Indians were basically wiped out from the Dominican Republic as well as other islands in the Caribbean within a generation of the arrival of the Spaniards. IMHO, they basically look like light skinned black chicks back in the States but with way better bodies. Except in Santiago where they tend to be lighter.

Quote:BTW. If you bump into american guys at the bars there on holiday, be wary of hanging with them. There are a LOT of guys from NY that are basically NY gang guys. The kind of guys that would scare you and you would avoid like the plague if you bumped into them on the NY metro.

I grew up with Dominicans basically all my life in NY, The guys you met probably weren't American per se. Also, A lot of Dominicans can pass as African American. DR has a very size able population of deportees. They basically came to the US when they were kids and when they got older, they got caught up in the drug game and ended up being deported back to the DR. Most of them are harmless, they just want to cling onto you for free drinks. But the safest thing is to stay away from them because they are what I call "bad luck dudes" bad luck just seems to follow them.

Quote: Well the problem with the barmaids is that they see, every night, girls right in front of them earning $$$ for lays mainly from dumb tourists (Especially NY black american gang guys. Their poor $$$ passes for bling the in DR)

You just have your game tight so they don't file you in the same dumb tourist category.

Again, I don't doubt that there are bona fide Black American gang bangers(Blood, Crypts, Latin Kings etc) in the DR tricking hard and making it rain, however, chances are that most of the 'black american gang guys" are in fact Dominican deportees. Also, the biggest offenders as far I am concerned who have ruined the DR sex wise has to be the old decrepit looking German and
Italian tourist. Those guys will fuck and pay top $$$ for anything as long as "it" has a hole. But I do aggress, The DR isnt the paradise that it once was even 10 years ago. Shit is about to get way worse because the New York to DR Western Union pipeline looks like is going to dry up because there are alot of people hurting in Washington Heights.

Yeah you are right about the German connection.

There are a lot of Germans (and Canadians for some reason) in Sosua but not tourists. They live there and, as with any german ex-pat spot, they created a large demand for p2p action. A demand the Dominican chicks are more than happy to satisfy.

"Most of them are harmless, they just want to cling onto you for free drinks."

That was my experience 100% percent.

"There are a lot of Germans (and Canadians for some reason) in Sosua but not tourists."

Yeah, lots of German and Canadian kooks. I was almost dreading conversation with them by trips end.

There is a little "down and out" factor going on in Sosua. I think people go there because its cheap and come in undercapitalized. Then start gambling.

Something I picked up on, not sure if others picked up on it as well.

(12-26-2009 06:06 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  There is a little "down and out" factor going on in Sosua. I think people go there because its cheap and come in undercapitalized. Then start gambling.

It's a mixture. An American friend of mine that used to run the poker table at the local casino is worth about $30m but you would never guess it from meeting him.

"It's a mixture. An American friend of mine that used to run the poker table at the local casino is worth about $30m but you would never guess it from meeting him."

Interesting, I think I met a cat like that too. Then this Canadian kook jumped in an spooled up the conversation.

I finished my beer and left to go swoop girls.