Thursday 25 Apr, Dom Rep day 2: Visit Samana town, Valle Bay and Lulu waterfalls.
Such a wonderfully peaceful night in the Marina Puerto Bahia. Not a sound, not even a ripple on the hull.
At 9:30 our rental car is delivered. We only wanted it for one day but the guy offers a deal for two days. So two days it is. Good, because we really didn’t feel up for rushing like mad dogs trying to see everything we could in just a day.
First, we visit the town of Samana which is 10 minutes’ drive away. Here we buy a SIM card for the phone. This is the first island we have visited where neither of our SIMs work: my UK SIM nor our FLOW SIM bought from Barbados which has worked all across the Caribbean so far. It takes a bit of time at the phone store, but what a great deal: US$3 for 5 days of unlimited 4G. So we splash-out and get 15 days’ worth!
The town itself is quite interesting. A different feel from other towns in the Caribbean. It’s quite tidy and has a nice water front but the shops and stalls are very poor quality. Clearly a poorer community than Puerto Rico which is heavily supported by the USA.
The streets are buzzing though – lots of scooters zipping around, making driving a bit of a nervous affair. Feels like Vietnam in that respect, with many scooters carrying 3 people. And others carrying cargo on the back or sideways. But we soon get comfortable, realizing that as long as we don’t make any sudden maneuvers, the scooters simply “flow” passed us, in all directions.
After a quick look around Samana town, we head north to the Valle Bay on the north coast of the Samana peninsula. The drive is through rolling hills with lush green vegetation and lots of palm trees.
When we arrive at Valle beach there are several busloads of tourists in the beach bars and on the beach. Obviously all on tours from all-inclusive-resorts. In the bay there are several anchored yachts all rolling heavily in the Atlantic swell that hits this coast. We declare we won’t be anchoring here! And anyway, what is the point when it’s impossible to come ashore with the dinghy? There is huge swell crashing on the beach. It would easily flip any dinghy over.
We buy a beer and sit in the shade of a palm to relax and watch the world go by for a while. We see the tourist guides rounding up their flocks: time to get back on the bus to the next destination on their day tour, we guess.
On the way back to Samana we stop at the entrance to Lulu waterfall and walk the few hundred meters to the falls. As we walked along the dry river bed we should have guessed… that’s right, when we get there something is missing from the scene: water! It’s completely bone dry, both the waterfall and the pool below. So we turn around and walk back to the car, via an “eco” hotel: wooden huts very rustically set in the jungle. And overhead we occasionally hear a buzz and a scream as people are zip-lining over the valley, several hundred feet above us.
Once in the car we debate whether we spend another three hours in the car to see the next place of interest, or drive straight back to the marina for another relaxing afternoon by the pool. A few seconds later we are on the way to the marina! Enough of driving for one day. We’ll make tomorrow a bigger day.
Back on board we are a little frustrated to find the internet at the boat still doesn’t work. The reception tells us this is how it is. Yes, free WiFi but only within a 10m radius of the reception desk! How is it that marinas in this part of the world don’t realize the key aspect for a cruising yacht to come into a marina is not to get shore power, nor water, nor fuel, nor showers…it’s INTERNET that we come in for!! Nevermind, we have our local SIM now, so not to worry.
After “lunch” we are back at the lovely infinity pool overlooking the Samana Bay, having a swim and sunning ourselves on the very comfy sun beds. Luxury. Bliss. This makes up for no WiFi :). There are several other cruising people by the pool and we chat to them, comparing stories and taking notes of their experiences.
In the evening we work out our plan for the coming days in Dominican Republic. Our time is now running short as we approach the mid-May deadline to head north to the Chesapeake (oooph, where did this season go to?). We’ll have 3 more days here including a day trip to the capital Santo Domingo and a day anchorage in the national park on the south side of Samana Bay, then head to Puerto Plata and have a couple of days kiting at the world famous kite beach in Cabarete – the same place I learnt to kite surf 12 years ago. Then head to the Turks and Caicos and hopefully see some whales, which come here to mate this time of year before migrating north for the summer.
Well, that’s the plan tonight… it will probably change again tomorrow after another good night’s sleep 🙂