When we planned our visit to the Dominican Republic we weren’t sure what to expect. My husband and I didn’t know much about the DR before visiting, but we were excited to experience this new caribbean destination.
During our trip we stayed at the Majestic Colonial in Punta Cana. The staff was not particularly friendly, but I travel for the beach and the beach at this resort is beyond beautiful. The waves are not harsh, the water is somewhat shallow, and the fish jump out of the water in schools.
We stayed at the all inclusive Majestic Colonial (4.5 stars in trip advisor).
I found the people in the Dominican Republic to be a little rude toward tourists in general. Especially for an all inclusive resort, the staff was pretty judgemental by how much alcohol we would order and the drinks were very weak. At one point, the waiter asked my husband if he was an alcoholic after my husband requested a wine refill at dinner.
We were at their lobster dinner and everything else about it was amazing so, we decided to ignore this particular comment. This dinner was the best I’ve had at an all inclusive resort. It was a lobster buffet and THE ENTIRE restaurant was filled with different kinds of lobster meals. A few of the lobster dishes were displayed on lobster shells that were about a foot long.
While the beach was beautiful, the pool, not so much. It is not an adults only resort, and for some reason the staff was constantly cleaning poop from the pool.
Enough about the hotel, let’s talk about our excursions:
Cigar Factory Tour:
Eh. The factory was tiny and one of the guys rolling the cigars was obviously sick. The store was nice and we bought a couple of small items, but unless you’re an aficionado, I would opt for a water activity instead.
Surfing Lesson:
This was the highlight of the trip. It’s a day class, and the waves are small enough for even the worst of students (me) to stand at least once. Our tour guide took us to a public beach with small waves, and they took pictures of us the entire time so we have a souvenir (it costs extra).
I will say that we specifically asked our hotel to help us book with Macao Surf Camp, but they booked out trip with another vendor. The vendor was nice and I have no complaints, but a hotel should NEVER trick its guests this way.
Buggy Tour:
The buggy tour was also not worth while. Again, I would suggest sticking to a water activity. Our tour drove us through Punta Cana, where we stopped briefly at a public beach and then continued our trip through the jungle to a small watering hole.
