Our three weeks in Cabarete were primarily about relaxation!  We had been travelling fast for 6 weeks and the break was very welcome.

Gorgeous Cabarete Beach (S is in pink)

I have actually never stayed in a place for so long, except while I was studying Spanish in Guatemala.  I was a bit nervous that I would be very bored and get itchy feet.  This didn’t happen but then we did take some day trips to Sosua and Puerto Plata and spent a weekend in Las Terranas.  J even took a side trip to Haiti (coming to the blog soon!).  It was fun to do these trips and also awesome to have a nice base to come back to.

Mostly, though, we just took it very easy!  We relaxed with pool and beach trips and enjoyed spending time as a family.  I also used the free time to work on this site, and to start preparing for my new career as a high school teacher which starts a few days after we get back. You can read more about what we got up to in our 6 fun things to do in the Cabarete on a budget post.

A typical day?

One of us would get up when Z woke up, sometime between 6 and 7, the other one would get to sleep in.

Once everyone was up and had breakfast, we’d usually hop in the pool for some fun.  Z wasn’t always up for this though, so sometimes we’d stay in the apartment.

Relaxing in our complex pool

We’d spend the middle of the day in our apartment being lazy.  J would cook our lunch, often on the bbq on our balcony.  Z would have a nap.

After Z’s nap, we would think about hitting the beach.  Sometimes, we would sit on lounge chairs and have some cocktails while Z played in the sand and S would splash in the sea with whatever random kid she befriended.  We’d eat a snack dinner on the beach or head to one of the restaurants.  Often we would eat Chinese for dinner as it was cheap and the kids love it.

The kids would have a shower and go to bed, and J and I would work on our projects or watch some tv.

About every third day, we would go somewhere like Sosua, in the morning.

Budget

Our budget for the Dominican Republic was about US$90 a day.  About $50 of this was spent on accommodation. Things here are not cheap, and it is not that easy to live on this.  It allows us one cheap meal out a day, self catering the other meals, a beer at home and the occasional guagua trips.  We have been using present money from our families to pay for our cocktails.

There is a decent size supermarket near us.  Things are a bit cheaper than at home but not cheap.  Meals on the beach are around 500 pesos for a main (or about $12).  Other places start at about 150 pesos, but there are very few places in the main part of Cabarete with dishes less than 200 pesos.

The kids?

The kids are loving our life here.  Lots of time to play and relax.  S has made friends in our apartment complex so loves going in the pool with them.  They both have their own rooms (although Z’s is actually meant to be an ensuite!) which is making life slightly easier for us, although they share a room at home so that wouldn’t be a problem anyway.  It is nice not having the kids in our room though!

It is not that easy to walk around with the kids – the footpaths are broken and non existent in places or there are cars parked on them!  It is lucky that S is big for her age and good on her feet or it would be hard to get around.  I felt like I couldn’t get around with the kids by myself when J was in Haiti, so I spent most of the time in the apartment.

Our verdict?

We love it here.  It is so easy and nice and relaxed.  It is a good mix of enough people around to give it enough tourist infrastructure to be easy and a good energy, but not so many that it feels overrun.

I shouldn’t have worried that I would be bored staying here for so long.  We needed it after the first crazy six weeks of the trip, especially after the full on road trip.  Our little trips to other places helped keep things interesting.  I have actually just loved the Dominican Republic and Cabarete more and more every day we spent here.

You can also read about how to get to Cabarete from Santo Domingo.