Our First All-inclusive Resort Experience

Twin rows of three story multi-unit villas, lazily arranged on either side of a wandering man made lake, landscaped gardens and free form pool, meander perpendicularly away from the white sand beach and azure water of this self-proclaimed 5 star resort.

Our unit was adequate with a king size bed, a wicker loveseat and chair, (very uncomfortable), a small television with a good selection of channels, a coffeemaker, a fridge stocked with beer, water and sodas, and a wicker desk and chair. The shower was so small that if you bent over to wash your feet, you either hit your ass on the cold wall, got it stuck to the curtain or turned off the faucet. There was a large tub which took forever to fill up and drain. There was a very large vanity area with generous counter space. The pillows on the bed were lumpy—bring your own if you have room in your suitcase.

Each unit had a patio or balcony with one or two chairs and a hammock. The air-conditioner was not very vigorous, but there is a fan over the bed—some people complained that their fans were noisy; one couple even had it hanging by wires from the ceiling!

At the southern end of the resort is a private area for “Royal” guests. I am told the rooms are larger, with actual jets in the tubs, and more nicely decorated. They have their own buffet restaurant and the lounge chairs on their private beach come with cushions.

We wanted to do a half day excursion and little was available except for this. The tour agent sold it to us, but did not seem too enthused. We soon learned why. Only do this if you are in good physical shape and are okay with risking your life and that of others.

The tour starts out fairly innocuously with a bus trip to the headquarters on the beach where we were introduced to your guide, outfitted with a life jacket, and were given a brief overview of the excursion. There is a small feeling of trepidation as we see the speed boats are 200 feet out and we are told to swim out to the boats. We all laugh at the joke and are relieved to see a water taxi appear. Feeling safe and confident with our life jacket on, we all hop gracefully (not) into an open boat with 15 to 20 other daredevils and a few guides who assist us with the climb from lapping shore waves into bobbing boat. The fun begins as the boat picks up a small amount of speed and salt water starts to spray into the boat. This might be refreshing if it were really hot out, but the day was slightly cloudy at this time of the day.

As we get close to the line of speed boats, the large ferry boat slides alongside and with one guide holding the two vessels together, each couple hops from large boat to smaller speed boat. While we are trying to get settled, we are told to look up and smile for the obligatory picture of what a good time we are having. The process is repeated for each couple and the next process is to unhook all the boats, One of the guides does this and as he releases each boat, he hops on board and starts the boat. Standing up and leaning over the couple, he drives to the next boat and agilely leaps over to repeat the sequence. We are told to circle while waiting for everyone to be freed from the line. It is obvious that some people either do not know how to drive a boat, were not listening or do not care that they are about to smash into another boat. Defensive boat driving is a must!

The next part of the excursion requires a trip along the coast to a reef for snorkeling. Somehow these boats seem to be designed to get the occupants as wet as possible in the minimal amount of time. Again were it sweltering hot, it would possibly be refreshing, but there was so much salt water spray splashing into our eyes, we could not even keep our eyes open. I was the passenger so just kept my eyes closed at all times. If I were to do this trip again, I would be wearing goggles. It is probably not a good trip to go on if you have a bad back or hips as the boat just kept bouncing on the waves. Under my very thin cushion there seemed to be some kind of metal bolt that I landed on very time the boat crashed down on the water. The nose of the boat kept rising higher and higher as the back filled with water adding to the difficulty of seeing anything in front of us. Nevertheless the guides kept urging us to go faster and faster.

After a 30-minute ride, we were close to our snorkeling destination and we now had to anchor our boats to a line. With hand signals and whistles we realized that we were to aim our boat directly at a black head bobbing in the water. This fellow was there to “catch” our boat and attach it to the line. We had remembered the part about pulling out the key, but obviously some people had not as the poor guide was almost overrun. Once we were all attached, we did the reverse sequence of before to get into the water taxi and then we were boated over to the diving platform where we were outfitted with snorkel gear and fins.

We were all cold and wet and longing for the sun to come out and warm us, but as that was not happening, we elected to jump into the water with our guide as it was warmer than the air. Each couple had their own guide who had a fist full of fish food which he shared after showing us the varieties of fish swimming around. My guide did not speak much English, so I did not get much information on names of fish, but I could see that there were different colours and sizes. He also seemed to know exactly where each different type of coral was and took me around to see them all.

“Follow me” back to the boat where he took off my fins, helped me back onto the platform and then filled up two glasses of water. I was thinking I now had to drink these and we were quite far from the bathroom and I was not inclined to “go with the fishes” again as we had been counseled earlier when someone had asked about bathrooms. My worries were for naught as he took the two water glasses and poured them over my head, then handed me some paper napkins. I wish I had been somewhat more prepared, but it was nice to get some of the salt water out of my eyes.

Once everyone was back on board, it was time for a quick soda and then back to the big boat and the same procedure as before to get onto our speed boat and get us all unhooked for our trip back to the excursion headquarters. This time we drove even closer to shore and were actually in danger of smashing into a large party barge coming out to sea and we were way too close to swimmers enjoying the ocean waters. By this time the sun was out, so at least we were warming up a bit.

We actually all managed to make it back to headquarters (although one boat did stall) where there was a hose next to a pile of garbage where we could rinse off the salt water. There were flush toilets and they were cleaner than one would have expected. Pictures were posted ($8 US) and there were several reminders that the guides would appreciate a tip. Surely they deserved a tip because they worked hard. They all must be in great shape to be nimbly jumping from boat to boat and holding boats together and diving down to the bottom of the ocean to entice fish up for us to admire. All of the guides were relatively young and I imagine it is not a line of work that one could stay in for many years.

Disposable cameras were for sale. Be sure to just wear a bathing suit; everything gets totally wet. There are lockers to store anything you don’t want to bring along.

A full day excursion to discover the Dominican countryside. The trucks are open air but covered with a canopy to protect one from the sun or possibly rain. We sat on long benches facing each—seat belts and hand holds are provided and we used them as the roads in the Dominican are way below North American standards. Many times on the roads, the driver would cross over to the opposite site to avoid a large pothole. There are no lines on the road, horns are frequently used, and stop signs and lights seemed to be a suggestion, not a law.

Our first stop was a sugar plantation, its location heralded by a sign riddled with bullet holes. Our guide explained the process of cultivating the sugar cane and the history and manufacturing of sugar cane products. While a guard patrolled with his gun, our driver used his machete to cut all of us a piece of sugar cane to chew or suck on.


Once we left the plantation we drove up into the mountains and on a narrow winding road found Maria’s house. We were told that she and her family were able to survive quite nicely by growing everything they need right on her piece of land and they were quite happy with their lot in life. Her house consisted of four rooms on a concrete slab with no air conditioning and plenty of small holes in the roof. On her land, she grew vegetables and fruits and cocoa and had a few chickens and parrots. A fruit platter and a few sips of coffee and cocoa were ready for our enjoyment. There was a bright pink building with a “Bavarro Runners” sign--clean stalls with flush toilets! Our guide and Maria’s nephew cornered two of their chickens and we all watched a 30 second cock fight—no one got hurt, but we were told how betting on the outcome and spurs on the chickens enhanced the experience. For purchase there were coffee beans, ground coffee, vanilla, Mamajuana (the local alcoholic brew reputed to be an aphrodisiac) and cigars.

From Maria’s house, we drove down from the mountains to a ranch on the coast where we mounted our horses for a 15-minute walk alongside the crashing surf on magnificent Macao Beach. As well as feasting on a delicious barbecue lunch, we had time to swim in the ocean or a small pool. (There were showers for rinsing off.) Our bus had boogie boards for our use.

Our bus also had a cooler with Pepsi, rum, beer and water and we were frequently offered refreshments. The number of bathrooms along the way seemed to be in inverse relation to the number of beverages we were enjoying.

There were showers and bathrooms and once everyone was ready, we all got back on the bus for a very long bathroom less ride back to our hotel. There was a brief stop at a cave, but alas there was not a bathroom there.

The ocean floor sloped off very, very gradually—you could walk out quite far. There were some areas of sea weed and rocks. A reef about 200 meters out broke the waves long before they came to shore. The beach sand was soft and white.

For the most part, it was quite windy at the beach—in fact the first few days, the red flag was flying and none of the non-motorized water craft could be launched. A number of people made wind screens out of lounge chairs by propping them up onto a palapa.

Walking north, you pass the Marinarium (a patrolling guard ensured you did not get into the park without paying) and eventually reach the Allegro resorts.

Walking south, you quickly come upon local merchants who are very keen to sell their wares. Pass this and keep walking and apparently the Club Med is the next resort, but we never managed to walk quite that far.

On the beach, catamarans, kayaks, sailboards and jet skis could be taken out. At the water activities hut, you could sign up for lessons, however, no one asked if you knew how to use the equipment before you took it out—they just gave you a life jacket

One evening a week, local people came to put on a market and sell their wares—t-shirts, jewelry, paintings, etc. You could haggle and get a good price, but if you showed any kind of interest, the vendor would hound you until you were out of sight.

Our tour company offered a “free” excursion to Vivianne’s, a cigar manufacturing plant. This turned out to be one old man sitting in a corner of the store making cigars. The store sold quality Dominican larimar (pectolite), amber and a few other pieces of jewelry as well as cigars, vanilla and coffee. The prices were marked and there was no haggling here.

There were two buffet style restaurants, a creperie, a fast food pool side service, and four a la carte restaurants for which reservations were required. The desk was only open for limited amounts of time and there was always a line-up—a good idea to make all your reservations as early in your visit as possible.


At the a la carte restaurants we enjoyed a more leisurely meal as we were being served. A bonus was that we were given more reasonably sized portions than what we tended to pile on our plates at the buffet. The Japanese restaurant not only had different food, the preparation was done with flair right in front of you. So eating and entertainment were combined. The American restaurant was nothing special—we had T-bone steak and found it was overcooked and too thin; others in our group did find their meals delicious. The Mexican restaurant was disappointing. The best experience was, as others have said before, the French restaurant. The wine there was the best we had at the resort and the food was delicious.

The creperie was tucked away in a corner with all the shops and was never crowded. It offered a selection of main course and dessert crepes.

At the buffets, there was a large variety at each meal and it was all fresh and nicely presented. At the Gran Caribe, there was a different theme daily and one or two dishes in keeping with the theme were served that day only. Most stations were help yourself, however, there was a central area where several cooks would prepare and serve certain dishes as one waited—omelets or eggs in the morning, steak, etc. in the evening. The buffet restaurants were not air-conditioned, but cooled by large fans and never felt hot.

Each day, activities were held by the pool (and some on the beach) by the animations staff. These versatile hosts spoke several languages each and worked tirelessly with enthusiasm, engaging people in archery, aquarobics, volleyball, dance and language lessons, pool games, painting lessons. . . There were competitions at various activities and winners had to show up at the evening show to collect their prized, which could be a hat or t-shirt or mug.

We only watched the evening show once and while somewhat entertaining; certainly we have seen more inspiring entertainment at other resorts and on cruise ships. However, it was somewhere to go in the evening. Prior to the show there would be karaoke and before that the kids club organizers played games on stage with the little kids.

In every area, there seemed frequently to be a shortage of items—it seemed as if perhaps inventory in general did not keep up with demand. The second night we got back to our room and our water had not been replenished. We had started out with four bottles, which would seem adequate, but we were using it to brush our teeth even so it went fast. We called three times that evening to get more water and each time were told it was on its way. We had to take our medication with beer—there were seven bottles of that in our fridge!

Several times on arrival back to our unit, our room was not made up, but our towels were gone. It seems there were not enough towels to go around, so they had to take the towels to wash them before we could get new ones. Calling for towels did not make them come any faster. Eventually we found one of the housekeeping huts, but one time when I went there, the lady still made me wait.

Pool towels were another issue. Sometimes there were none at the towel exchange, which only opened up at 8:30 am. The strategy is to save your towel from the day before, get up early, find your favorite spot by the pool or beach, put towels, books, water bottles, shoes, etc. on a few chairs and there you go—your spot is secure.