2) Las Terrenas

In Las Terrenas we stayed at Hotel El Rincon de Abi, which was owned by a french couple. Except for the too hard bed, our room was nice and the hotel was close to the beach. Well, almost every place in Las Terrenas is close to the beach :) The small town is very laid back and it feels like more expats than locals run the place. As it was sunset time when we arrived, we just had a walk along the beach and got some local seafood for dinner at the beach. The next morning we went for a swim close to our hotel and really enjoyed lying on the beach :D We then looked for bikes and a dive center. We rented bicycles from a nice swiss guy and drove to Playa Coson. We took an early crossing and came to a completely lonely stretch of the beach that was extremely beautiful. We shot a few pictures and walked on to the main part of Playa Coson. There Franzi asked for surfing lessons the next days. But the guy hardly spoke english but told us that the waves were too small even for beginners at the moment. On our way back we stopped at Playa Bonita that faces plenty development. It is by far not as beautiful and lonely as Playa Coson, but the setting sun added some nice flair. Back in Las Terrenas we kept the bikes until the next day and had some nice bbq ribs and chicken for dinner accompanied by some mojitos of course :) We continued our evening with another mojito and beer at a bar near the central crossing, watching plenty old foreigners hanging out with young locals. Las Terrenas is flooded by old foreign guys and women alike who look for exotic local adventures.

beautiful and lonely, near Playa Coson

time for photos :)

being at such a great beach even pushing your bike is fun^^

sunset time at Playa Bonita

The next morning (19.12.) we exchanged my bike for a larger one to make a ride to El Limon visiting a waterfall. While we waited for the new bike to be prepared, Franzi saw Samana Diving, a really nice dive center owned by the friendly Spanish Josue. I went there and reserved a spot to dive the next morning. With the new bike, we made our way to El Limon, which was easier than expected. At the major crossroad in El Limon I checked for the right way to the waterfall. That was when several people approached us and wanted to guide us to the waterfall. We said we were not interested and continued quickly... but it didn't help. Two guys followed us by motorbike to the entrance of the waterfall. We went straight down to the entrance and left our bikes with the staff there, not trusting the guys who followed us. We were the only tourist at that time and more guys approached us, 5 including 2 horses by that time. Telling them that we weren't interested in a guid didn't help. They kept following us. When we arrived at a stream it was difficult to see where the way continous. That is when they told us it was impossible to go to the waterfall without a guide - it would even be dangerous. It was a creepy situtation. I checked my open street map, found the direction and then we followed the horse shit. Not very difficult, not dangerous, just a little annoying to make your way without a guide. They even tried to lure us on a wrong path, but we wouldn't listen :P We should have brought some mosquito spray though, that made the hike a little tougher. When we arrived the top, great views and a fresh coke awaited us^^ The waterfall was big and we went for a dip in its pool.
On the way back we had lunch at Restaurant Santi in El Limon and then stopped at a beach near the old airstrip. Back in Las Terrenas we wanted to watch the sunset but were a little late. We then had dinner at Casa Azul Pizzeria and visited La Bodega for some salsa music and drinks. A massive rain fall flooded the streets while we danced^^

reached the top and enjoyed a fresh coke^^

in the pool at the bottom of El Salto del Limon

The next morning (20.12.) I went for a dive. We started with an easy dive where we also dropped two snorkelers and wanted to head for a pseudo-cave dive next. But when we surfaced, the sky was black, the waves high and buckets of large rain drops fell on our faces. Josue canceled the dive due to safety concerns and invited me to come back the next day. I was back to our hotel just when Franzi was back from her daily morning run... she was quite surprised :) We used the bycicles to check another surf school at Playa Bonita that Franzi heard about. However, on our way there I had a flat tire and spend my time pushing the bike back to the swiss guy while Franzi asked about the surfing. We then returned the bikes and had some local bbq chicken for lunch. We found out that locals overcharge us so much, that it is better to eat at the fancier expat places at the beach for a similar price. We spend our afternoon at Las Terrenas' beach and it rained occasionally. For dinner we went to a Spanish enjoying a good Paella. The dinner was great, but we misread the menu and ended up spending more money than we had with us. That was a little embarrassing^^

rainbow - the good side of rain :)

Las Terrenas' beach

Paella for dinner. And mojitos :)

The next day (21.12.) we wanted to rent a quad to explore more of Samana, after we canceled our initial idea to change city to Jarabacoa in central Dominican Republic due to the rainfalls. Unfortunately, it kept raining most of day. So we went for some souvenir shopping and spent the afternoon at Las Terrenas' beach again. The waves became nice though and we enjoyed swimming a lot. We got a body board from a French kite surfing teacher and it was fun to ride the waves with it. When the sun set we took some pictures, the beach looked gorgeous. For dinner we had a hard time deciding and went for Casa Azul Pizzaria again^^

Las Terrenas' beach is not bad either

great light from the setting sun

I like beaches with palm trees reaching to the sea

sunset time is best for photos^^

heading for the sea...

you can even see the moon already!

sunset at Las Terrenas' beach

The next morning (22.12.) I wanted to dive again. However, Josue and I were not fortunate. No rain, but two other divers canceled leaving only me, which would have cost Josue much more than he could have earned from my dive. Josue offered to teach Franzi and me any diving we would like to learn. Franzi was surprised when I was home even before her this time. After breakfast we visited Josue again and Franzi decided to try diving. While Josue patiently introduced her to the essentials of diving, I trained my boyance in the pool. It was quite some fun and with the help of Josue Franzi went diving and fulfilled some basic diver tasks. Maybe I convince her to become a diver one day :) Later we hopped on the afternoon bus back to Santo Domingo.