With love from Punta Cana

Sun, rum and lots of fun in the Dominican Republic.

The view from our room in the TRS Cap Cana

Hotel

This was my first ever all inclusive holiday and first time in the Dominican Republic, and it did not disappoint! We stayed at the adults only, luxury all inclusive Alsol Tiara Cap Cana Hotel (now called TRS Cap Cana) and with it being only 10 minutes from the airport we were able to get to the hotel, checked in and be ready in time for a quick dinner before sleeping off the jetlag in our upgraded Junior Swim - Up Suite which was absolutely incredible.

Breakfast at Alsol Tiara

The resort itself was beautiful and very clean, but when we went to breakfast the next day we felt like we were the only ones there -it was very very quiet, which definitely wasn't a bad thing, we were treated like King and Queen. As the day went on we realised just how quiet it was there were only 5 other couples there, we were quite surprised as all the reviews we had read before we went looked like it's normally nearly or fully booked, it must have just been the time or year that we went.

We were blown away with our room as it had its own swim up pool, sun loungers, hammock and all day sun. Inside the room itself there was a king-size bed with a living area, large television and a large bathroom with separate toilet

At the main pool area there was a swim up bar, music and a chef next to it that made fresh pizza and nachos all day so we had choices of where to sunbathe if we didn't have an excursion.

Making the most of our swim-up pool

It's recommended that in Punta Cana you don't leave your resort unless guided or going on a tour but Cap Cana is a gated community and is really quite big and connected to the harbour which you could walk all the way around to burn off some of that lunchtime pizza.

There was plenty of entertainment throughout the day and night and all the staff were all very friendly, helpful and knowledgeable about the various tours and excursions available in the surrounding areas.

In short this hotel was one of my favourites and would return in a heart-beat, we couldn't fault it. Our expectations were exceeded in all ways possible.

Excursions

While we were in Punta Cana we did a couple of boat tours.

Catamaran Rum Experience

• Catamaran Rum Experience - We loved every minute of this, its literally what it says on the tin, you sail on the catamaran and drink a lot of rum. It was a great day, the music was good, the rum was excellent and everyone was there to have a good time the 3 man crew definitely made it happen.

• Snorkelling Tour - I would recommend doing at least 1 snorkelling tour in Punta Cana, there were many available but we went with Happy Fish Catamarans as that was what recommended to us by the hotel. They knew all the great spots to see lots of tropical fish and on the way back there was an open bar with plenty of refreshments and fresh fruit.

This is your sign to wear WATERPROOF SPF

• Saona Island - Now this was both Taylor and I's favourite day of the holiday, we started the day off getting a catamaran with around 12 other people and they took us out to a snorkel site where we got to see some tropical fish, we then got back on the boat and made our way to the island. Saona is famous for it's starfish and gorgeous white beaches, it was a full day tour so we got lunch included which was a grilled surf and turf buffet, and an open bar we then spent a few hours on the island chilling and swimming in the sea with the starfish before getting a speedboat back to Punta Cana.

Alcohol

Making full use of the open bar

So as you probably know the Dominican Republic is known for it's rum and there are plenty of rum tours available, rum is included in nearly every excursion and rum punch is the cocktail of choice at most bars. As they say on the rum cruise, 'your options are Rum, Rum Punch, Rum and Coke, Coke and Coke or Rum and Rum'

At the hotel we stayed at they had plenty of top shelf spirits included in the all inclusive but there are also local rums and spirits available.

We were introduced to a drink called MamaJuana by a shop keeper when I came down with a cold from the aircon, it cleared it up within almost a couple of hours but I don't know if that was to do with the medicinal properties or more to do with the fact it was 30% alcohol. When we told a waiter at the hotel and he burst out laughing and started winking at Taylor, we looked into and found out it is primarily used as an aphrodisiac!! It just so happens that it helps with colds, flus and aids digestion.

All in all it was a fantastic holiday, one of my favourites actually. The weather, accommodation, food, excursions, service and rum were all fantastic, we met some incredible people from all over the globe and had an all round good time.

We <3 Dominican Republic

Christina x

(Trip August 2018)